On April 30th, the Center of Excellence in French and Francophone Studies, in collaboration with the French Department, the Institute of European Studies, and the French Consulate in San Francisco/Villa Albertine, hosted an in-person event titled The Rise and Mutations of the French Far-Right at UC Berkeley. Held in the Library of French Thought, the event brought together approximately 34 attendees for a timely and thought-provoking panel discussion. Three Graduate and Undergraduate students—Madison Brown, Julie Catelle, and Greg Durow—shared their research and insights on how far-right movements in France have evolved through rhetorical shifts, symbolic narratives, and generational leadership changes. The discussion centered on the transformation of the National Rally under Marine Le Pen, the persistence of the "Great Replacement" theory in far-right discourse, and broader European patterns of political rebranding.
Madison Brown, an undergraduate majoring in French and Political Science, opened the event with a presentation on how Marine Le Pen has reframed gender and environmental issues within the National Rally’s political platform. Through discourse analysis of speeches, policy documents, and interviews from 2011 to 2022, Brown demonstrated how the party employs concepts such as "women’s rights", "environment," and "localism" to co-opt progressive language in service of nationalist goals. Le Pen’s rhetoric, Brown argued, uses the language of gender equality and environmentalism to bolster anti-immigrant sentiment and French national identity. For example, environmental policies are framed in nationalist terms—supporting nuclear energy and local production not for ecological reasons but as expressions of sovereignty.
Julie Catelle, a PhD candidate in the French Department, presented a historical and rhetorical analysis of the “Great Replacement” theory, a key narrative shaping contemporary far-right discourse in France. Catelle traced the origins of this idea to 19th-century fears of national and cultural decline, which initially targeted Jewish populations and later shifted toward African and Muslim communities. She emphasized how France’s policy of not collecting racial or ethnic data fuels speculation about demographic change. While Marine Le Pen has distanced herself from overt references to the “Great Replacement,” Catelle showed how its themes persist in the rhetoric of National Rally figures like Jordan Bardella, who invoke fears of cultural erosion while avoiding explicit terminology. Catelle concluded that the narrative remains a potent emotional and symbolic tool for mobilizing support, despite its lack of empirical grounding.
Greg Durow, a second-year PhD student in Comparative Politics, concluded the panel with a comparative study of leadership transitions in far-right parties across Europe. Focusing on the shift from Jean-Marie Le Pen to Marine Le Pen, Durow explored how younger leaders adopt a modernized, more polished image to broaden voter appeal without abandoning the party’s nationalist foundation. He examined how rhetorical strategies such as “femonationalism” and “homonationalism”—invoking feminist and LGBTQ+ rights to promote exclusionary policies—serve to modernize far-right messaging. Drawing parallels to Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands, Durow argued that generational change allows far-right parties to adapt stylistically while maintaining ideological continuity. Leaders like Bardella use social media and humor to reach new audiences, reframing nationalist rhetoric for contemporary consumption.
The event offered a nuanced and multi-faceted look at the contemporary French far-right. Each speaker highlighted how the National Rally and similar parties across Europe strategically reframe their messaging to appear more moderate, socially conscious, and palatable to younger or undecided voters—without fundamentally changing their ideological goals. The discussion underscored the role of symbolic narratives, rhetorical shifts, and generational leadership in enabling far-right parties to expand their influence in the current political landscape.