Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Defining the radical right in France, past and present; 3. The class-cultural roots of the radical right: structures and expressions of indépendance; 4. The age of contentment: petits indépendants during the belle époque; 5. The fateful transition: petits indépendants in the interwar period; 6. The eclipse of the petty producer republic: petits indépendants from Vichy through the Fourth Republic; 7. The age of decline: petits indépendants under the Fifth Republic; 8. Epilogue: French workers in crisis and the entrenchment of the front national; 9. The radical right in France in comparative perspective; 10. Conclusion.

Promotional Information

Recounts the resurgence of significant political movements of the Radical Right in France since the end of the nineteenth century.

About the Author

Gabriel Goodliffe currently teaches courses in International Relations and International Political Economy at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City. In addition to the present volume on the Radical Right in France, he is the author of the chapter on French politics for the forthcoming (fourth) edition of Europe Today, as well as a chapter on the Front National in New Perspectives on European Right-Wing Extremism, Identity and Passions, also forthcoming. Goodliffe earned his doctorate in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC, in 2008. He previously taught courses in comparative politics, international relations and international political economy at the American University and The Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

“Employing a class-cultural focus, Goodliffe provides the first substantive socio-historical analysis of the ‘losers of modernization’ theory of the radical right.”—Cas Mudde, DePauw University

“Gabriel Goodliffe gives an in-depth analysis of the French far right, scrutinizing its historical background, its ideological and sociological foundations with outstanding accuracy and rigor.”—Dominique Reynié, University Professor, Sciences Po, Paris

"This thoroughly documented study places the evolution of radical right-wing thinking in the context of socioeconomic change. it is one of the best books on the subject in recent years. Summing Up: Highly recommended" - W. Safran, emeritus, University of Colorado at Boulder, CHOICE magazine

“a fascinating book…The argument is clear, the text well written, the sources carefully provided in an amazing display of footnotes – lengthier on some pages than the text itself, and full of treasures. The author has a thorough knowledge of France’s history, economy and politics over the past two centuries, and of the academic debates surrounding the contemporary radical rights. His “class-cultural” angle of attack stands out in the mass of books published about the Front National and his party family in Europe." - Nonna Mayer, the Centre d’études européennes at Sciences Po-CNRS, Counsel for European Studies