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NEWS & LETTERS, June 2002
OUR LIFE AND TIMES: Far Right tests European freedom strugglesby Kevin A. Barry The re-emergence of a racist, anti-immigrant, and sometimes neo-fascist far Right has put Western European labor and youth movements to the test, in a way not seen for decades. How they meet the challenge of a far Right, reinvigorated by anti-immigrant hostility after September 11, will also affect the worldwide anti-globalization movement. In France, there were almost daily mobilizations of youth, workers and immigrants between April 21, when neo-fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen placed second in the first round of the presidential elections, and May 5, when French voters repudiated Le Pen, 82% to 18%. Nonetheless, 18% was a most sobering score for an open racist and Holocaust denier, whose whole career has been one of attacks on Arabs and Muslims, from his youthful work as a torturer for the French army during the Algerian War, to his more recent calls for the expulsion of immigrants and the restoration of the death penalty. In holding their noses to vote overwhelmingly for the relatively moderate conservative Jacques Chirac, the only other candidate on May 5, the French public showed a moving self-discipline. Not only did they ignore Le Pen's demagogic attacks on the political establishment, voters on the Left also rejected calls by the Trotskyist Workers Struggle party, which had received 6% in the first round, to cast blank ballots, something anti-globalization activist José Bové termed "sectarian and unrevolutionary." This stance also caused Workers Struggle contingents to be booed at some anti-Le Pen demonstrations. During these demonstrations, the youth were at their most creative, whether in the chant "We Are All the Children of Immigrants" or in the humorous slogan, "Better the Crook than the Fascist." The latter indicated both a firm support for bourgeois democracy over fascism and an unalterable opposition to the corrupt Chirac, who has himself made racist comments. This came to full fruition on May Day, when over a million came out to march behind trade union and leftist banners, including 400,000 in Paris alone. "Such a turnout is reassuring" stated one African immigrant. All eyes are now on the June legislative elections, which will determine whether the Right can now dominate France. Even as France moved out of the headlines, the Netherlands was thrown into turmoil by its May 15 elections, when the far rightist List Pim Fortuyn placed second, ahead of the Social Democrats. Buoyed by public sympathy after the assassination of its founder just before the election, this anti-immigrant party is now slated to join a coalition government with the conservative Christian Democrats. In Germany, the 2.7 million strong metalworkers union won a big victory in a series of strike actions, gaining a 4% raise for the first year, and then 3.1% for the six months until the end of 2003. At the same time, however, there is fear that the anti-labor Christian Democrats may return to power next fall on the basis of an anti-immigrant campaign. What a right-wing victory in France or Germany could mean can already be seen in Italy, where a coalition of conservatives and far rightists holds power. Despite strong resistance from labor that has brought millions onto the streets, the government is seeking to pass laws undermining some of labor's most basic rights. |
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