Radical rightwing politics has thrived by exploiting the popular rage that characterises the mood in France today (fuelled by joblessness and deep distrust of the elites). Nearly 50% of the electorate voted on 23 April for either the far left, the far right, or Trotskyist and maverick candidates. But so far, even against that sorry backdrop, a clear-sighted, energetic Macron has come out on top.
He calls himself “progressive”, and stands for social liberalism, or pro-market social democracy. He’s not anti-capitalist nor anti-globalisation, and certainly not nativist. He’s the anti-radical who advocates step-by-step, moderate reform to heal the many fractures of an extremely tense and anxious country. He doesn’t want to pitch social classes or ethnic groups against one another. His is a slow-motion revolution, and that’s something utterly new by French standards. Indeed, he’s more interested in what works in practice than in what might look good in theory. That may seem familiar to you Brits.
It’s an approach that could strike a chord across a continent that sees nationalism reawakened, along with its ghosts. Le Pen embodies that rising nationalism in France, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, the Jarosław Kascyński crowd in Poland. Brexit can be interpreted as a kind of nationalist resurgence. Witness Theresa May’s observation this week that 27 European countries are “lining up against” Britain. How often has a siege mentality tactic been deployed by illiberal politicians to galvanise the populists, with no regard for the consequences?
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