"The Era of Le Pen and Far-right Populism: The Two Faces of Janus"

2025/06/12

Since the mid-1980s, I have watched most of France's major national elections and referendums on the ground and have continued to write essays. This publication reorganizes those writings, focusing on descriptions of the far right, re-examining the underlying far-right ideologies and active organizations, and compiling them into a single volume.

In fact, my interest in the expansion of Le Pen's influence began with my first visit to France in 1978.

The sight of Jean-Marie Le Pen loudly advocating for xenophobia before an audience of a few dozen in Paris's Tuileries Garden left a strong impression on me. Surrounding him were young men in combat uniforms with intimidating gazes. I held up my camera, but within five minutes, I was stunned to realize I had unconsciously backed away toward the exit. I was afraid. As a Japanese person, I was neither European nor French in their eyes; I was literally a "foreigner," and if I lived there long-term, I would be an "immigrant." The immigration issue was not someone else's problem. It was the first step in my own discovery of "Japan in the world." And in that France, at the dawn of multicultural coexistence, I was convinced that an anachronistic group like the far-right "National Front" would never gain power. That is now a reality.

There is no doubt that this force is a far-right group advocating xenophobia. However, it is not just any right-wing or far-right group. It is not merely a ragtag band of outsiders that occasionally rises and falls with the trends of French political history. Rather, since its founding, this party has been fully aware of the history of failure of such historical right-wing groups and has continued to seek a path as a parliamentary party. It did not end up in the presidential runoff by chance. To tell the history of this party is, if I may say so without fear of being misunderstood, a "success story." However, it is one that should not be accepted.

Certainly, one factor in the expansion of European far-right forces is that they disguise themselves as republicans and democrats under the guise of "de-demonization." However, the reality is the dark side of human nature based on a sense of discrimination. This is why I included "The Two Faces of Janus"—the Roman god with one body and two faces—in the subtitle.

"The Era of Le Pen and Far-right Populism: The Two Faces of Janus"

Hirotaka Watanabe

Hakusuisha

330 pages, 2,750 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.