Far-Right Local Governments and Civil Society: Findings from France and Italy
| Author | Seongcheol Kim |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299221079990 |
| Published date | 01 February 2023 |
| Date | 01 February 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Early Results |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299221079990
Political Studies Review
2023, Vol. 21(1) 183 –189
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/14789299221079990
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Far-Right Local Governments
and Civil Society: Findings from
France and Italy
Seongcheol Kim1,2
Abstract
The rise of far-right parties across Europe and their entrance into government at the local, if not
regional or national, levels pose challenges for established civil society actors. This article draws
on early findings from an ongoing research project in order to present two case studies of far-right
local governments in small industrial towns in France and Italy: Hayange and Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Keying in on these local administrations’ approaches to civil society and drawing on semi-structured
interviews with local politicians and trade union actors, the article identifies preliminary patterns
in far-right local government relations with civil society organizations (including trade unions),
including a bypassing or outright attacking of established associations deemed hostile (especially
left-wing ones) in favor of those deemed politically more palatable. This exclusionary and partisan
approach to civil society notably coexists alongside other aspects of far-right local governance
centered on a performatively enacted claim to serve the entire community, most notably with
the highly visible provision of non-excludable public goods such as public fountains and rotaries.
These considerations provide a basis for ongoing and future work on far-right interventions in
different areas of civil society, in different countries, and in light of a broader spectrum of actor
perspectives.
Keywords
civil society, far right, France, Italy, local government, trade unions
Accepted: 25 January 2022
Introduction
In October 2018, the right-wing Italian trade union UGL (General Union of Labor) made
news headlines when it hosted a meeting between Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini at
its Rome headquarters. On the surface, the meeting was emblematic for far-right parties’
increasingly visible attempts to appeal to the world of labor and trade unions—a
1Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
2Center for Civil Society Research, WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, Germany
Corresponding author:
Seongcheol Kim, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Nora-Platiel-Str. 1, D-34127 Kassel,
Germany.
Email: seongcheol.kim@uni-kassel.de
1079990PSW0010.1177/14789299221079990Political Studies ReviewKim
research-article2022
Early Results
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