France / The Far Right at… desks – University rebranding operation

The French Far Right spreads its tentacles in universities insidiously and effectively with the well-known racist slogans against «right-wing and Islamic leftism» who allegedly gallop in the higher educational institutions. Her own presence, however, is becoming more and more intense through the Konkarda student faction, which has managed to be in many schools. It is characteristic that in the recent elections of the regional Centers of University and School Projects, which are considered a “thermometer” of registration of the factions, the Concord of blackness took down 13 combinations out of a total of 26 nationally, when in 2021 it had taken down only… 2 in Paris and Lyon. It is clear that the Far Right has gone on the counter-attack and in traditional strongholds of the left-wing democratic space with a central slogan “First the French students, out of leftism from our universities”. The tip of the spear, therefore, is the infamous “national and European preference” with the proposal to establish a nationality criterion for granting aid to students. “This approach clearly expresses the cultural dimension in their ideology,” explains Baptiste Giron, PhD candidate in History at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, speaking to Humanity.

The far-right movement took its first steps in 2015 at the Assas University in Paris, not by chance. This particular university is considered her “nursery”. Dof the Sixth and the Far Right. It is characteristic that it was the only one that did not participate in the uprising of May 1968! Today Konkarda says it has 500 members in Asas. The developments satisfy the leadership of the faction. “We have a presence that is now developing outside of the Paris area and not just in Lyon where I come from, and which was among the first organizations in the province to develop,” said Edouard Bina, secretary general of the faction, a fourth-year student at the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon. “Now we cover half of the country’s territory” he added meaningfully speaking to the public news channel France Info. Officially Konkarda denies having party support, yet has no problem admitting ties to National Alarm and Reconquest (the far-right essayist’s party Eric Zemur). In 2022, the faction had called to vote for Marine Le Pen or H. Zemur. While it is known that many parliamentary collaborators of the members of the National Alarm come from its bosom. Otherwise, Konkarda denies its characterization Aleft wing What if her program, her vocabulary speak for themselves, saying the exact opposite?

Specifically, Konkarda addresses “patriotic students”, declares that it defends “national ideas”. While she invites to her events and public discussions politicians such as Marion Marechal (head of the European ballot of H. Zemur, niece of M. Le Pen with whom she has bad relations) or Jordan Bardela, president of the National Alarm and head of the party in the European elections June.

The visible Far Right in schools

On the other side, the student groups of the Left are troubled by this strong far-right presence in the universities. And this is because this presence is accompanied by a climate of violence, threats and attacks, such as those that occurred recently in Clermont-Ferrand or Rennes. Far-right slogans that suddenly flood university spaces. Even vandalism as in the case of Lyon where the offices of the National Union of Students were attacked… The Federation of Student Organizations in the Alsace region, which is the first student organization in the region, is seriously concerned about the rise of the extreme right in schools. Its president Mael Nizan emphasizes that “these are organizations that do not have the same methods as us and that openly advocate xenophobic ideas in their program. This finding causes us great concern and sensitizes our network to act, to fight against this rise of the Far Right”.

On paper, again, Konkarda rejects any violent action and crafts the profile of a serious organization. And this attitude also explains her rise. “Concarda succeeded in making this radical extreme right presentable, it made it a branding which allows it to exist within the universities” explains the sociologist Emanuel Kazayous. “Something that was impossible to do with the label of her other organizations Afar-right groups such as the “French Action” or other identitarian organizations,” he continued. “If you look at the typefaces they use, the logo that looks like the old centre-right Union for a People’s Movement, you get the impression that this is some kind of liberal student union Dsix. Their reason is clear, but their overall appearance makes them presentable.” It can be so from his side uof Higher Education to emphasize that, for now, there are no signs of alarm in universities, however it is clear that the worm is now in the fruit…