The Far Right Old and New: Between Antisemitism and Islamophobia

This talk attempts a historic/ theoretical analysis of the exclusionist discourse of the Radical Right in Europe focusing in a comparison between the idea of exclusion of the ultimate "others": the Jew and the Muslim.    The paper explains why the Jew became the tool through which the whole construction of the Enlightenment and the idea of assimilative citizenship was attacked in the early 20^th century. It stresses that while the integration of the Jew to the polity represented the success of the democratic nationalism for the Integralist Right and fascism it represented the beginning of national decadence.

     In opposition, the paper stresses that Islam has became an ultimate other for 'liberal' nationalists especially represented although not limited by French democratic republicanism.  They demand civic integration under similar parameters than other ethnic or religious communities.  The current Far Right however, pays lip service to the idea of civic integration in reality it accepts Muslims separatism, based in the idea of 'cultural differentialism' as a preamble to exclusion. 

    In short this paper argues that while the Jew contributed in setting a clear divide between democratic and Integralist nationalists, Muslims contributed in blurring the gap.