Poujadism

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Badge of the UDCA

The Poujadism was a populist political movement in France of the 1950s and is considered a phenomenon petty-bourgeois protest. It was named after Pierre Poujade , who founded the Union de défense des commerçants et artisans (UDCA, German Union for the Defense of Traders and Craftsmen) as a protest party in 1955 . Their parliamentary group, which existed from 1956 to 1958, called itself Union et fraternité française (UFF; French Union and Fraternity).

Origin and Orientation

Under the leadership of the stationery dealer Poujade in the south of France, a petty-bourgeois anti-tax protest movement of small business people, traders and some medium-sized entrepreneurs emerged between 1953 and 1956. She also turned against phenomena of economic modernization and the associated concentration of capital, especially the displacement of small shops by supermarkets. It was triggered by the complex tax system and state tax audits, which put small shopkeepers at a disadvantage compared to large chain stores. By contrast, UDCA called for a flat tax .

The UDCA also represented the interests of the French in Algeria during the Algerian War , advocated the preservation of the prosperity of the small farmers, retailers and craftsmen who had suffered from the concentration movements in the economy during the French economic miracle, and opposed the established parties. Poujadism was characterized by hostility towards "politicians, intellectuals, bureaucrats, eurocrats, plutocrats, technocrats". The Poujade quote noted by Roland Barthes is an example of anti-intellectualism and hostility to the elite :

«La France est atteinte d'une surproduction de gens à diplômes, polytechniciens, économistes, philosophes et autres rêveurs qui ont perdu tout contact avec le monde réel, tout rapport avec le sens commun. »

"France is affected by an overproduction of university graduates, polytechniciens , economists, philosophers and other dreamers who have lost all contact with the real world, all relationship with common sense"

- Roland Barthes : Quelques paroles de M. Poujade. In: Mythologies, 1957

In general, the orientation of the UDCA was much more defined by what it rejected than what it strived for. This is also reflected in their slogan sortez les sortants , which means something like "out with the previous [MPs or rulers]". In some cases the movement also had openly anti-Semitic features.

The ideology of Poujadism, however, differed markedly from that of the traditional French right. Poujade acknowledged the values ​​of the French Revolution. With its advocacy of secularism, the repression of state paternalism, the dismantling of subsidies, decentralization and social justice, the movement tied in with the left-liberal Parti radical rather than with the Catholic ultra-conservative milieu or the fascist leagues of the interwar period. As is typical of populist movements, Poujadism united left and right elements in the face of Janus, and at the same time turned against monopoly capitalism and communism. For the Poujadists, both meant bondage, collectivism and anonymity. On the other hand, Poujadism emphasized personal responsibility, personal experiences, and growing close relationships from person to person.

Election success and crash

In the parliamentary elections in 1956, the UDCA achieved 2.4 million votes (11.6%) and moved into the French parliament with 52 members, where they formed the Union et fraternité française parliamentary group . The youngest member of the National Assembly at the age of 27 was also elected to their list: Jean-Marie Le Pen . Soon afterwards there was a dispute over the direction between Le Pen, who led the UDCA's youth organization, and Jean-Maurice Demarquet on the one hand, who wanted to lead the movement in a radical, nationalist and militant direction in view of the Suez crisis and the worsening situation in Algeria , and the more moderate Poujade on the other hand. Le Pen and Demarquet were expelled from the UDCA in May 1957 and subsequently founded the Front national des combattants .

On the part of the left, Poujade and his supporters were severely attacked and referred to as Poujadolf according to a caricature in a British newspaper . After the Algiers coup in May 1958, the return of Charles de Gaulle to power and the beginning of the Fifth Republic , the party sank back into insignificance. In the referendum on the new constitution initiated by de Gaulle, Poujade voted no, while most of the other UDCA members and officials voted yes. Most of their electorate went over to the Gaullist Union pour la Nouvelle République (UNR). In the parliamentary elections in November 1958, the Poujadists only got 1.5 percent. Only two of the Poujadist MPs who entered parliament in 1956 were re-elected; these had both left the UDCA (one of whom was Le Pen). The membership of the UDCA fell to 200,000 at the end of 1958, and below 100,000 the following year. For a few years she was still active in chambers of commerce and at the municipal level. The UDCA or UFF has not been represented in any parliament since 1962.

heritage

Jean-Marie Le Pen continued certain elements of the ideology and rhetoric of Poujadism with the Front National , founded in 1972 , even if Poujade expressly distanced himself from it. In French political parlance these days , poujadisme is generally used as a generic term for populist or demagogic movements.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter Davies: The Extreme Right in France, 1789 to the Present. From de Maistre to Le Pen. Routledge, London / New York 2002, p. 131.
  2. ↑ Karin Priester: Populism. Historical and current manifestations. 2007, p. 147.
  3. ^ Robert Gildea: France since 1945. 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2002, p. 48.
  4. ^ Roland Barthes: Quelques paroles de M. Poujade. In: Mythologies. 1957.
  5. ^ Peter Davies: The Extreme Right in France, 1789 to the Present. From de Maistre to Le Pen. Routledge, London / New York 2002, p. 130.
  6. ↑ Karin Priester: Populism. Historical and current manifestations. 2007, p. 148.
  7. ↑ Karin Priester: Populism. Historical and current manifestations. 2007, p. 157.
  8. ^ JG Shields: The Extreme Right in France. From Pétain to Le Pen. Routledge, Abingdon (Oxon) / New York 2007, p. 76.
  9. ^ JG Shields: The Extreme Right in France. From Pétain to Le Pen. Routledge, Abingdon (Oxon) / New York 2007, p. 77.
  10. ^ Uwe Backes: Political extremism in democratic constitutional states. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1989, p. 223.
  11. ^ Paul Webster: Le Pen's ex- mentor regrets rise of 'liar'. In: The Guardian , April 28, 2002.