Populismes et fabrique des droits économiques et sociaux dans le cadre des droits de l'Homme. Le Front national et l'Union démocratique du centre (1992-2013)

Doctoral thesis (2021)

Since the 1990’s, with the development of Europeanisation, globalisation and the installation of the neo-liberal paradigm, we observe in Europe the non-application of economic and social rights, despite ... [more ▼]

Since the 1990’s, with the development of Europeanisation, globalisation and the installation of the neo-liberal paradigm, we observe in Europe the non-application of economic and social rights, despite being aspired by the States of the human rights continent after the Second World War. At the same time, "national-populist" parties are gaining more and more support and are establishing themselves in the political landscape as a "right-wing third way", which would provide the answers that the governing parties do not seem to be able to find, in the context of an actual crisis of the welfare state. The aim of our research is to provide a comparative analysis of the discourses of the "Front National" in France, now Rassemblement National ("RN") and the "Union Démocratique du Centre" in Switzerland ("UDC/SVP") on economic and social rights, in order to confront them with the changes and public policies observed in our societies as a result of the neo-liberal paradigm. Using a cross-cutting analytical grid that identifies the characteristics of socio-economic discourse of a "national-populist" nature, this work is made up of numerous sources from both parties, studied over a period of twenty years : work that constitutes the boundaries between 1992, when the Maastricht Treaty developing the "European market" was signed, and 2013, with the start of negotiations for the signing of the transatlantic treaty opening the "European market" to the "US market". The research work is also based on original interviews with key figures from both parties and the creation of an online questionnaire aimed at elected representatives with responsibilities on a smaller scale (at regional level). Thus, the cross-referencing of our qualitative and quantitative data has enabled us to produce original results and to construct a new category of populist parties called : "national-populist parties opposed to human rights". Among other things, the latter develop in their socio-economic approach a will to defend economic and social rights but only for nationals, rejecting the universality of human rights. At the same time, they propose a hybrid form of capitalism with nuances between the "FN/RN" and the "UDC", combining a dose of protectionism but also a more or less sought-after integration into the "market". Furthermore, it is interesting to compare the discourses of a party outside government (the "RN") that has not yet participated in executive authority at the national level and a party associated with federal authority, the "UDC", both "inside and outside". Ultimately, in both cases, it is sovereignism and anchoring in so-called right-wing policies that seem to dominate the socio-economic DNA of the two populist parties studied. With the help of our research work, we can thus ask ourselves in what way does the "national-populist" discourse point to the failure of states on the human rights continent to implement economic and social rights as they intend ? [less ▲]