'Extremist right-wing ideologies' an increasing threat in France & 'across much of democratic world'

AI Summary

Joseph Downing warns that far-right extremist violence and divisive political rhetoric are growing threats in France and other democracies. He connects the danger to the stigmatization of diverse working-class suburbs and the radicalization encouraged by polarizing discourse.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Dr Joseph Downing, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Politics at Aston University. In modern France, the politics of insecurity increasingly extends beyond questions of crime and public order to encompass deeper struggles over national identity, disappearance of the political centre and erosion of democratic values. The emergence of far-right extremist violence, alongside the persistent stigmatization of ethnically diverse working-class suburbs, raises urgent questions about the relationship between fiery and divisive political rhetoric and far-right radicalization. Downing examines these interrelated challenges against the backdrop of a deadly shooting in the Paris suburbs, allegedly motivated by racist and anti-Muslim hostility.