Why Fascism Is on the Rise in France : From Macron to Le Pen

Author: Palheta, Ugo

France

Published on 26 August 2025 by Verso Books in the United Kingdom.

Recent polls have indicated for the first time that a far-right candidate could win the French presidential election in 2027. Reactionary and racist ideologues increasingly sully the French media. Assaults by fascist groups are on the rise as they grow in size and confidence. How did this happen in a country once so proud of its revolutionary past?Writer and academic Ugo Palheta shows that the fascist threat is rooted in the triple radicalization - neoliberal, authoritarian and racist - of the French ruling class. Unable to win majority support for the self-interested policies represented by Emmanuel Macron, this class has sought support by adopting more radical right-wing positions. Palheta argues for a renaissance of anti-fascism to inspire resistance to the far right and the triple threat encouraging its rise.

Why Fascism Is on the Rise in France has repositioned the question of fascism to place it at the centre of intellectual debate in France.