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Dédiabolisation (transl. de-demonization) is a term used inFrench politics to describe the normalization of the far-rightNational Rally (RN), formerly known as National Front (FN), since the late 1980s.[1][2]
The term was coined by journalistOlivier Biffaud in a 1989 article inLe Monde, where he wrote that "the National Front has been 'demonized' [diabolisé] for several years. It is now undertaking its 'dédiabolisation.' This, in essence, is the message that the leaders of the far-right movement have been trying to get across to their cadres since the start of the summer university they are holding in La Baule."[3]
Upon assuming the FN leadership in 2011,Marine Le Pen madedédiabolisation a key plank of her leadership, particularly by expelling openly pro-Vichy members from the party (including her father) and by changing the party's name in 2018.[4] The term was first entered into theLarousse dictionary in 2015.[5]
Dédiabolisation has continued into the 2020s, as the RN began to compete for the largest party in French politics. This latest phase has included the election of 28-year-oldJordan Bardella as party president in 2022 and with Le Pen distancing herself fromÉric Zemmour in the 2022 presidential election.[6]
HistorianAndrew Hussey has said thatdédiabolisation has "largely been a success" for the RN, saying that "a new generation has emerged... which doesn’t care about the RN’s murky past – which is well beyond their lifetime anyway – and who will be very soon be shaping the future of France."[7]
Robert Zaretsky of theUniversity of Houston has called the term "misleading," saying that it was "a public relations effort to change the public’s view of the party" instead of a change in the party's values.[4] Itay Lotem of theUniversity of Westminster has described the strategy as keeping the traditional FN "strategy of channelling nationalistic, anti-Muslim sentiment" but with a "polished, media savvy focus on eradicating any overt racism."[8]
Safia Dahani of theUniversité Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne has stated that established political institutions and media have played key roles indédiabolisation, pointing towards centre-right politicians who have defected to the RN, the election of RN MPs as vice-presidents of theNational Assembly, and the frequency with which RN figures have been invited to participate in media programmes, while the media has at the same time softened its descriptions of the RN as far-right.[9]