My take on the François Asselineau/UPR case (work in progress)
editNOTE to whoever might be reading this : This is an opinion piece, and I consider myself to be favorably biased towards Asselineau and the UPR.
I'm not planning an edit war, just collecting sources and analyzing what I consider to be an interesting case of conflict on the french Wikipedia.
I would appreciate if you would leave this sandbox alone, but you are welcome to write whatever you like in the "Other users' contributions to the sandbox" section.
Common abbreviations :
- EU : European Union
- FA : François Asselineau
- UPR : Union Populaire Républicaine
- FA&UPR : François Asselineau & the UPR
Accusation of mediatic censorship and derogatory treatment by the UPR
editThe UPR is notably under-mentioned by major french media outlets, even when factoring in its electoral results : some political formations claming fewer members (ex: EELV) or lesser electoral results (ex: NPA) receive much more coverage than the UPR in major media outlets.
Major media outlets also have been quite unanimous about their dislike of FA and his party and have been remarkably prompt to present him as a far-right conspiracy nut right after his qualification for the 2017 presidential election. Besides ideological motivation (media representatives are overwhelmingly pro-EU), I think this is mostly reprisal against the lobbying exerted on journalists by the UPR's online supporters in order to have UPR members invited to talk on these outlets.
Just putting this gem here : https://www.francetvinfo.fr/elections/presidentielle/enarque-eurosceptique-complotiste-cinq-choses-a-savoir-sur-francois-asselineau-qui-a-obtenu-ses-500-signatures_2086811.html
Edit war on fr.wikipedia
editWhat I know of this edit war is mostly based on what I managed to find in the page's and talk page's archives, as well as this article on Agoravox.
Most of the edit war opposed two camps :
- Camp A : People (mostly FA sympathizers, I surmise) protesting against what they considered to be a disparagement campaign conducted by camp B. They also complained about the censoring and repression of camp A people by camp B people.
- Camp B : People protesting against what they considered to be a promotion campaign for FA. They also complained about harassment from camp A members.
Camp B had the particularity of being mostly composed of fr.wikipedia administrators. The war ended with the permanent suspension or gagging of several camp A members, as well as a semi-protection of the page and the talk page.
Accusations of far-right ideology
editFA has been described by a lot of media outlets as a far-right-winger. However, none have backed these accusations by referring to a direct quote or deed.
FA has denied belonging to the far-right, and qualified these accusations as defamation. He publicly challenged anyone to find "the slightest trace of far-right [ideology]" in the UPR's platform and promised to offer a crate of champagne to anyone managing to do so.
The term "far-right" is quite vague and is exclusively used as an insult. I find it abusive in most of its uses. There is also much conflict about what the right and the left is.
For the sake of argument and consistency, let's use the current definition of Far-right politics on Wikipedia. Let's also refer to the articles "History of far-right movements in France", "Extrême-Droite (fr)", "Extrême-Droite en France (fr)" for additional context.
According to these articles, a far-right ideology is mainly defined by the following sub-ideologies :
- Authoritarianism, Anti-Republicanism
- Xenophobia, Racism, Nativism
- Laissez-faire Capitalism, Anti-communism or strong opposition to socialism in general
- Reactionary views, Conservatism
- Chauvinism, Nationalism
In regards to points 1, 2, 3, FA&UPR have taken a consistently opposite stance in their platform, articles, conferences, and interviews. Quoting the numerous examples proving this point would take a while and are quite easy to find.
In regards to point #4, FA&UPR have maintained a neutral attitude towards subjects such as gay marriage, nuclear power, and immigration policies, claiming that the UPR is open to conservatives as well as progressives. Let's also mention the fact that the UPR has communist members and that FA has been invited to talk at the Librairie Tropiques, a communist library (one such meeting at Tropiques) (another meeting at Tropiques). I find it strange for communists to be that friendly with a far-right-winger, but I might be missing something.
Concerning point 5, FA&UPR could be qualified as a nationalist (even though FA rejects this term), since the main objective of the party is to leave the European Union, the Euro Zone, and NATO in order to restore national sovereignty and promote national interests rather than foreign or supra-national interests. However, the same could be said for political formations such as La France Insoumise and Pole of Communist Revival In France, both of which are classified as left-wing while advocating national sovereignty.
In general, the term "nationalist" is mainly used as a slur and associated with the right or the far-right (ignoring left-wing nationalism) and isn't ever really defined. Thus, the desire to have one's country freed from foreign tutelage or inference is bundled with xenophobia and the hatred of other countries. This semantic blurring is common to pretty much every -ism I've ever encountered.
Finally, the french Ministry of the Interior has classified the UPR first as "Divers-Droite", then as "Divers" (i.e. outside the left-right axis, not to be confused with the centre, which is on the left-right axis).
In conclusion, I'd say that the "far-right" classifier is entirely unwarranted.
Accusations of conspiracism
editOnce again, most accusations never refer to any particular quote, but some do (see table below).
I regard these accusations as horseshit based on pretty much nothing but his style, choice of subjects, and a recurring pro-US and pro-EU bias in the mainstream french media, but don't consider this accusation to be completely unfounded. FA does have a tendency of occasionally attributing the cause of some events to the deliberate planning of some people or institutions (the US government, the CIA, the "euro-atlantists") where other explanations such as incompetence or negligence could be plausible explanations as well. He also tends to bundle different people in a "euro-atlantist" group and talks a lot about the US government and its Deep State as predatory and hegemonic.
| Accusation | Rebuttal |
|---|---|
| //Dalai-Lama & the CIA
The Libération article seems to have edited out the Dalai-Lama passage : http://www.liberation.fr/france/2017/03/10/asselineau-le-complotiste-aux-524-signatures_1554935 |
//Libération (2ndary source), Some declassified document (primary source)
http://www.liberation.fr/planete/1998/09/16/le-dalai-lama-a-ete-finance-par-la-cia_245939 |
| //Robert Schuman + Jean Monnet as CIA agents | //Some declassified document, Historia (removed by Historia shortly after its mention by FA)
http://www.historia.fr/parution/mensuel-675 Archived version of this page (26 oct 2016) : the mention "NB : pour des raisons techniques, le dossier CIA n'est pas disponible en ligne." doesn't appear : http://web.archive.org/web/20161026205850/www.historia.fr/parution/mensuel-675. I surmise this was done to profit from the sudden demand for this edition, but certainly not for "technical reasons". Some quotes and images from the article can be found here : https://blogs.mediapart.fr/danyves/blog/210317/la-no-news-d-historia-oui-la-cia-finance-la-construction-europeenne www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/27/the-european-union-always-was-a-cia-project-as-brexiteers-discov/ www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1356047/Euro-federalists-financed-by-US-spy-chiefs.html |
2017 election article on en.wikipedia
editFrom French presidential election, 2017#Candidates, in the "François Asselineau" section :
A sovereignist, Asselineau surprised political observers with his ability to secure the 500 sponsorships required to stand as a candidate. Formerly of the RPF and UMP, he founded the Popular Republican Union (UPR) in 2007 and has agitated for the French to exit from the EU.[1] Sometimes classified as a far-right Eurosceptic, he has denounced "American imperialism" and proposed leaving NATO.[2] He offered no endorsement in the second round.[3]
This is a rough translation from the French version (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élection_présidentielle_française_de_2017), although there's curiously no mention of conspiracy theories. The phrasing "agitated for the French to exit from the EU" sounds pretty wonky ; I assume it's a hasty translation from one of his detractors and could be greatly improved.
explanatory paragraph to post in the Talk section along with the proposed modification
edit//TODO
Proposed modification
edit//TODO
Other users' contributions to the sandbox
editPlease use this section to create your own subsection in order to comment or contribute to this sandbox. VladNautilus (talk) 14:44, 8 November 2017 (UTC)
Suggestions
editSuggestion #1 : Concrete accusations of "conspiracism" from media outlets directed at Asselineau
editMost articles simply describe him as a conspiracy theorist, but it's hard to find concrete accusations, based on something he actually said. It would be nice if someone could post a few links in this section, preferably from major media outlets (or Conspiracy Watch, since apparently the French Government considers it to be so) quoting Asselineau ? VladNautilus (talk) 09:40, 10 November 2017 (UTC)
Hello VladNautilus (talk · contribs). Not a suggestion here, nor interesting links yet… Just here to tell that you have a good, reasonable and dispassionate take on François Asselineau. Better than the article, on this day… Good luck for any improvement you could bring on this topic! Cvrx (talk) 22:15, 14 January 2018 (UTC)