The extreme right utopia in Belgium and France: The ideology of the Flemish Vlaams Blok and the French front national

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to compare the core ideological beliefs of the Flemish Vlaams Blok and the French Front National. The analysis focuses on these parties' attitudes towards humanity, the world and the relationship between the individual and society. The 'de-construction' of the far right 'new society' utopia in both countries shows important similarities, although some aspects remain contingent on national contexts and historical circumstances. In spite of the VB and FN's alleged commitment to representative democracy, our analysis illustrates a set of ethnocentrist, authoritarian and anti-egalitarian values underpinning an essentially non-democratic ideology.