The French right between the wars: political and intellectual movements from conservatism to fascism

Collective psychology, anti-southern prejudice and constitutional reform in 1930s France : the Stavisky affair and the riots of 6 February 1934 / Kevin Passmore -- Avec une brutalité toute particulière : fascist sympathies, racial violence, and the municipal : police and gendarmerie in Oran, 1936-37 / Samuel Kalman -- The veterans and the extreme right : the Union nationale des combattants, 1927-1936 / Chris Millington -- Pacifism, the fascist temptation and the ligue des droits de l'homme / Norman Ingram -- Right-wing feminism and conservative women's militancy in interwar France / Magali Della Sudda -- Gender, the family, and the fascist temptation : visions of masculinity in the natalist-familialist movement, 1922-1940 / Cheryl A. Koos -- Was there a fascist femininity? : gender and French fascism in political context / Geoff Read -- An overview of women and gender in French fascism / Daniella Sarnoff -- "Our body doesn't have to be ugly" : physical culture, gender, and racial rejuvenation in the Croix de feu/Parti social français / Caroline Campbell -- Defending christian civilization : the evolving message of the Parti social français, 1936-1939 / Sean Kennedy -- Were French elites allergic to fascism? : a study of the reception of the 1930s dictatorships in three French periodicals / Laurent Kestel -- Salvation, satire, and solidarity : right-wing culture in interwar France / Jessica Wardhaugh -- Beyond left and right, and the politics of the Third Republic : a conversation / William D. Irvine

During the interwar years France experienced severe political polarization. At the time many observers, particularly on the left, feared that the French right had embraced fascism, generating a fierce debate that has engaged scholars for decades, but has also obscured critical changes in French society and culture during the 1920s and 1930s. This collection of essays shifts the focus away from long-standing controversies in order to examine various elements of the French right, from writers to politicians, social workers to street fighters, in their broader social, cultural, and political contexts. It offers a wide-ranging reassessment of the structures, mentalities, and significance of various conservative and extremist organizations, deepening our understanding of French and European history in a troubled yet fascinating era.

During the interwar years France experienced severe political polarization. At the time many observers, particularly on the left, feared that the French right had embraced fascism, generating a fierce debate that has engaged scholars for decades, but has also obscured critical changes in French society and culture during the 1920s and 1930s. This collection of essays shifts the focus away from long-standing controversies in order to examine various elements of the French right, from writers to politicians, social workers to street fighters, in their broader social, cultural, and political con