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.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Notes on the Contributors Introduction PART 1: Political Movements Chapter 1. Collective Psychology, anti-Southern Prejudice and Constitutional Reform in 1930s France: The Stavisky Affair and the Riots of 6 February 1934 Kevin Passmore Chapter 2. Avec une brutalite toute particuliere: Fascist Sympathies, Racial Violence, and the Municipal Police and Gendarmerie in Oran, 1936-37 Samuel Kalman Chapter 3. The Veterans and the Extreme Right: The Union nationale des combattants, 1927-1936 Chris Millington Chapter 4. Pacifism, the Fascist Temptation and the Ligue des droits de l'homme Norman Ingram PART 2: Gender and the Right Chapter 5. Right-Wing Feminism and Conservative Women's Militancy in Interwar France Magali Della Sudda Chapter 6. Gender, the Family, and the Fascist Temptation: Visions of Masculinity in the Natalist-Familialist Movement, 1922-1940 Cheryl A. Koos Chapter 7. Was there a Fascist Femininity? Gender and French Fascism in Political Context Geoff Read Chapter 8. An Overview of Women and Gender in French Fascism Daniella Sarnoff PART 3: Intellectual and Cultural Trends Chapter 9. "Our Body Doesn't Have to be Ugly": Physical Culture, Gender, and Racial Rejuvenation in the Croix de feu/Parti social francais Caroline Campbell Chapter 10. Defending Christian Civilization: The Evolving Message of the Parti social francais, 1936-1939 Sean Kennedy Chapter 11. Were French Elites Allergic to Fascism? A Study of the Reception of the 1930s Dictatorships in Three French Periodicals Laurent Kestel Chapter 12. Salvation, Satire, and Solidarity: Right-Wing Culture in Interwar France Jessica Wardhaugh PART 4: Historiography Chapter 13. Beyond Left and Right, and the Politics of the Third Republic: A Conversation William D. Irvine Select Bibliography Index