Social Bastion (
French: ''Bastion Social'') was a French
neo-fascist
Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sent ...
political movement founded in 2017 by former members of the far-right student association
Groupe Union Défense
Groupe Union Défense (originally named ''Groupe Union Droit''), better known as GUD, is a French far-right students' union formed in the 1960s. After a period of inactivity it relaunched in 2022.
The GUD was based in Panthéon-Assas University ...
(GUD) and dissolved by official decree in 2019 after several racially motivated attacks committed by its members.
The movement advocated
nativism and
remigration
Remigration, or re-immigration, sometimes euphemized as "repatriation", is a far-right political concept referring to the forced or promoted return of non-ethnically European immigrants, often including their descendants, back to their place of ra ...
.
Inspired by the Italian movement
CasaPound
CasaPound Italia (abbr. CPI; "House of Ezra Pound") is an Italian neo-fascist movement and formerly a political party born as a network of far-right social centres arising from the occupation of a state-owned building by squatters in the neighbo ...
, with which they maintained ties, Social Bastion used similar political actions such as
squatting
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
, demonstrations, and
humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...
restricted to white homeless people.
The group was also close to the Belgian
Nation Movement and the Swiss Résistance Helvétique.
History
Social Bastion was founded in 2017 by Steven Bissuel, a former president of the GUD in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, and later spread to other French cities such as
Chambéry
Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chambér ...
,
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
,
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
,
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...
and
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
. Valentin Linder became its new leader in 2018.
Social Bastion was banned by the French government on 24 April 2019, along with six other far-right groups, due to the involvement of several of its members in acts of violence.
Despite this, the movement has survived under different structures, growing from 6 to 15 local branches.
As of November 2020, legal proceedings are under way for "reconstitution of a disbanded group".
Convictions
On 12 December 2017, a leader of the Strasburg branch of Bastion Social was convicted to 8 months in prison for the assault of a young man of Algerian origin. On 27 June 2018, two founding members of the Marseille branch were convicted to 6 months in prison for the aggression of an off-duty
gendarme
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "Man-at-arms, men-at-arms" ...
and a Black
Guadeloupean
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the tw ...
man. In October 2018, a member of the Clermont-Ferrand branch was convicted to 1 year in prison for two racially motivated attacks.
See also
*
Far-right social centres
CasaPound building in Rome
A far-right social centre is a space inspired by neo-fascist and Third Position ideas, typically in the 21st century.
Italy
In Italy, a social centre called Il Bartolo was squatted in Rome, and was burnt down after one ...
References
Social centres
Far-right politics in France
Nationalist parties in France
Eurosceptic parties in France
Squatting in France
Neo-fascist organizations
Banned far-right parties
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