In 1789, members of the newly-created National Assembly in Paris split between those for whom the king should retain an absolute veto, sitting to the Assembly President's right, and those who thought he shouldn't, sitting to his left. The primordial version of our structuring political cleavage was born: the party of order vs. the party of progress. This left-right divide has served as the founding metaphor of modern European politics. More than two centuries later, many are penning the obituary of that division. In 2017, the election of Emmanuel Macron against Marine le Pen seemed to usher a new cleavage, loosely defined as open vs. closed by some, nationalist vs. globalist or liberal vs. authoritarian by others. But is the left-right divide of yore buried just yet? Today we take stock of the evolving morphology of political fractures and map the main cleavages dividing European politics. With us this week: Francois Hublet, of Le Grand Continent, and the University of Manchester's Rob Ford, co-author of Brexitland (2020) and Senior Fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) network.
As always, please rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts or the platform of your choice, and send us your comments or questions either on Twitter at @UnDecencyPod or by e-mail at undecencypod@gmail.com. And please consider supporting the show through Patreon, where you can access the full episode including an extra section where our guests discuss the forthcoming EU elections: https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod.
105. Collisions: Origins of the Russo-Ukrainian War, with Michael C. Kimmage
104. Regulating AI, with Ian Bremmer & Anu Bradford
103. America First, Europe Alone? with Shashank Joshi & Bruno Tertrais
102. Woke America, Anti-Woke Europe? with Yascha Mounk & Pierre Valentin
101. Munich Recap: Trump's NATO Remarks & Europe's Role in Israel—Decency Deep Dive
100. Franco-German Russian Illusions, with Sylvie Kauffmann & Guy Chazan
98. 2024: European Inflection Point? Decency Deep Dive
97. Geert Wilders and the Rise of Platinum Populism, with Caroline de Gruyter & Ewald Engelen
96. The Strange Death of Spain, with William Chislett & Michael Reid
95. The New Poland, with Marek Matraszek & David Engels
94. The Americanization of Race, with Tomiwa Owolade & Remi Adekoya
93. The Spanish Right's Coalitional Conundrum, the EU's Looming Migration Crisis & Ukraine's Counteroffensive—Decency Deep Dive
92. Who Are Today's Europeans? with Ben Judah
91. Erdoğan's Odds-Defying Presidential Win, with Birol Baskan & Judd King
90. Zelensky's World Tour, Sunak's Comeback & Mitsotakis' Winning Formula—Decency Deep Dive
89. Charles III: Last King of Britain? with Peter Riddell
88. The Rise (and Fall?) of Erdogan, with Ryan Gingeras & Birol Baskan
87. Macron in China, Meloni Magic—Decency Deep Dive [BONUS]
86. The Ghost of Franco & Spain's Memory Wars, with Michael Reid & Nigel Townson
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Tucker Carlson Podcast
The Matt Walsh Show
The Glenn Beck Program
Mark Levin Podcast
The Michael Knowles Show