A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #366 - Antifascism - Morbihan: Against Local Fascism, a Social Antifascism (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

While it is clear that the far right is consolidating its presence, both 
in France and internationally, this manifests itself differently 
depending on the geographical area and its social history. In Brittany, 
once described as a "mission field" by Jean-Marie Le Pen's National 
Front, the emergence of fascist groups echoes the recent rise of the 
National Rally (RN) at the ballot box. In Lorient, efforts are underway 
to counter this with a broad and unified antifascism. While maintaining 
a critical distance from the electoral results, whose biases are well 
known-with 26 out of 27 constituencies having RN candidates qualify for 
the second round of the 2024 legislative elections-Brittany is no longer 
immune to the national reactionary movement.

In Morbihan, two far-right groups have recently established themselves: 
An Tour-Tan in Vannes and La Digue in Lorient. This is a worrying 
development since the cessation of activities by Adsav, a party within 
the Breton nationalist and separatist movement, which officially ended 
its operations around 2016. While An Tour-Tan attempts to present itself 
as a "cultural" association offering Breton language classes and 
recreational activities to conceal its ideological alignment with the 
Flemish far right, La Digue openly displays its nationalist and royalist 
leanings. In both cases, the same tactics are employed, as elsewhere: 
aggressive propaganda, combat groups, and direct action against 
progressive activists, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Thus, in recent years, the misdeeds of fascist groups have multiplied, 
ranging from attacks against union members to the burning of LGBTQ+ 
books during Pride Month, documented in a video deliberately mimicking 
Nazi Germany, and including numerous acts of intimidation. We have also 
seen individuals, including soldiers based in Lorient, attack protesters 
following Nahel's death, with the tacit support of law enforcement, in a 
context of permissive repressive violence and reactionary ideologies. In 
November, the Digue group crossed a new threshold by extensively tagging 
the University of Lorient with, in addition to the usual vile messages, 
a clearly transphobic attack targeting a female activist, and then 
assaulting those who came to cover up their graffiti.

The desire to organize against fascism is real but faces the same 
difficulties as elsewhere. While we must not cede the streets to the far 
right, whatever form its expression takes, it is equally essential to 
continue substantive work, not just reacting, to combat the permeability 
of its ideas. This requires broad, unified efforts, involving 
organizations that do not share the same political agenda.

To this end, UCL helped to initiate the creation of the Morbihan 
Antifascist Collective (CAM) in 2022. Since then, the CAM has 
facilitated the organization of conferences, provided monitoring, and, 
above all, strengthened the capacity to respond collectively to attacks. 
In October, the collective helped to ban a demonstration at La Digue, 
but maintained its own call to assemble, which brought together a wide 
range of groups, including electoral political organizations, 
antifascist groups, and citizens' associations. This collaborative work, 
while arduous and time-consuming, is essential because our antifascism 
must be social. It cannot confine itself to purely radical discourse and 
practices, often inaudible to a large majority of the population, nor, 
conversely, remain passive towards organizations whose primary response 
lies in elections or the actions of the state apparatus.

UCL Lorient

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Morbihan-Contre-le-fascisme-local-un-antifascisme-social
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