Le sol et le sang : L'immigration dans l'imaginaire de Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the Front national, often says that he is not fighting against immigrants but against immigration. That apparent contradiction can only be explained by an analysis of what migration means from a nationalistic point of view. Nationalism supposes that there is a holy link between each people and their own land, whose breaking is a real sacrilege. As he is accused by nationalists of being guilty of such a sacrilege, each immigrant is considered as an impure-blooded person, whose presence can corrupt the physical and spiritual integrity of the national community. It's a reason for the nationalist movement to justify all the measures leading to exclusion, expulsion and even extermination of the immigrants.