Social Bastion
{{short description|French neo-fascist movement}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Social Bastion
| native_name = Bastion Social
| logo = Social_Bastion_logo.png
| logo_size = 200px
| predecessor = Groupe Union Défense
| formation = {{start date and age|2017|6}}
| founder = Steven Bissuel
| dissolved = {{end date and age|2019|4|24}}
| headquarters = Lyon
| leader_name = Valentin Linder
}}Social Bastion (French: Bastion Social) was a French political movement founded in 2017 by former members of the far-right student association Groupe Union Défense (GUD) and dissolved by official decree in 2019 after several racially motivated attacks committed by its members.{{Cite web|last1=Suc|first1=Matthieu|last2=Turchi|first2=Marine|date=21 February 2019|title=La dissolution du Bastion social était déjà engagée depuis deux mois|url=https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/210219/la-dissolution-du-bastion-social-etait-deja-engagee-depuis-deux-mois|website=Mediapart|language=fr}} The movement advocated nativism and remigration.{{Cite news|last=Soullier|first=Lucie|date=6 November 2018|title=Le local du groupuscule d'extrême droite Bastion social fermé par la ville de Lyon|language=fr|work=Le Monde|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2018/11/06/le-local-du-groupuscule-d-extreme-droite-bastion-social-ferme-par-la-ville-de-lyon_5379703_823448.html}}
Inspired by the Italian movement CasaPound, with which they maintained ties, Social Bastion used similar political actions such as squatting, demonstrations, and humanitarian aid restricted to white homeless people.{{Cite web|last=Barthélemy|first=Hélène|date=14 February 2018|title=How to write history like an Identitarian|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/02/14/how-write-history-identitarian|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Fauquembergue|first=Anne|date=10 April 2018|title="Bastion Social" : stratégie et limites d'un nouveau mouvement de l'ultra-droite|url=https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/le-choix-de-la-redaction/bastion-social-strategie-et-limites-du-nouveau-mouvement-de-lultra-droite|website=France Culture|language=fr}}{{Cite web|last=Magal|first=Marylou|date=19 March 2018|title=Bastion social : les habits neufs de l'extrême droite radicale|url=https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/bastion-social-les-habits-neufs-de-l-extreme-droite-radicale-19-03-2018-2203821_20.php|website=Le Point|language=fr}} The group was also close to the Belgian Nation Movement and the Swiss Résistance Helvétique.{{Cite news|last=Rossier|first=Roland|date=31 March 2018|title=Des ultranationalistes se sont réunis à Genève|language=fr|work=Tribune de Genève|url=https://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/ultranationalistes-reunis-geneve/story/28727933|issn=1010-2248}}
History
Social Bastion was founded in 2017 by Steven Bissuel, a former president of the GUD in Lyon, and later spread to other French cities such as Chambéry, Strasbourg, Aix-en-Provence, Clermont-Ferrand and Marseille.{{Cite web|last1=Suc|first1=Matthieu|last2=Turchi|first2=Marine|date=5 June 2018|title="Bastion social": les secrets du nouveau GUD|url=https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/050618/bastion-social-les-secrets-du-nouveau-gud|website=Mediapart|language=fr}} Valentin Linder became its new leader in 2018.{{Cite web|last=Plottu|first=Pierre|date=29 October 2019|title=Le mouvement néofasciste Bastion social renaît de ses cendres|url=http://www.slate.fr/story/183429/bastion-social-gud-extreme-droite-radicale-ultradroite|website=Slate|language=fr}}{{Cite web|last=Krempp|first=Guillaume|date=21 September 2018|title=Le président du Bastion Social Strasbourg prend la tête du mouvement national|url=https://www.rue89strasbourg.com/president-bastion-social-strasbourg-president-mouvement-national-142634|website=Rue89 Strasbourg|language=fr-FR}}
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.{{Cite web|last=AFP|date=24 April 2019|title=Le mouvement d'ultradroite Bastion social dissout en Conseil des ministres|url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/politique/20190424.OBS12016/le-mouvement-d-ultradroite-bastion-social-dissout-en-conseil-des-ministres.html|website=L'Obs|language=fr}}{{cite web|last1=Belaich|first1=Charlotte|date=24 April 2019|title=Le gouvernement dissout le Bastion social et six de ses antennes|url=https://www.liberation.fr/france/2019/04/24/le-gouvernement-dissout-le-bastion-social-et-six-de-ses-antennes_1723142|website=Libération}} 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".{{Cite web|last1=Suc|first1=Matthieu|last2=Turchi|first2=Marine|last3=Bourdon|first3=Sébastien|date=18 November 2020|title=Dissous, le Bastion social se reconstitue sous de nouvelles identités|url=https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/181120/dissous-le-bastion-social-se-reconstitue-sous-de-nouvelles-identites|website=Mediapart|language=fr}}
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.{{Cite web|last=Poivret|first=Aurélien|date=13 December 2017|title=Strasbourg - Violences après le lancement du Bastion social. Deux identitaires condamnés|url=https://www.dna.fr/justice/2017/12/13/deux-identitaires-condamnes|website=Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace|language=FR-fr}} 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 and a Black Guadeloupean man.{{Cite news|last=Leroux|first=Luc|date=28 June 2018|title=Deux fondateurs du Bastion social condamnés à Marseille|language=fr|work=Le Monde|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2018/06/28/deux-fondateurs-du-bastion-social-condamnes-a-marseille_5322575_1653578.html}} In October 2018, a member of the Clermont-Ferrand branch was convicted to 1 year in prison for two racially motivated attacks.{{Cite web|last=Ledys|first=Jean-Baptiste|date=19 October 2018|title=Justice - Qui sont les militants du Bastion social qui ont été condamnés ce vendredi à Clermont-Ferrand ?|url=https://www.lamontagne.fr/clermont-ferrand-63000/actualites/qui-sont-les-militants-du-bastion-social-qui-ont-ete-condamnes-ce-vendredi-a-clermont-ferrand_13023622/|website=La Montagne}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{White nationalism}}
Category:Neo-fascist organizations in France
Category:Nationalist parties in France
Category:Eurosceptic parties in France
Category:Banned far-right parties
{{France-poli-stub}}