La France Insoumise Occupied the Political Spectrum of the French
Radical Left: Tracing the Social and Political Dynamics of Its Rise
Ruihan Chen
College of Marxism, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610207, China
Keywords: La France Insoumise, Political Party, French Radical Left.
Abstract: The 2017 French election overturned the traditional ‘political pendulum’ power operation, and La France
Insoumise, as a newborn extreme left-wing force, won the widespread support of voters. Against the backdrop
of the decline of the traditional left-wing in La France, the rise of La France Insoumise is an effective explo-
ration of the development of left-wing power in France. By studying the political ideas of La France Insoumise
and analysing the political and social environment of France, this paper finds that La France Insoumise has
adopted new electoral strategies and means, innovated traditional left-wing political ideas, and joined forces
with other left-wing forces. La France Insoumise has not only catered to the voters' psychology, but also
seized the opportunity for development, which has provided it with the necessary space for survival and power
support for its rise.
1 INTRODUCTION
After the end of the Cold War, the highest political
power in France has alternated back and forth
between the left and right political parties through the
presidential election in the form of a ‘political
pendulum’ movement, with the two parties being
constrained by each other and ruling alternately, thus
forming a very distinctive ‘left-right divide’ tradition.
Entering the 21st century, France's left-wing parties
are declining. Until the 2017 French general election,
this power opera-tion was completely broken, ‘La
République En Marche’ leader claimed to represent
both the left and right forces, and successfully elected
the President of France; France's far-right political
parties have also begun to link a wide range of social
forces. At the same time, the rapid rise of La France
Insoumise has put the spotlight back on the far left. In
the first round of the 2017 French presidential
election, the leader of La France Insoumise received
the support of 19.58 percent of voters, placing it in
fourth place (Huanqiu, 2018). In the 2022 presidential
election, the political landscape of La France
Insoumise showed a more pronounced fragmentation,
further deepening the decline of the traditional
mainstream parties, while the left-wing populist
parties represented by La France Insoumise gained
even more ground in this election.
La France Insoumise, as a model for observing
the new changes in the political party landscape in
France, is rooted in the changing social context of the
twenty-first century in France, and as such, it has a
number of characteristics that distinguish it from
traditional party organisations.
Based on the new changes in the internal and
external environment of French politics, this paper
will ask the following questions: how the social and
political ecology of La France Insoumise has shaped
its unique political stance; and how La France
Insoumise has changed the French political party
system. The background of the rise and development
of La France Insoumise is examined in detail through
case studies and comparative research methods. At
the same time, La France In-soumise is placed in the
context of the entire French political party landscape,
and the uniqueness of the political environment and
the characteristics of the political parties are analysed
through comparisons with other political forces, thus
further analysing how the traditional political
environment and the new changes in modern society
have mixed and nurtured La France Insoumise. It also
analyses the uniqueness of the French political
environment and the characteristics of political
parties by comparing them with other political forces,
thus further analysing how the traditional political
environment of France and the new changes in the
modern society have mixed to produce La France
Insoumise.
Chen, R.
La France Insoumise Occupied the Political Spectrum of the French Radical Left: Tracing the Social and Political Dynamics of its Rise.
DOI: 10.5220/0013999000004912
Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Innovative Education and Social Development (IESD 2025), pages 443-448
ISBN: 978-989-758-779-5
Proceedings Copyright © 2025 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda.
443

2 LITERATURE RESEARCH
The rise of La France Insoumise as an emerging
political force in the French party landscape is a
striking phenomenon, which not only breaks the
traditional ‘political pendulum’ type of power swing
mechanism, but also represents to a certain extent the
repositioning and transformation of the radical left in
France and even in Europe. The following section
analyses the scholarly views on this issue based on
the existing literature in the academic world.
2.1 The Decline of the French Left
Front Provides an Opportunity
The rise of the radical left in France took place against
the backdrop of global economic turmoil following
the 2008 financial crisis. Traditional left-wing parties,
particularly the Socialist Party of France, have
gradually lost the trust of voters because they failed
to respond effectively to the challenges posed by the
economic crisis and globalisation. Zhang Li points
out that the leaders of La France Insoumise withdrew
from the Socialist Party due to its tilt towards
neoliberalism, founded the Left Party, and attempted
to reshape the landscape of the French Left by
forming the Left Front with the French Communist
Party as well as other left-wing parties (Zhang, 2017).
However, the Left Front's failure to achieve sustained
electoral success provided an opportunity for the
further rise of La France Insoumise.
2.2 Personal Charisma and Emerging
Media Broaden The Audience
By analysing the 2017 France presidential election,
Feng Yang argues that its leaders appealed to voters
disillusioned with the Socialist Party with their
personal charisma and innovative strategies, but that
La France Insoumise's idealisation of its platform
limited its wider electoral success. (Feng, 2018) Guo
Guoshi points out that the convergence of traditional
political parties and corruption has prompted voters
to seek new political forces, and it is through the
internet and new media that La France Insoumise has
quickly gained popular support and become a
platform for voters to express their dissatisfaction and
demand for reform (Guo, 2018).
2.3 Innovations in Political Strategy
Have Energised
The rise of La France Insoumise reflects a broader
realignment of the European radical left and the rise
of populism. Political parties of the European radical
left have undergone a significant ideological and
organisational restructuring, particularly in the
aftermath of the debt crisis, and many have
incorporated populist elements to appeal to voters.
This trend is reflected in La France Insoumise, which
is notably characterised by its confrontation of
traditional political elites as a populist (Wang, 2019)
This view echoes the analyses of Shuyi Peng, who
argues that the rise of populism, especially left-wing
populism, partially fills the gaps of traditional left-
wing parties on issues of economic equality and
social justice, but also risks simplifying complex
issues (Peng, 2020). Qiu Bing further analyses that La
France Insoumise has not only found a foothold in the
left-wing camp, but has also forced traditional
political parties to start reinventing themselves to
meet the challenges (Qiu, 2018).
2.4 The Capture of Social Needs Caters
to Voters
Through historical analysis and data investigation
methods, Feng Yang analyses voter behaviour in the
2017 French presidential election, revealing the voter
psychology and the influence of social media behind
the success of La France Insoumise (Feng, 2018).
Zhang Li, on the other hand, depicts the leader’s
political journey from his withdrawal from the
Socialist Party to the creation of La France Insoumise,
revealing how his political strategy and ideology
adapted to the changing politi-cal ecology and voter
demands (Zhang, 2017).
2.5 Future Developments and
Challenges
Despite La France Insoumise's strong performance in
recent elections, it still faces considerable challenges
for its future development. Wu Yunxi pointed out that
the fragility of the left-wing coalition and the internal
structural contradictions in La France Insoumise is
one of the problems that must be solved. In addition,
how to put forward feasible programmes at the policy
level and effectively respond to the actual needs of
voters are the key challenges that La France
Insoumise must face (Wu, 2022).
In summary, the rise of La France Insoumise
represents an important turning point in the politics of
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the radical left in France and Europe. However, its
longevity in the face of fierce political competition
depends on its ability to implement its policies and
respond to social change.
From the previous section, studies on the French
left-wing movement and La France In-soumise have
mainly focused on its role in the party landscape, and
studies on La France In-soumise have also mainly
been limited to this perspective. Few studies have
examined the social dynamics of the rise, and few
scholars have analysed party politics, economic
development, social psychology and other factors in
an integrated manner. At the same time, many studies
have focused only on the political ideas and
programmes of La France Insoumise, ignoring the
ambiguous political attitudes in which it operated.
3 MAIN POLITICAL POSITIONS
AND IDEAS OF LA FRANCE
INSOUMISE
The main leader of La Insoumise, a typical
representative of radical left-wing parties, first
founded the French Left Party to break with the neo-
liberalised Socialist Party, and then formed a left-
wing front with the French Communist Party and
other parties, achieving a breakthrough of radical left-
wing forces against the odds. In 2017, he founded and
led the La France Insoumise campaign, drawing on
the Spanish ‘Podemos’ party, which used social
media to great success.
La France Insoumise is both a movement and a
political party; it is a movement before a political
party, and it retains the movement's form of activity
even after it becomes a political party (Qiu, 2018).
Specifically, it is characterised by three main aspects.
3.1 The Development of a Consistent
Tendency Toward Leftist Unity and
Continuous Renewal
The leader of La France Insoumise has been a
committed leftist since the beginning of his political
career. While he was still working for the French
Socialist Party, he endeavoured to promote a coalition
between the PSF and the French Communist Party,
and he did so with great success. After the
establishment of the ‘Left Party’, he cooperated with
the French Communist Party again to establish the
French Left Front, showing a firm tendency towards
the leftist alliance.
At the same time, the leader of La France
Insoumise did not confine himself to his leftist
position in political practice. On the basis of his
adherence to the leftist position, he blended ecology
with leftist welfarism, emphasising the concern for
the common future of human beings. This sound and
advanced political idea compensated for the
shortcomings of the traditional left in terms of the
concept of national governance, and injected new
vigour into La France Insoumise and the French left.
3.2 Adherence to the ‘Common Future’
Action Plan, Which Integrates
Ecology and Welfarism
La France Insoumise's main 10 signature action plans
are: the establishment of the Sixth French Republic
through a constitutional referendum, the reform of the
electoral bill, environmental protection, sustainable
development, the promotion of social equality, the
reform of the banking sector, the rejection of the FTA
between the EU and the United States, and the
negotiation of changes to the EU's agreements on
ecology, economy, democracy and social agreements,
among others (Qiu, 2017). These 10 landmark
programmes all landed on focus on the overall future
development of French nationals, emphasising the
harmonisation of popular sovereignty with
international sovereignty.
La France Insoumise draws heavily on the
political ideas of the Left Front's 2012 election
platform, ‘Humanity First,’ but puts a stronger
emphasis on ecological transformation, with
alternative targets such as 100% renewable energy by
2050. At the same time, its leaders have incorporated
leftist welfarism, calling for progressive reforms in
response to the crisis and socio-economic
inequalities, and defending the welfare state, labour
rights and the redistribution of wealth, winning the
support of a wide range of labour groups.
3.3 Free Forms of Organisation
La France Insoumise has the characteristics of both a
political party and a movement, and is more relaxed
in terms of organisational management. The
organisation breaks away from the traditional
framework of political parties in that its members are
only required to express their agreement with the
organisation's views and ideals on an online platform
and to register as members. La France Insoumise
imposes fewer restrictions on its members, and is
more like a movement of citizens who share a
common vision for change than a traditional political
La France Insoumise Occupied the Political Spectrum of the French Radical Left: Tracing the Social and Political Dynamics of its Rise
445

party. It compiles its own action plan and carefully
distils its core ideas into campaign materials,
connecting directly with the general public through
continuous campaigning.
4 THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF
THE RISE OF LA FRANCE
INSOUMISE
The fundamental reason for the growth of populism
in La France Insoumise is the dramatic changes in the
social and economic environment in France as a result
of globalisation and European integration. As
globalisation and economic integration continue and
deepen, and in the face of increasingly open domestic
markets and brutal international competition, more
and more social groups have been drawn into the fray
and have been marginalised or relatively
marginalised, widening the gap between them and the
social elite, a process undoubtedly exacerbated by the
sub-prime crisis in 2008, which has intensified the
discontent of the ever-expanding marginalised groups
with the elites and the social system. social system. In
France's 2017 elections, the fallout from the financial
crisis remained significant, with the country's
economic situation gradually casting doubt on the
economic claims appealed to by traditional political
parties. In particular, the right-wing government that
came to power in the wake of the crisis, the traditional
left-wing Socialist government, and the Forward
Republican government that came to power in 2017
have all implemented neoliberal economic policies
that have not fundamentally reformed the system, but
rather deepened the entrenchment of class. The
antagonism between the French underclass and the
elite has intensified, social conflicts have continued
to fester, and the economic and social crisis has
gradually turned into a political crisis. The leaders of
La France Insoumise made redistribution of wealth
and resolution of the social division between the rich
and the poor the theme of their election campaign. By
declaring the seizure of political power from the
financial oligarchy as the means of implementation,
they succeeded in winning the votes of those
disillusioned with dogmatic communism or social
democracy.
The political situation and political culture in
today's world are undergoing unprecedented and
profound changes as a result of the technological
iteration brought about by the Fourth Technological
Revolution. The ability to quickly respond to social
issues, widely incorporate citizens' opinions, and
coordinate and integrate different policy initiatives
has become an important measure of the legitimacy
and effectiveness of political institutions (Fan, 2015).
Emerging media have gradually replaced traditional
media in promoting political ideas and competing for
electoral discourse, while political parties that first
started to discover and utilise social media and online
platforms for propaganda have gained a huge
advantage in party elections. For example, Spain's
‘Podemos’ party has grown to 370,000 members
online through the creation of a space called ‘PLaza
Podemos’ and the use of Loomio as a platform for
decision-making through Facebook, Twitter, popular
social networks and the news site Reddit. It has grown
to 370,000 members online. La France Insoumise
drew on the experience of the ‘Podemos’ party in
launching a ‘citizen's revolution’ through the internet
and social media, transforming traditional
campaigning into a new type of campaign. La France
Insoumise has created a platform called Discord
insoumis, which uses new media and the internet to
organise events, collect opinions, and formulate
resolutions and policies. It has maximised democratic
participation while bringing together other left-wing
forces in France, achieving a historic fusion of
socialism, communism, ecology and republicanism.
La France Insoumise's effective use of social media
has, on the one hand, provided French voters opposed
to right-wing forces with an outlet for their protests
and emotions, and, on the other hand, it has succeeded
in expanding its voter base by capturing the attention
of voters and promoting itself.
5 POLITICAL MOTIVATIONS
FOR THE RISE OF LA FRANCE
INSOUMISE
The glory days of the French Socialist Party in the
history of the Fifth Republic were the 14 years of
government by its leaders in the 1980s and 1990s.
Since then, the French Socialist Party's successive
losses in the 1995, 2002 and 2007 elections signalled
the party's descent into a downward trend. The re-
election of the Socialists to the presidency in the 2012
general elections did represent a ‘change of direction’
from the downward trend that the Socialist Party had
been on since the 1995 elections, but this proved to
be no more than a short-term rebound. The president
was rated by French public opinion as the ‘least
popular president’ during his time in office, with a
popularity rating of only 4 percent, meaning that the
French Socialist Party is still following the downward
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trend that has developed since the 1995 election
(Berdah, 2016). The Republican Party, the main party
of the traditional French right-wing conservatives,
was formed in 2015 as the Rassemblement du Peuple
Mouvement, which changed its name after losing the
2012 elections. In the 2017 election, the Republican
candidate was eliminated after the first round of
voting. Two consecutive election defeats have left the
Republican Party on the fringes of the French party
landscape. The rapid decline of traditional political
parties has led to a search for new political forces, and
the political ideas of La France Insoumise fit well
with the political mentality and tendencies of the
traditional working class, providing the ground for its
further development. In the 2017 election, according
to the data of the research company Opinionway,
among the voters who supported La France
Insoumise, excluding the supporters of the extreme
left-wing forces, those who supported the Socialist
Party of France were in first place. In other words,
Socialist voters constitute the largest share of the non-
far-left population in favour of La France Insoumise
(Opinion way, 2017). This shows that a part of the
voters who were disappointed with the performance
of the Socialist Party in power switched their votes to
La France Insoumise, which is also a left-wing party,
and became the biggest external force for La France
Insoumise in this election.
Similarly, internal changes within the French left
provided the conditions for the rise of La France
Insoumise. Radical left-wing political forces such as
the French Communist Party and the Left Party (Parti
de la République) created the Left Front in 2009,
which made electoral calls for progressive reforms in
response to the crisis and socio-economic
inequalities, in defence of the welfare state, labour
rights and the redistribution of wealth, and in support
of a renewed European treaty and an eco-socialist
economic programme. Despite the political
controversy between the different parties in
subsequent developments, in the end, the Left Front
remained united and continued to preserve and defend
left-wing unity in order to achieve a broader left-wing
coalition. In the 2017 elections, the radical left in
France rallied around the leaders of La France
Insoumise, providing strength and support for further
development.
6 CONCLUSION
La France Insoumise is not only a new sample for
observing the change of the political party landscape
in France, but also an effective case for studying the
development of left-wing forces in Europe. By
exploring La France Insoumise's development history
and political ideas, this paper comes to the following
conclusion: the increase in the support rate of the left-
wing political force represented by La France
Insoumise in recent years is the result of a
combination of internal and external factors, its own
political ideas and electoral methods have been
adapted to the current situation in France. In other
words, their own political ideas and electoral methods
have been reformed and adapted to the new changes
in the current French social and political
environment. However, La France Insoumise, despite
its strong influence, has not yet become a fully-
fledged party. In the face of its competitors, who are
also innovating and integrating, La France Insoumise
still needs to maintain its position while constantly
adjusting to win the struggle for political power and
resources.
This article analyses the reasons for the rise of La
France Insoumise from the perspective of the social
and political environment in France, thus bridging the
gap between existing studies on La France Insoumise
and the single perspective on it. However, given the
novelty of this research topic, there are not many
direct research results on this topic, and there may
still be perspectives that the author has omitted.
Therefore, in future research, the social and political
environment of France can be further refined to
analyse the deep-rooted reasons for the rise of La
France Insoumise.
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