Ras l'Front (abbreviated as RLF) was a network of associations in France, aligned with the far-left.See Dictionnaire de l'extrême gauche, p.232Christiane Chombeau, « 1995: l'implantation », Le Monde, . It was established in 1990 following the "Appeal of the 250" (personalities), aimed at countering the Front National and its ideology.
Objectives This organization aimed to create and stimulate a "movement of resistance and vigilance" against fascism. It targeted citizens, associations, trade unions, and political parties to combat the Front National, its allies, and other parties deemed to support similar ideologies. The network claims to be independent both politically and financially. It consists of autonomous collectives and operates locally..
Ras l'Front employs various means of action: High-profile and media-friendly actions against the Front National and its perceived ideology. A notable example is unfurling a banner from the roof of the Opéra on 1 May 1995, during a speech by Jean-Marie Le Pen to his supporters.How Ras l'Front Bannered Le Pen – Libération, 3 May 1995. Public communication through distributing leaflets, selling a bimonthly publication (both on-street and by subscription), pasting posters, and organizing events for the collectives. The publication director for several years was journalist Anne Tristan, a member of the Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (Trotskyist), along with other prominent members of the association.
The association also publishes books exposing the ideas and actions of the Front National and contributes to discussions on ideologies it considers fascist.
History By the late 1990s the association appeared to have lost most of its militants.Ras l'Front: les heralds are tired, Anne Orenstein, Libération, 28 December 2000. However, some collectives reportedly remain active.For example, Ras l'Front Rouen.
In 1997 a stand at the Salon du Livre held by National-Hebdo, a magazine linked to the Front National, was ransacked by individuals claiming association with Ras l'Front.FN Removed from the Book Fair – Libération, 14 March 1997
Far-right journalist Emmanuel Ratier alleged that the movement was Trotskyist-inspired and used the antifascism fight to manipulate youth.Emmanuel Ratier, Ras l'Front: Anatomy of an Antifascist Movement, Facta, 1998.
In 2006 "Ras l'Front" found particular resonance within the far-left, especially the Ligue communiste révolutionnaire, from which many militants originated. The network is sometimes classified as far-left.See Dictionnaire de l'extrême gauche
In 2008 the Ras l'Front network was partially dissolved.Histoire de réseaux (1) Ras l’front?: « If we must lose, it will be for lack of courage to fight. » Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste, 27 November 2010. "This overflow explains the exhaustion of the network, leading to its dissolution in 2008."
In 2012 "Some Ras l’Front collectives still exist".Ras l’Front or the Experience of an Effective Network Que faire? April/May 2012.
Actions in justice In January 1997 Jean-Marie Le Pen was ordered to pay one symbolic franc to the association for calling it a "movement of cop killers."
In May 2007 Ras l'Front was convicted of public defamation after calling for protests in 2005 against a conference by the Fondation Jérôme-Lejeune.
Publications La Résistible ascension du F. Haine, Éditions Syllepse, 1996, 255 pages. Petit manuel de combat contre le Front National, Flammarion, 2004, 304 pages,.
Notes and references
Appendices Bibliography René Monzat, "Ras l'Front, twelve years of atypical activism," Outre-Terre 2/2003 (no. 3), p. 73–88. .
Related articles Anne Tristan Didier Daeninckx Gilles Perrault Maurice Rajsfus René Monzat Section carrément anti-Le Pen
External links Archived website (offline) hosted by Internet Archive, April 2012.