CEPEL

Arnaud HUC

Career history

  • 2018–present: Participation in the Platform for Observation of Urban Projects and Strategies (Montpellier).
  • 2017–2019: Temporary teaching and research assistant at the University of Montpellier.
  • 2014–2017: Master's thesis in Political Science. Subject: Comparative study of Front National voting in southeastern and northern France.

Thesis summary

Regularly considered to be fertile ground for the National Front, peri-urban areas in France have gone from being in the spotlight to being overlooked. Seeking to move beyond this common and stigmatizing label, this thesis aims to study in detail the National Front vote in peri-urban areas. Using four cities in the Pas-de-Calais and Bouches-du-Rhône departments as a basis for a comparative study, the sociology of National Front voters is examined. This sociological study is accompanied by an attempt to explain why certain peri-urban areas seem to generate what some describe as a "withdrawal" vote. The various methods used show that in peri-urban areas, as elsewhere, voting for the National Front is not a foregone conclusion, but the result of specific social, residential, and ideological trajectories. The FN vote also presents a different, even contradictory, face in the Pas-de-Calais and Bouches-du-Rhône departments, contrasting a working-class electorate in the north with a more affluent electorate in the Mediterranean departments.

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

  • Forthcoming: Huc Arnaud, "FN du Nord contre FN du Sud ? Analyse socio-géographique des électorats Le Pen en 2017" (FN North vs. FN South? A socio-geographical analysis of Le Pen's electorate in 2017), Revue Français de Science politique, to be published in April 2019.
  • Forthcoming: Huc Arnaud, Négrier Emmanuel, "Occitania put to the test of political cultures" (provisional title), Pôle Sud, 2019/1, no. 50.
  • Huc Arnaud, "Two books examining FN voting from a localized perspective: Violaine Girard, Le vote FN au village, and Christèle Marchand-Lagier, Le vote FN," "Lectures," Pôle Sud, 2018/2, no. 49, pp. 122-125.
  • Huc Arnaud et al., "Two political regions in one? The 2017 elections in Occitanie," Pôle Sud 2018/1, no. 48, pp. 113-135.
  • Huc Arnaud, Négrier Emmanuel, "THE NATIONAL FRONT, FROM A BIASED PERSPECTIVE... Three books that take a different approach to the Front National phenomenon: Nicolas Lebourg, Letter to French people who believe that five years of far-right government would put France back on its feet, Paris, Les Échappés, 2016, 132 p. Thierry Beinstinge, Faux nègres, Paris, Fayard, 2014, 422 p. René Escudié, Chronique des Journées de la Honte, Volumes 1 & 2, Bookelis; 2015, 1242 p., "Lectures," Pôle Sud, 2016/2, no. 45, p. 155-170.
  • Huc Arnaud, "André Donzel, LE NOUVEL ESPRIT DE MARSEILLE, Paris, L'Harmattan, Coll. "Questions Urbaines," 2014, 176 p.," "Lectures," Pôle Sud, 2016/1, no. 44, pp. 165-175.

Articles in collective works

  • Forthcoming: David Gouard, Arnaud Huc, Jean-Paul Volle, Stéphane Coursière, "From Occitanism to Occitania: Territories, Voters, and Political Cultures" (provisional title), in Vincent Simoulin, Emmanuel Négrier, The Invention of Occitania (forthcoming late 2020).

Presentations at conferences

  • Huc Arnaud, "The newly elected local Front National representatives: 'over-politicized' figures seeking to repoliticize local assemblies? – A comparative study of two municipal representatives from the Rassemblement Bleu Marine," AFSP Congress 2017, ST36 – Local power, between politicization and depoliticization, 2017, 12p.
  • Huc Arnaud, Smyrl Marc, “Suburban Populism – A French/American Comparison,” After Suburbia Conference: Extended Urbanization and Life on the Planet’s Periphery, Toronto, 2017, 22p.

Degrees

  • 2017 PhD thesis, defended on December 13, 2017 at the University of Montpellier (Jury: Emmanuel Négrier, Nonna Mayer, Florence Haegel, Alain Faure, Paul Alliès, Christophe Roux)
  • 2014 Master's Degree in Comparative Politics and Public Policy at Montpellier I University – Summa Cum Laude
  • 2013 Master's Degree in Political Science at Montpellier I University
  • 2012 Bachelor's degree in Law and Political Science from Jean Moulin Lyon III University
  • 2009 General Baccalaureate, Science stream, specializing in Engineering Sciences.

Awards, distinctions, and coordination or participation in research projects

  • 2015 Regional Council Award: Best work on a topic of regional interest, awarded for a thesis on the sociology of Front National voting in the suburban town of Frontignan.