What used to be framed as an extremist viewpoint at the fringe of French politics, the Great Replacement theory has propagated into a widely circulated concept, colloquially referenced by conservatives all over the global north. Proponents of the Identitarian Movement and the Great Replacement theory are fervent proponents for remigration, stricter immigration laws, and denial to asylum claimants—mounting support for “national preservation” in the face of an immigration “invasion.”
Given the amassing political influence of the Great Replacement narrative and European nativist groups, harmful rhetoric, online proliferation, political pressure, and acts of intimidation and violence are threatening efforts for refugee visibility, mobility, welfare, and protection.
The Great Replacement: A Growing War on Refugees
“In the face of the tidal wave of massive immigration, in the face of a school that hides the history of our people from us in order to prevent us from loving them, in the face of an alleged living together which turns into a nightmare...Generation Identity is the first line of resistance” (‘Génération Identitaire,’ 2012). Proclaimed alongside slick, high production value videos this mission statement is translated from the French Génération Identitaire YouTube channel. Launched in 2012, the founding of Génération Identitaire (Generation Identity) marked the inception of a modern Identitarian movement. It is a fast-growing, youth led, and far right movement. As an anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and white nationalist movement, Generation Identity advances the idea that “a global elite is conspiring to cause white people to be wiped out in their historic homelands” and that a so-called “white genocide” is approaching—a nativist conspiracy known as the “Great Replacement” (Beirich, 2020).
With the leverage of social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter (now X), the Identitarian Movement has been able to recruit sympathizers, diffuse rhetoric, and then cultivate proclaimed Identitarians through less moderated platforms like Telegram (Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2022). What used to be framed as an extremist viewpoint at the fringe of French politics, the Great Replacement theory has propagated into a widely circulated concept, colloquially referenced by conservatives all over the global north. Proponents of the Identitarian Movement and the Great Replacement theory are fervent proponents for remigration, stricter immigration laws, and denial to asylum claimants—mounting support for “national preservation” in the face of an immigration “invasion.” Given the amassing political influence of the Great Replacement narrative and European nativist groups, harmful rhetoric, online proliferation, political pressure, and acts of intimidation and violence are threatening efforts for refugee visibility, mobility, welfare, and protection.
Identitarian rhetoric and nativist sentiments are prospering within an increasingly bifurcated political realm where migration stands as a top political, economic, and social concern for Europeans. Groups like Generation Identity have been able to package Great Replacement arguments in a “zeitgeisty way,” leaning into appeals and language employed by liberal media to draw in membership and advance racist claims (Childs, 2018; Bierich, 2020). For instance, according to ISD Global (2022), across Facebook and Instagram Identitarians invoke feminist rhetoric and conversations about women’s rights to stigmatize Muslim men and strengthen an anti-Islam narrative. Across Europe, Great Replacement arguments have filtered into the Twitter threads, policies, and party platforms of the New Right, spanning from the Austrian Freedom Party to Lega Nord in Italy, Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the UK Independence Party. Any former sense of European solidarity for refugee protections has fractured, revealing much about anxieties in Europe surrounding cultural identity when compounded under a framework of “limited good” (Holmes & Castaneda, 2016). Instead, there exists a prominent trend of abusive solidarity, with refugees and irregular migrants as “suspect populations.”
Acts of Intimidation
The Greek island of Lesbos has become a nexus for the refugee crisis. Host to a sprawling refugee camp, Lesbos is a main entry point into the EU for asylum seekers and today, it is also a pilgrimage site for radical right and anti-immigrant activists. In 2020, Identitarians flocked to Lesbos from across Europe to confront and intimidate refugees. Adherents to the Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi movement in Greece, also travel to Lesbos to incite violence and discomfort (Beirich, 2020; TRT World, 2020). According to news reports, attacks by far-right activists have also been directed towards NGOs, volunteers, and other refugee aid workers operating in the region (MacGregor, 2020). From a shelter operated by the NGO “One Happy Family” being burned down to volunteers’ cars being battered with steel pipes, attacks on pro-migrant institutions are a signature tactic of the Generation Identity movement.
For refugees and asylum seekers, the threat of such violence and public retaliation renders them further immobilized and structurally deterred. According to Imogen Tyler, “asylum-seekers are detained by ‘race’ hate” with hate crimes mutating into effective mechanisms of border control and governance (2004).
Policy Influence: Fear of the Great Replacement
Today, the political influence of alt-right groups and GI adherents is evident in their ability to command dialogue on social media and successfully manipulate pan-European policy discussions. Evidently, media is a major agent in the representation of refugees, holding great significance in the ways of policy, public opinion, and “othering.” For instance, in 2018, a coalition of Identitarians, Great Replacement proponents, and far-right groups orchestrated an online campaign to pressure mainstream European parties to withdraw and abstain support for the U.N. Migration Pact. According to a report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, analysts concluded that right-wing extremist social media content played a disproportionate role in shaping dialogue around the migration pact, which represented a recommitment to safer and better managed migration goals (Davey & Ebner, 2019). A burst and domination of activity from far-right accounts swirled new controversy around the pact, influencing European government perceptions and disputes with governments denouncing the “right to migration” and “compulsory open border policy”–tenets that were not included in the U.N. Migration Pact but injected in online criticisms.
Concluding Thoughts
Today, arguments of “limited good,” infrastructure capability, job security, and economic feasibility are increasingly matched by demands for racial purity and mono-cultural national identity when discussing migration and asylum policy. The actions of Great Replacement theorists are derived from the notion of saving a continent and a people from invasion. It is a “resistance” reproduced in the criminalization of migrants, the militarization of borders, and the externalization of border control apparatuses. Supplied by the tools of social media and instant global connection, Great Replacement theorists propagate the demand for a white European homeland with tact, speed, and transnational appeal. This trend necessitates robust action from media platforms to combat disinformation, crack down on hate speech, and more. The spread and casual reinforcement of racist viewpoints and the chronic politicization of refugees have high and fatal stakes—impacting refugee rights, visibility, agency, safety, and prospective futures.
Works Cited
Beirich, H., & Via, W. (2020). Generation Identity: International White Nationalist Movement Spreading on Twitter and YouTube (pp. 1-12, Rep.) Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.Retrieved from https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GPAHE- July-2020-Report.pdf
Childs, S. (2018). THE NEW FAR-RIGHT. New Internationalist (515), 13-13.
Davey, J., & Ebner, J. (2019). 'The Great Replacement': The Violent Consequences of Mainstreamed Extremism (pp. 1-36, Rep.). London, England: Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Retrieved from https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The- Great-Replacement-The-Violent-Consequences-of-Mainstreamed-Extremism-by- ISD.pdf
Génération Identitaire. (2012). Génération Identitaire. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/GenerationID
Holmes, S. M., & Castañeda, H. (2016). Representing the “European refugee crisis” in Germany and beyond: Deservingness and difference, life and death. American Ethnologist, 43(1), 12–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.12259
Institute for Strategic Dialogue. (2022). French identitarians are mobilising around the 2022 presidential elections. ISD. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/french- identitarians-are-mobilising-around-the-2022-presidential-elections/
MacGregor, M. (2020, March 9). Greece: Far-right activists in violent clashes to 'defend Europe' against migrants. InfoMigrants. https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/23294/greece-far- right-activists-in-violent-clashes-to-defend-europe-against-migrants.
TRTWorld. (2020, May 13). How the Greek island of Lesbos became a hub of right-wing activism. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/how-the-greek-island-of-lesbos-became-a- hub-of-right-wing-activism-36275.
Tyler, I. (2006). 'Welcome to Britain': The cultural politics of asylum. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(2), 185-202. doi:10.1177/1367549406063163