Nationalism, Euroscepticism and the Radical Left and Right: A Short Response to Halikiopoulou’s, Nanou’s and Vasilopoulou’s (2012) S (original) (raw)
Related papers
The paradox of nationalism: The common denominator of radical right and radical left euroscepticism
What can explain the strong euroscepticism of radical parties of both the right and the left? This article argues that the answer lies in the paradoxical role of nationalism as a central element in both party families, motivating opposition towards European integration. Conventionally, the link between nationalism and euroscepticism is understood solely as a prerogative of radical right-wing parties, whereas radical left-wing euroscepticism is associated with opposition to the neoliberal character of the European Union. This article contests this view. It argues that nationalism cuts across party lines and constitutes the common denominator of both radical right-wing and radical left-wing euroscepticism. It adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining intensive case study analysis with quantitative analysis of party manifestos. First, it traces the link between nationalism and euroscepticism in Greece and France in order to demonstrate the internal validity of the argument. It then undertakes a cross-country statistical estimation to assess the external validity of the argument and its generalisability across Europe.
The paradox of nationalism: the common denominator of radical left and radical right Euroscepticism
European Journal of …
What can explain the strong euroscepticism of radical parties of both the right and the left? This article argues that the answer lies in the paradoxical role of nationalism as a central element in both party families, motivating opposition towards European integration. Conventionally, the link between nationalism and euroscepticism is understood solely as a prerogative of radical right-wing parties, whereas radical left-wing euroscepticism is associated with opposition to the neoliberal character of the European Union.This article contests this view. It argues that nationalism cuts across party lines and constitutes the common denominator of both radical right-wing and radical left-wing euroscepticism. It adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining intensive case study analysis with quantitative analysis of party manifestos. First, it traces the link between nationalism and euroscepticism in Greece and France in order to demonstrate the internal validity of the argument. It then undertakes a cross country statistical estimation to assess the external validity of the argument and its generalisability across Europe.
The Left(s) and Nationalism(s) in contemporary Western Europe
Nations and Nationalism, 2023
This article introduces our themed section on The Left(s) and Nationalism(s), which provides a comparative analysis of the relationship between nationalism and different left-wing parties in Western Europe. It highlights the innovative comparative perspectives offered by this themed section, which not only concerns a series of different geographical cases studies but also involves the ideological plurality of the Left. The larger research question that our contributors address is how different left-wing parties have dealt with the inherent ideological tension between the universality claimed by the Left and the particularism inherent in nationalism, as a doctrine and a principle of political legitimacy. The article stresses three main contributions of our themed section: (1) Western European left-wing parties do engage with the themes of nationalism and nationhood, but they often rely on convenient silence to solve some of the contradictions with their progressive ideology. (2) None of these parties have formulated thick versions of the respective national identities. (3) State-wide left-wing parties have used instrumental conceptions of nationhood to address the challenge of separatist parties, but only with mixed results.
Euroscepticism and Traditions of Nationalism
European Journal of Social Sciences, 2020
The European Union and its member states are in the effect of populism and its catalyzer populist parties. Most of populist parties are the right-wing parties and their politic discourses can be called nationalist. In this study, relations between tradition of nationalism within the context of its historic roots and in the current use, and Euroscepticism will be examined. European identity will be discussed as an important integration factor and populist parties of the European zone will be analyzed with internal and external factors.
The civic Zeitgeist: nationalism and liberal values in the European radical right
This article examines the relationship between nationalism and liberal values, and more specifically the redefinition of boundaries between national communities and others in the rhetoric of radical right parties in Europe. The aim is to examine the tension between radical right party discourse and the increasing need to shape this discourse in liberal terms. We argue that the radical right parties that successfully operate within the democratic system tend to be those best able to tailor their discourse to the liberal and civic characteristics of national identity so as to present themselves and their ideologies as the true authentic defenders of the nation's unique reputation for democracy, diversity and tolerance. Comparing the success of a number of European radical right parties ranging from the most electorally successful SVP to the more mixed BNP, FN and NPD, we show that the parties that effectively deploy the symbolic resources of national identity through a predominantly voluntaristic prism tend to be the ones that fare better within their respective political systems. In doing so, we challenge the conventional view in the study of nationalism which expects civic values to shield countries from radicalism and extremism.
Being European, the nationalist way: Europe in the discourse of radical right parties
Party Politics, 2023
European radical right parties (RRPs) have recently experienced strong electoral success and have strengthened their positions within the European Parliament. While their Eurosceptic positions are well documented in the literature, the fact that most RRPs refer not only to their nations but to Europe in general, as a collective, in order to ground their nationalist visions remains understudied. We investigate this issue by analyzing the discourses of MEPs from 24 radical right parties in the 8 th legislature of the European Parliament (2014-2019). Relying on a vast corpus (36,413 speeches) and using quantitative text analysis, this research sheds light on the various notions of Europe that are used by radical right MEPs. We find evidence of three visions of Europe: as a civilization; as an ethno-religious community; and as a liberal society. The use and preferences for each visions vary according to ideological positions, strategies and national contexts.
The Lefts and Nationalisms - Call for papers
2019
At a time of resurgent minority nationalism in some European regions, many of them clearly leaning towards the left, and when radical right and populist parties are attracting with success working-class support on the basis of welfare chauvinist proposals that pit natives against immigrants and globalisation in defence of the ‘national welfare state’, the study of the (often-troubled) relationship between the Left and the national issue acquires renewed relevance for both academic and practical purposes. The aim of the workshop is to provide new perspectives on the relation between the lefts and nationalisms. We understand both concepts as being plural. This diversity must be an object of enquiry as well. It will mostly do so by looking with a non-normative perspective at the tension between the universality shared (or claimed) by different left-wing traditions, intellectuals and parties, and the particularism inherent in nationalism as a doctrine and a principle of political legitimacy. The workshop will also simultaneously analyse the cultural, economic, social and political aspects of this tension (and their inter-relation).
THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE AND SOCIAL DEMOCRATS’ STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL - Hazel ÇAĞAN ELBİR
While the reasons for the rise of xenophobia and opposition against Muslims in Europe are being debated, Europe, in recent years, has drawn the appearance of continent in which groups that emerged with nationalist discourses and left-wing political parties are locked in a struggle for influence. In this struggle, over time, the center-left parties have begun to fall behind the rightwing parties. This trend has progressed to such an extent that, while Europe's center-left parties are struggling to survive, extremist rightwing parties are on the rise.
Social Movement Studies, 2022
For many left-wing and liberal social movement activists, support for ‘Europe’ and opposition to a ‘nationalist’ turn has become a key motivation for their activism. Paradoxically, however, their opponents at the other end of the political spectrum, far-right activists, also positively identify as European. This article analyses one of the key developments in the contemporary European protest arena, i.e. the dominance of European identities, even when activists strongly criticize real-existing European integration. First, we propose a novel conceptual framework that captures these dominant European identities. We distinguish between ‘anti-nationalist Europeans’ and ‘pro-European nativists’, underlining the existence of strong European identities across the political spectrum, deeply embedded in the mindset of activists even when they sharply criticize European integration in its current form. At the same time, these pro-European stances strongly differ in whether they are culturally inclusive or exclusive and how they relate to the question of nationalism or the nation state. Second, we apply these concepts to six key cases of movement mobilization in western Europe after the anti-austerity protests, shedding light on the anti-TTIP protests, Yanis Varoufakis’ DiEM25, the anti-Brexit movement in the UK, the Sardines in Italy (including their offshoot, the Herrings in Finland), the Identitarians and PEGIDA. Third, we further contextualize the ‘anti-nationalist Europeanism’ and ‘pro-European nativism’ of these six cases, emphasizing historical roots, the facilitation of coalition building, implications for transnational practices, and the meaning of silence. Methodologically, the article draws on online and offline publications, semi-structured interviews, and survey data.
Against Europe?: Untangling the Links between Ideology and Euroscepticism!
2017
The paper examines the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology in Western European countries and focuses on how this relationship is mediated by party system characteristics and partisanship. Additionally, we explore some distinctive national patterns in the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology by focusing on four South European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece), which despite their similar historical and social trajectories, as well as common experiences during the euro crisis in relation to the other Western European nations, they deviate in different ways from the European-wide pattern of interaction between ideology and Euroscepticism. Using data from the European Election Study of 2014 and the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, we show that the relationship between ideology and Euroscepticism can be heavily influenced by characteristics at the level of the party system, such as degree of party system polarization and the levels of supply of left-wing a...