Many scholars and observers have noted that our historical moment is marked by an extraordinary populist nationalist conjuncture (Brubaker 2017). Across European contexts and beyond, radical right parties have obtained double-digit support on a platform protesting European and global integration. Existing scholarship has focused on the supply side of populism, examining its drivers. Scholars have… Continue reading “When the wounded nation strikes back”
Today, the divide from which Marine Le Pen profits has reached alarming proportions, most recently with the eruption of the revolt of the gilets jaunes. There is a saying in German – Totgesagte leben länger, roughly but not quite accurately translated into English as “Presumed dead but still kicking”. To put it more precisely – kicking quite… Continue reading “The Return of la Marine”
Recall that in the last CARR blog, I offered key definitions in the literature, including what we mean by the radical right, populism, nativism, and illiberalism respectively. I also highlighted some interpretations of these terms and underscored some of the links between them. In this blog, I want to offer seven theses on the rise… Continue reading ““The Global Rise of Nativism and Illiberalism: A Conversation on the Contemporary Political Pathology,” Part 3: Seven theses about the radical right”
The Christchurch massacre and the Australian state of mind. A cocktail that has been years in the making. The Christchurch terrorist carnage serves as a stark reminder that Australia is not only the home of funny beer commercials (“Fosters is Australian for beer”) and strange ways to play football, it is also home to an… Continue reading “What’s wrong with Australia?”
In my last CARR blog, I highlighted the rise of the radical right in various parts of the world. In this blog, I tackle key definitions in the literature, including what we mean by the radical right, populism, nativism, and illiberalism respectively. I also offer some interpretations of these terms and underscore some of the… Continue reading ““The Global Rise of Nativism and Illiberalism: A Conversation on the Contemporary Political Pathology.” Part 2 – Defining and Interpreting the New Radical Right”
Özil, like many others, has repeatedly stated that he would prefer to play for both national football teams if international football regulations made it possible. The recent case of Mesut Özil has shown a severe rupture in relations between German-Turks and German natives, which has been a long time coming, but went unrecognized while the… Continue reading “Radical-right backlash against Games of Belonging: the case of Mesut Özil”
Tom Watson promoted himself as a leading voice of Southern white supremacy, nostalgically evoking images of the “Old South” that drew legitimacy from its grounding in a combination of Jeffersonian political theory and cultural agrarianism. In 2012, I had the opportunity to spend a few weeks in Georgia, the most southern of the original colonial states.… Continue reading “A Populist’s Path: From Advocate of the People to Inspiration for the KKK”
On November 27 2018, a panel discussion was organized at the Centre for Humanistic Inquiry (CHI), Amherst College, USA with the participation of Maria Alexandrovna Sidorkina, Chip Berlet, Tamir Bar-On and Dwaipayan Sen. After a few words of welcome by CHI director Martha Umphrey, organizer and discussant Andreas Önnerfors, Associate Professor in Intellectual History at… Continue reading “CONFERENCE REPORT – THE GLOBAL RISE OF NATIVISM AND ILLIBERALISM – A CONVERSATION ON THE CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL PATHOLOGY”
On November 27, 2018, I was invited to a panel discussion at Amherst College entitled “The Global Rise of Nativism and Illiberalism: A Conversation on the Contemporary Political Pathology”. Based on my talk and remarks at that panel, I will write three blog entries. The first below discusses my thoughts on the media’s treatment of… Continue reading ““The Global Rise of Nativism and Illiberalism: A Conversation on the Contemporary Political Pathology”. Part One – The Radical Right in the Headlines.”
When analyzing the global collaboration between radical right groups, one needs to look no further than the Trump phenomenon, Brexit, and 20th-century British history. A core component, if not the core component of radical right ideology is nationalism (often described as nativism). Slogans of the radical right, be it ‘Britain first’ or ‘make America great… Continue reading “Right-Wing Nationalism Has Become A Collaborative International Enterprise”