This interdisciplinary collection by experts on Europe and the Americas addresses the fusion of nationalism and populism. Essays provide in-depth case studies and theoretical tools to examine and compare various strands of populist nationalism.
Populist nationalism fuses beliefs that citizens are being exploited by a privileged elite with claims that the national culture and interests are under threat from enemies within or without. Ideologically fluid, populist nationalists decry "out-of-touch" institutions such as political parties and the mainstream press while extolling the virtues of the "people." They claim that only populists can truly represent the nation and solve its problems, and often call for unorthodox solutions that appeal to the common people.
The recent spread of populist nationalism throughout the world has triggered a growing interest in the subject, led mainly by journalists. The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump in the US have provoked a flurry of media coverage in Europe and the Americas, along with parliamentary debates. Some social scientists have sought to explain the resurgence of nationalism and the spread of populism in recent decades, but important questions remain and most of the scholarship has not adequately addressed the fusion of nationalism and populism. It fails to examine the combination of populism and nationalism comparatively, especially the contrast between the more progressive and leftist versions such as those in Latin America, and the more traditional conservative varieties that are gaining strength in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
This interdisciplinary collection by experts on Europe and the Americas fills this void. The volume examines various experiences with populist nationalism, and offers theoretical tools to assess its future. Some chapters are in-depth country case studies and others take a broader perspective, but all open the door for meaningful comparison.
For many years, populism and nationalism were consigned to the proverbial dustbin of history or taken as idiosyncratic exceptions to an irreversible pattern. The last few years have shown us the error of that judgement.? This excellent volume provides not only an analytical framework for understanding these contemporary movements, but also contains a broad comparative and empirical study of how they manifest themselves.? Many might wish the book had been published a few years earlier!
Miguel A. Centeno, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
With insightful analysis and impressive geographic breadth - combining case studies from Europe, Eastern Europe, North America and Latin America - López-Alves and Johnson's book offers an original, compelling take on one of the most pressing geopolitical developments of our time.
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Professor of Education and Sociology, American University
Despite widespread agreement on the "elective affinities" between populism and nationalism, very few works so far have addressed the nature of this relationship. This void is particularly striking considering the contemporary importance of populist nationalisms. This volume constitutes an ambitious attempt to fill this gap by advancing an innovating theoretical framework on the relationships between populism and nationalism and by including a rich collection of studies of populist nationalisms in Europe and the Americas.
Iván Llamazares, Professor of Political Science, Universidad de Salamanca
