Suchergebnisse

Populism may come across as little more than an extreme form of national belonging--nationalism run wild so to speak--a case for national psychologists or a kind of collective pathology. However, as so often, appearances are deceptive. "Paradoxes of Populism" argues that the far-from-random similarities with ordinary manifestations of nationalism should be approached not as a venture into the classical structures of nation-states and identities, but as a disruptive and destabilizing consequence of some of the constituent elements of sovereign nation-states becoming eroded and prised apart by contextual global processes and their agents. Hence, populism in all its varieties--and there are many, as the book demonstrates--is riddled with even more paradoxes and inconsistencies than mainstream nationalism itself--confusing causes and appearances, realities and fantasies, and turning the world inside out. The age of populism is truly the Second Coming of nationalism, and it has come with a vengeance. Its advent, however, happens in the background of real problems for millions of ordinary people in liberal-democratic states. This book sets out to engage with these real-world challenges as well as their political and cultural interpretations in the populist fantasia.

The articles in this special issue contribute not just to a better and much-needed understanding of Brexit and its impact on ordinary lives, inside as well as outside the UK. The Irish, (ex-)Yugoslavian, Hungarian and French histories throw the Brexit conundrum into interesting and timely perspectives. They teach us to appreciate that we can no longer afford to regard Brexit as an exception to the rule. We have to take it seriously as both a sign of the times and a harbinger of the future. The rise of populism has thrown this question into sharp relief. More and more member states experience Eurosceptical tendencies, and although the strength and form of these vary substantially among nations, they all pivot around popular and political emotions that hanker for more national sovereignty and less European integration.

Most theories of nationalism presume a causal link between 'culture' and 'identity' in the analysis of nationalism. This article argues for a more contingent linkage while drawing conclusions for the 'globalization of cultures-national identity' nexus in different theoretical domains. It goes on to review core assumptions about transnational identity formation, arguing that a distinctive phenomenon is a tendency to approach identities as strategic resources. This has significant impact on, for example, perceptions of boundaries and images of belonging. Finally, the article addresses central figurations between identity, globalization and European integration, in the context of the European Union viewed as an instrument for proactively handling transnational problems, and it proposes some salient differences between this 'Euronationalism' and nationalism in more traditional formats.