Civil Society Between Populism and Anti-populism

AbstractThis chapter focuses on the activities of civil society formations in the European political environment. It argues that the long-established ethos of inclusionary civil society groups is undergoing a redefinition. Moralized ideational constructs such as "community", "belonging" and "solidarity", which have traditionally been associated with a cosmopolitan, tolerant conception of the role of civil society, are undergoing a process of redefinition. An individualistic, nationalist, exclusionary and socially conservative conception of civil society is emerging. The chapter frames the contrast between rival images of civil society through a movement–counter-movement dynamic, which opposes a populist and an anti-populist bloc. It interprets them with reference to studies of "civil" and "uncivil" society and provides a typology of their roles and values

Nostalgic nationalism, welfare chauvinism, and migration anxieties in Central and Eastern Europe

This contribution examines, in the Central and Eastern European context, the interplay between ideals of national specificity, welfare chauvinist appeals, and emerging politics of migration, for the purpose of providing welfare provision to a narrowly defined ethnic group, as promoted by right-wing populist parties in the region. We suggest a comparative framework to account the various positions that such parties occupy in the mainstream political systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Our study deals with the case of a right-wing populist party becoming the main governing force, such as the Law and Justice Party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) in Poland; the case of a right-wing populist party as key opposition force, such as the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom, Jobbik) in Hungary; and thirdly, the case of an unsuccessful right-wing populist party, such as the United Romania Party (Partidul România Unită, PRU). For our qualitative analysis we are drawing on the official discourses of these parties as articulated from 2015 onwards, since it marks the beginning of what has come to be referred to as the European refugee crisis. The aim of this chapter is to map out the various electoral strategies employed, with varying degrees of success, which juxtapose cultural protectionist appeals to welfare chauvinist proposals, and consequently shed light on the culture and welfare nexus in the Central and Eastern European context

Multiple Winning Formulae? Far Right Voters and Parties in Eastern Europe

Published online: 11 Oct 2019Can theories explaining far right voting in Western Europe be extended to post-communist Eastern Europe? We address this question with a comparative demand-side analysis of far right parties and their voters in four postcommunist countries: Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia. Our findings indicate the emergence of two distinct types of far right party. While the Latvian and Lithuanian far right resemble the new radical right (NRR) model, the Bulgarian far right comes closer to the welfare chauvinist ideal type. The far right mobilised anti-Semitic voters in Latvia, Slovakia and Bulgaria. In all four cases, the far right was especially successful in capturing the votes of ethnic majority members who are the most opposed to their country’s formerly dominant ethnic group.Djordje Stefanovic and Geoffrey Evan