Nostalgic Nationalism, Welfare Chauvinism, and Migration Anxieties in Central and Eastern Europe

Radu Cinpoeş,Ov Cristian Norocel

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-41694-2_4

Radu Cinpoeş, Ov Cristian Norocel

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41694-2_4

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Abstract

AbstractThis 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.

Highlights

Right-wing populist parties across Europe made significant inroads into main stream politics in the past couple of decades, to the point that they are actively involved in setting the political agenda in several countries
This chapter explored the interplay between claims of national culture and ethnic specificity, and welfare chauvinist appeals in the right-wing populist discourses in Central and Eastern Europe
The similarities in the discursive articulations of national identity and belonging in the three countries, which appeal to such aspects as history, tradition, territorial continuity, and religion, and are positioned against such globalizing forces as the European Union (EU) (Ádám and Bozóki 2016; Bustikova and Guasti 2017; Stanley 2016) were matched to a large extent by similarities in the way welfare chauvinism is integrated in the rhetoric of right-wing populist parties

Summary

Introduction

Right-wing populist parties across Europe made significant inroads into main stream politics in the past couple of decades, to the point that they are actively involved in setting the political agenda in several countries (the Brexit vote in the UK, and the election of Donald Trump in the US are but two such surprising examples in this respect). Within this context, increased attention is given to the economic dimension. In North and Western Europe, this phenomenon manifests through an ethno-centric protectionist discursive framework that highlights the need to differentiate between the “more deserving” people, which are conceived as belonging to the ethnic majority, and the undeserving “others”, those who exploit the welfare system, the “scroungers”, etc. – immigrants who do not belong to the national group.

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