Populism and the Collective Past: Revisionism or Memory Activism?

Abstract

Young right-wing populist parties such as Spain's Vox (Spain) and the Dutch Forum for Democracy (FvD), like other populist parties in Europe, have consciously engaged in forms of memory activism. Rejecting self-critical readings of national history – allegedly imposed by progressive, antipatriotic, and self-serving elites – they question the state and the academy as sources of historical authority, claiming instead the people's right to the patriotic pride necessary for national vigor. But both Spain and the Netherlands have also seen populist forms of memory activism from the left, fueled by civic movements defending the rights and narratives of the historic victims of right-wing repression and colonial violence. Although forms of memory activism from left- and right-wing populists have features in common – for both, the past is a political battlefield and an object of affection; both impugn the state and the academy – there are important distinctions as well. While right-wing populist memory activists are driven by nostalgia for traditional, patriotic narratives of the past, those on the left express a desire to complicate hegemonic narratives by giving voice to subaltern groups.