Rechtspopulismus als Klassenkampf? Soziale Deklassierung und politische Mobilisierung

Abstract

From a perspective of theoretical inequality, the causes of the rise of populist right-wing parties in Europe are attributed either primarily to socio-economic divisions or primarily to cultural divisions. Theoretically as well as empirically an integrated perspective appears more substantial, which understands the conflicts about truth and sovereignty of interpretation that arise in right-wing populism as expression of symbolic struggles which attack the entire regime at the present time. Following Pierre Bourdieu’s theory, the author explains how the political narratives of right-wing populism tie in with pre-political class specific attitudes and habitual patterns. The specificity of these habitual patterns results from transformations in response to the declassification experiences made since 1989, which also affect milieus in the upper and middle classes. The article illuminates the motives of mobilisation in three milieus: the conservative upper class, the traditional middle class and the precarious lower class.