Xenophobic Parties Research Articles

East German History and the Crisis of Liberal Democracy

On September 25, 2017, Germany awoke to the horrifying reality that the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party founded in 2013, had romped to third place in the previous day's federal election. With 12.6% of the vote, the party became not only the official face of the opposition to Angela Merkel's not-so-grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), but also the first far-right party to enter the Bundestag since the 1950s. Election watchers soon noticed that the AfD had racked up stunning margins in the states that once made up the German Democratic Republic (GDR), coming in first on the second ballot (Zweitstimme) in Saxony and second in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. That the AfD, a racist and xenophobic party that campaigns against European integration and immigration, should do so well in once-socialist states bespoke East Germany's strange resonances in German culture and memory nearly thirty years after its dissolution.

A Spectre is Haunting Swedish Archaeology – The Spectre of Politics: Archaeology, Cultural Heritage and the Present Political Situation in Sweden

Today Swedish archaeology and cultural heritage management are embraced by the xenophobic party Sweden Democrats. This is a problematic situation, and once again it is therefore time to discuss the rela­ tionship between archaeology, cultural heritage and politics – not as a consequence of theoretical considera­ tions and standpoints, but against the background of the harsh political reality. The overall aim of this pa­ per is to contribute to the discussion concerning which strategy, or strategies, Swedish archaeology and cul­ tural heritage management should adopt as a response to the present political situation and as a defence of a solidaristic and multicultural Swedish society.

Scientifically Informed Solidarity: Changing Anti-Immigrant Prejudice about Universal Access to Health

Currently, anti-immigrant sentiment has emerged again in European countries, as witnessed, for example, by the rise of xenophobic parties in many member states. This is a prejudice that is not new but that intensifies in certain circumstances, such as the economic crisis. This change in attitudes towards immigration has an impact on the preferences of citizens regarding the universal access to public resources and rights. The results of this article come from the analysis of certain variables of the Transnational European Solidarity Survey (TESS) conducted during 2016 in 13 member countries of the European Union. Specifically, two packages of variables are analysed regarding the degree of solidarity in relation to the access to public health services for immigrants before and after receiving scientific information about the collective benefits of the provision of health for the entire population, including undocumented immigrants. While there is much literature that analyses how scientific literacy in health and education issues improves the situation of vulnerable groups, few studies have analysed how scientific knowledge helps to modify the prejudices and discriminatory attitudes of the general population, thus contributing to the improvement of the health of the entire population.

The AfD, Pegida, and Ethnopluralism in Eastern Germany

Since its founding in 2013 as a conservative party opposed to Germany's policies during the Eurocrisis, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has moved to the farright and, like the populist movement Pegida which shares many of the same goals, has increasingly become a nativist, xenophobic party. While scholars have analyzed their anti-immigrant and nationalist platform, this article examines their call for an ethnopluralist nation-state. Both the AfD and Pegida claim they are not racist nor are calling for an ethnonationalist state (Germany for the Germans), but what they are advocating for is an organicist state that rejects multiculturalism and religious plurality.

Otherness as a form of intersubjective social exclusion

PurposeThis study aims to review the theory based on «otherness» as a form of social exclusion and symbolic violence from the constructions of realities of the media, with particular emphasis on the ethics and aesthetics of language and its role in materializing identity differences.Design/methodology/approachA search for specific criteria andbooleanalgorithms is carried out in Web of Science and Scopus on «otherness» [AND] «social exclusion», to then submit the emerging results to a co-occurrence matrix by citations with VOSViewer v. 1.6.13. From the relation tree of the most cited documents [min = 7] of the downloaded articles, a critical/analytical reading is made.Findings«Otherness» is reviewed to a greater extent from a Western perspective, and more specifically, from a Eurocentric one. This implies that the study of «otherness» is not sufficiently analyzed by Asian or African authors, who are excluded from the analysis. In this sense, «otherness» is understood as a theoretical construct and as any symbolic construction of the other (phenotypically, but also in ideology, values and customs), but which carries a load of stereotypes that can become polarization, demonization, ergo and violence.Originality/valueRevisiting «otherness» as an informative construct becomes imperative in light of the emergence of extremist groups and xenophobic parties, as well as separatist policies such as Brexit or the Catalan split in Spain. Few articles contribute to elaborating a complete conceptual construct on «otherness» as an epistemological category of communication and information, so this research effort attempts to compile its theoretical discussion.

Human Smuggling Under Risk: Evidence From the Mediterranean

Since 2007, the number of refugees fleeing conflict and violence has doubled to about 25 million. Mass migration has destabilized the European Union, lead to broad changes in national immigration policies, and triggered the resurgence of far right, xenophobic political parties. Yet little is known about how illicit human smuggling institutions may be driving migration and the subsequent political changes. We leverage granular data on migrant flows across the Mediterranean, coupled with information about sea routes, riots at port cities, and wave conditions, to conduct two studies. We find substantial evidence that migrant flows respond to political and environmental risks as well as a government-led counter-smuggling intervention. These findings clarify drivers of migration and suggest actions that can be taken to mitigate human smuggling.

Cueing the radical voter: The impact of economic, immigration and integration cues on public fear of the EU

This article analyses the extent to which radical left parties (RLPs) and radical right parties (RRPs) invoke fear of the EU in their voters by cueing on the economic, immigration and integration dimensions. In the West, mainstream theories of party cueing hold, although not in the predicted direction. RLPs cue on the economic dimension, with more protectionist cues resulting in less EU fear. RRPs are cueing on immigration, although respondents who vote for a more xenophobic party are less Eurosceptic. In the East, RLPs cue on immigration, with the anticipated outcome that a more xenophobic cue conditions greater EU fear. At the same time, RRPs cue on integration directly, with respondents who vote for a more Eurosceptic party exhibiting less fear. Overall, the most Eurosceptic respondents in the West are those who vote for a RRP, while the same is true for RLP voters in the East.

To Care and Protect: Care Workers Confronting Sweden Democrats in their Workplace

Austerity policies across European countries have encountered diverse forms of public protest and resistance. In Sweden, we have seen the emergence of a number of networks and organizations which take care workers’ professional identity as their point of departure. These networks and organizations stress the impossibility of being professional care workers in slimmed-down, neoliberal organizations. Parallel to this, and sometimes embedded into one another, female-dominated professions (e.g. social workers, nurses, doctors, and teachers) have been engaged in opposing restrictive refugee policies. This article analyses how care workers in an emergency room in Malmö mobilized against a visit by Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the right-wing, xenophobic Sweden Democrats. The article explores how workers used a gendered discourse of care and professionalism to argue that their actions were consistent with both organizational culture and their professional ethics. The article shows how, by defending their professional role of providing quality care to all in need, workers challenge both austerity and racist policies, which both impose restrictions on who has the right to care. Theoretically, the article explores how the politicization of care creates spaces of resistance, to critique both austerity policies and exclusionary understandings of national belonging. The study stresses the importance of identifying emerging forms of collective resistance among care workers at the intersection of the struggles against austerity and right-wing xenophobic parties.

The geography of anti-immigrant attitudes across Europe, 2002–2014

ABSTRACTEurope has become a major destination for international migrants. By 2015, 34.3 million people living in an EU member state were born outside of the EU-28, and an additional 18.5 million persons had been born in another EU country than the one currently residing in. In this context of a growing foreign-born population, which is now at about 10% of the total European population, xenophobic attitudes against immigrants are generally perceived as having increased over the past decade across Europe. This study explores the extent to which anti-immigrant hostility is spatially dependent and has spread geographically across European regions of that period. Based on data from seven rounds (2002–2014) of the European Social Survey, analysed at sub-national (NUTS 2 regions) levels, we identify a significant spatial connectivity of anti-immigrant attitudes by showing that spatially more proximate European regions share similar in trends in anti-immigrant sentiments than we observe between more distant regions. The identification of a spatially dependent diffusion and clustering process of anti-immigrant attitudes has a significant bearing for the understanding of the rise and fall of populist movements across Europe and changing electoral support for xenophobic parties across European regions over time.

Safety for whom? Exploring femonationalism and care-racism in Sweden

In Sweden, support for right-wing xenophobic parties and neo-Nazi inspired organisations are on the increase, and are connected with, and manifested through, an emotional regime of hate directed towards feminism and towards women embodying feminist agendas. At the same time, feminist-inspired concerns about gender equality are often mobilised and appropriated for racist and anti-immigration arguments.The article explores this conjuncture between racism and anti-feminism as a political project, focusing particularly on how anti-feminist agendas act upon notions of trygghet (safety) and connects these to a nationalist and racist agenda. The article also explores the diverse ways in which self-identified antiracist feminists, many of them with migrant backgrounds and/or identifying as queer, confront these attacks and struggle for alternative understandings of safety that transcend hetero-patriarchal and ethno-nationalist agendas.

Trump and the Populist Authoritarian Parties:The Silent Revolutionin Reverse

Growing up taking survival for granted makes people more open to new ideas and more tolerant of outgroups. Insecurity has the opposite effect, stimulating an Authoritarian Reflex in which people close ranks behind strong leaders, with strong in-group solidarity, rejection of outsiders, and rigid conformity to group norms. The 35 years of exceptional security experienced by developed democracies after WWII brought pervasive cultural changes, including the rise of Green parties and the spread of democracy. During the past 35 years, economic growth continued, but virtually all of the gains went to those at the top; the less-educated experienced declining existential security, fueling support for Populist Authoritarian phenomena such as Brexit, France’s National Front and Trump’s takeover of the Republican party. This raises two questions: (1) “What motivates people to support Populist Authoritarian movements?” And (2) “Why is the populist authoritarian vote so much higher now than it was several decades ago in high-income countries?” The two questions have different answers. Support for populist authoritarian parties is motivated by a backlash against cultural change. From the start, younger Postmaterialist birth cohorts supported environmentalist parties, while older, less secure cohorts supported authoritarian xenophobic parties, in an enduring intergenerational value clash. But for the past three decades, strong period effects have been working to increase support for xenophobic parties: economic gains have gone almost entirely to those at the top, while a large share of the population experienced declining real income and job security, along with a large influx of immigrants and refugees. Cultural backlash explains why given individuals support Populist Authoritarian movements. Declining existential security explains why support for these movements is greater now than it was thirty years ago.

The electoral payoff of immigration flows for anti-immigration parties: the case of Italy’s Lega Nord

The aim of this article is to examine and quantify the relationship between regular immigration and voting for anti-immigration parties in Italy’s eight Northern regions – from 1992 to 2015 – and in Italy’s forty-five Northern provinces from 2004 to 2015. Firstly, we identified the Lega Nord as Italy’s main xenophobic party, then we used a fixed effects regression model for panel data to test our hypothesis, while controlling for a series of social, political and economic variables. Our results suggest that there is a positive and significant effect: an increase of 1 per cent in the number of new regular immigrants is associated with an increase of more than 2 per cent in the votes given to the Lega Nord; voter-turnout is significantly and negatively associated with Lega Nord’s vote-share, and a high perception of crime – but not actual crime – is positively associated with anti-immigration votes. At the provincial level, we also found a positive association between Muslim foreign population and Lega Nord’s vote-share. These results ought to be considered along with the fact that Northern Italy is highly representative of the wealthiest and most densely populated regions of Europe, suggesting the possibility that similar phenomena could be witnessed in other comparable contexts.

Crisis of Solidarity? Changing Welfare and Migration Regimes in Sweden

Europe is in crisis. In recent years, there has been a rise of xenophobic parties in a number of European countries. While arguing that there is indeed a European crisis, this article focuses on the Swedish take on the crisis. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of migration, from a Swedish vantage point. This orientation has particular significance since Sweden has traditionally been extolled as defending human rights and multiculturalism by opening its doors to refugees – the so-called Swedish exceptionalism. Reality, however, is quite different and former policies are contested, raising the question whether this signals the end of this exceptionalism. In Sweden, ongoing processes are transforming the core social fabric of what was previously known as the Swedish model. It is potentially a bellwether for the transformation of a previously inclusive democratic society into something quite different, in which ‘the Other’ increasingly plays a defining role.

Ethnic Segregation and Xenophobic Party Preference: Exploring the Influence of the Presence of Visible Minorities on Local Electoral Support for the Sweden Democrats

ABSTRACT:This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the influence of the neighborhood-level presence of visible minorities on xenophobic party support. Drawing on previous research on support for xenophobic political parties in Europe, we explore variations in electoral preferences for the Sweden Democrats. We examine relationships between the presence of visible minorities at the neighborhood level, controlling for the level of unemployment and education both in terms of potentially additive and interactive effects. We find that increased exposure of visible minorities unambiguously leads to an increase in xenophobic voting if the district level of unemployment is high. Where unemployment is low the effect of increased exposure may instead lead to reduced xenophobic party support, due to complex interaction effects involving aggregate education level. The results are discussed in the light of possible public policy measures to combat unemployment in multicultural democracies.

Political parties and citizenship legislation change in EU28 countries, 1992–2013

I analyze the changes to naturalization and jus soli legislation in EU28 states between 1992 and 2013, examining the links with the party composition of the cabinet in power. The direction, inclusive or restrictive, of the 104 changes to legislation analyzed, shows a variable but intelligible link to the left–right position and EU Parliament group affiliation of government parties. Distinguishing between EU15 states and post-1995 EU member states results in clearer links between politics and citizenship legislation change in the EU15, and also in less clear links in the post-1995 EU. Finally, a number of different analytical approaches all show limited evidence of the role of far-right xenophobic parties in influencing the direction of the legislation changes, suggesting that the origin of restrictive citizenship legislation could be found in the mainstream right rather than in the far right.

Explaining ‘varieties of solidarity’: labour mobility and trade unions in an enlarged Europe

The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and 2007 simultaneously extended the freedom of movement to workers from new Member States and sharpened existing economic inequalities within the EU. Drawing on the data of three projects, this article examines the conditions under which, and in what ways, real (as opposed to rhetorical) solidarity is forged by trade unions within and across boundaries in relation to migrant workers. Sectoral dynamics provide important insights into cross-country commonalities. In particular, the data demonstrate the importance of the strategies of individual unions and the agency of individuals within them in explaining ‘varieties of solidarity’ and their varying success. The article concludes by arguing that the growth of right-wing xenophobic parties and the failure of social democratic parties to offer an alternative narrative mean that trade union strategies are being formulated and executed in an increasingly hostile political climate.

A narrowing gyre? The Lega Nord and the shifting balance of Italian immigration policy

This article reflects on the relations between xenophobic parties and immigration policy in Italy. It argues that the salience of the Northern League (Lega Nord), the instability of the Italian party system and the recent transformation of Italy from an emigration country to an immigration country all contribute to Italy's difficulty in achieving a coherent immigration policy. Since the first comprehensive immigration policy emerged in 1998 with the Turco-Napolitano law, there have been six changes of government, with frequent oscillation between centre-right and centre-left coalitions. While the effects of these oscillations, particularly of the centre-right's effort to restrict immigrants’ rights and entry possibilities, have been dampened by the Italian courts and the European Union, it is still problematic to speak of an Italian model. Drawing on Carvalho's book, this article will address the effects of the Lega on creating and maintaining this policy imbalance.

The Big Question

The Big Question

Sweden

Sweden

Populism in the European Parliament: What Implications for the Open Society?

The 2014 elections brought a record number of xenophobic populist parties into the European Parliament (EP). They have a strong incentive to be more united and active than in previous terms, and they could use the Parliament to shape voter attitudes, pressure mainstream parties to adopt more xenophobic rhetoric, fragment the mainstream right, and obstruct parliamentary proceedings. The rise of xenophobic populism could affect the open society through the EU’s policies and budget if it alters EP debates on issues that split left and right, particularly Roma exclusion, migration and asylum, and EU external policies and development aid.