Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T05:37:13.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Targeted Nativism: Ethnic Diversity and Radical Right Parties in Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

Dragana Svraka Open the ORCID record for Dragana Svraka [Opens in a new window]
Dragana Svraka*
Affiliation:
American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, USA
*
Email: dsvraka@apsanet.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radical right parties are commonly associated with nativism and opposition to ethnic diversity, but there have been few systematic attempts to investigate this connection further. Noting that radical right parties in Europe do not express hostility towards all minorities or all immigrants, I investigate possible explanations for the difference in targeted hostility. I introduce the concept of targeted nativism, distinguishing between ethnic minorities that are excluded using the nativist cleavage, and those that are implicitly included in ‘the nation’. I propose three explanations for the targeted nativism, identifying minority outgroups based on: (1) ethnocultural differences, (2) minority political empowerment, or (3) ethnocultural minority accommodation. I examine these explanations using the examples of radical right parties in Sweden and Bulgaria, and further test these hypotheses with a new dataset that identifies targeted minorities. My findings indicate that more distinctive minorities are significantly more likely to be targeted by the radical right.

Keywords

radical right partiesdiversityminoritiesEurope
Type
Article
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , April 2024 , pp. 360 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Government and Opposition Limited

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aktürk, Ş and Katliarou, Y (2020) Institutionalization of Ethnocultural Diversity and the Representation of European Muslims. Perspectives on Politics 19(2), 388–405. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592720001334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, T (2017) All in the Party Family? Comparing Far Right Voters in Western and Post-Communist Europe. Party Politics 23(3), 274–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068815593457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arzheimer, K (2009) Contextual Factors and the Extreme Right Vote in Western Europe, 1980–2002. American Journal of Political Science 53(2), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00369.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arzheimer, K (2018) Explaining Electoral Support for the Radical Right. In Rydren, J (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 143–165.Google Scholar
Arzheimer, K and Carter, E (2006) Political Opportunity Structures and Right-Wing Extremist Party Success. European Journal of Political Research 45(3), 419–443. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2006.00304.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BalkanInsight (2011) Bulgaria: Attack on Muslims ‘Not Mere Hooliganism’. BalkanInsight, 24 May, www.dw.com/en/bulgarians-unfazed-by-anti-roma-hate-speech-from-deputy-prime-minister/a-41183829.Google Scholar
Banting, K and Kymlicka, W (2013) Is There Really a Retreat from Multiculturalism Policies? New Evidence from the Multiculturalism Policy Index. Comparative European Politics 11(5), 577–598. https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2013.12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Betz, H-G (2017) Nativism across Time and Space. Swiss Political Science Review 23(3), 335–353. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Betz, H-G (2019) Facets of Nativism: A Heuristic Exploration. Patterns of Prejudice 53(2), 111–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.2019.1572276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloemraad, I and Schönwälder, K (2013) Immigrant and Ethnic Minority Representation in Europe: Conceptual Challenges and Theoretical Approaches. West European Politics 36(3), 564–579. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2013.773724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloemraad, I and Wright, M (2014) ‘Utter Failure’ or Unity out of Diversity? Debating and Evaluating Policies of Multiculturalism. International Migration Review 48(1), 292–334. https://doi.org/10.1111/imre.12135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, A (2002) Resistance to Identity Categorization in France. In Kertzer, D and Arel, D (eds), Census and Identity: The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Censuses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 121–147.Google Scholar
Bonikowski, B, Halikipoulou, D, Kaufmann, E and Rooduijn, M (2019) Populism and Nationalism in a Comparative Perspective: A Scholarly Exchange. Nations and Nationalism 25(1), 58–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breton, C (2019) Do Incorporation Policies Matter? Immigrants’ Identity and Relationship with the Receiving Society. Comparative Political Studies 52(9), 1364–1395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414019830708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bustikova, L (2014) Revenge of the Radical Right. Comparative Political Studies 47(12), 1738–1765. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414013516069.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bustikova, L (2020) Extreme Reactions: Radical Right Mobilization in Eastern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bustikova, L and Kitschelt, H (2009) The Radical Right in Post-Communist Europe: Comparative Perspectives on Legacies and Party Competition. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 42(2), 459–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2009.10.007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, E (2005) The Extreme Right in Western Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Cholakov, P (2018) Ethnic Entrepreneurs Unmasked. Stuttgart: Ibidem.Google Scholar
Citrin, J, Levy, M and Wright, M (2014) Multicultural Policy and Political Support in European Democracies. Comparative Political Studies 47(11), 1531–1557. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414013512604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coppedge, M et al. (2018) V-Dem [Country-Year/Country-Date] Dataset v8. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. www.v-dem.net/data/dataset-archive.Google Scholar
Dancygier, RM (2010) Immigration and Conflict in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dancygier, RM (2017) Dilemmas of Inclusion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Eatwell, R (2000) The Rebirth of the ‘Extreme Right’ in Western Europe? Parliamentary Affairs 53(3), 407–425. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/53.3.407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edgell, AB (2019) The Strategic Origins of Electoral Gender Quotas in Authoritarian Regimes. Doctoral dissertation, University of Florida.Google Scholar
Erlingsson, G, Vernby, K and Öhrvall, R (2014) The Single-Issue Party Thesis and the Sweden Democrats. Acta Politica 49(2), 196–216. https://doi.org/10.1057/ap.2013.18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fennema, M (1997) Some Conceptual Issues and Problems in the Comparison of Anti-Immigrant Parties in Western Europe. Party Politics 3(4), 473–492. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068897003004002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Genov, N (2010) Radical Nationalism in Contemporary Bulgaria. Review of European Studies 2(2), 35–53. https://doi.org/10.5539/res.v2n2p35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Givens, TE (2005) Voting Radical Right in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golder, M (2003) Explaining Variation in the Success of Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe. Comparative Political Studies 36(4), 432–466. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414003251176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golder, M (2016) Far Right Parties in Europe. Annual Review of Political Science 19, 477–497. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-042814-012441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guia, A (2016) The Concept of Nativism and Anti-Immigrant Sentiments in Europe. EUI Working Paper MWP 2016/20, www.mwpweb.eu/1/218/resources/publication_2596_1.pdf.Google Scholar
Habersack, F and Werner, A (2022) How Non-Radical Right Parties Strategically Use Nativist Language: Evidence from an Automated Content Analysis of Austrian, German, and Swiss Election Manifestos. Party Politics, published online, May, https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688221103930.Google Scholar
Halikipoulou, D and Vlandas, T (2019) What Is New and What Is Nationalist about Europe's New Nationalism? Explaining the Rise of the Far Right in Europe. Nations and Nationalism 25(2), 409–434. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hellström, A and Nilsson, T (2010) ‘We Are the Good Guys’: Ideological Positioning of the Nationalist Party Sverigedemokraterna in Contemporary Swedish Politics. Ethnicities 10(1), 55–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796809354214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Htun, M (2004) Is Gender Like Ethnicity? The Political Representation of Identity Groups. Perspectives on Politics 2(3), 439–458. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592704040241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddleston, T, Bilgili, Ö, Joki, A-L and Vankova, Z (2015) Migrant Integration Policy Index. Barcelona/Brussels: CIDOB and MPG.Google Scholar
Ignazi, P (1992) The Silent Counter-Revolution: Hypotheses of the Emergence of Extreme Right-Wing Parties in Europe. European Journal of Political Research 22(1), 3–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.1992.tb00303.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ivarsflaten, E (2008) What Unites Right-Wing Populists in Western Europe? Re-Examining Grievance Mobilization Models in Seven Successful Cases. Comparative Political Studies 41(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414006294168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackman, RW and Volpert, K (1996) Conditions Favouring Parties of the Extreme Right in Western Europe. British Journal of Political Science 26(4), 501–521. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123400007584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joppke, C (2017) Is Multiculturalism Dead? Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, H (1995) The Radical Right in Western Europe. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Knigge, P (1998) The Ecological Correlates of Right-Wing Extremism in Western Europe. European Journal of Political Research 34(2), 249–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koning, EA (2019) Immigration and the Politics of Welfare Exclusion. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krasteva, A (2016) The Post-Communist Rise of National Populism: Bulgarian Paradoxes. In Lazaridis, G et al. (eds), The Rise of the Far Right in Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 161–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kriesi, H et al. (2012) Political Conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krook, ML and O'Brien, DZ (2010) The Politics of Group Representation: Quotas for Women and Minorities Worldwide. Comparative Politics 42(3), 253–272. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27822309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kymlicka, W (1995) Multicultural Citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lijphart, A (1999) Patterns of Democracy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Lubbers, M (2019) What Kind of Nationalism Sets the Radical Right and its Electorate Apart from the Rest? Pride in the Nation's History as Part of Nationalist Nostalgia. Nations and Nationalism 25(2), 449–466. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubbers, M, Gijsberts, M and Scheepers, P (2002) Extreme Right-Wing Voting in Western Europe. European Journal of Political Research 41(3), 345–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucassen, G and Lubbers, M (2012) Who Fears What? Explaining Far-Right-Wing Preference in Europe by Distinguishing Perceived Cultural and Economic Ethnic Threats. Comparative Political Studies 45(5), 547–574. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414011427851.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansbridge, J (1999) Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent ‘Yes’. Journal of Politics 61(2), 628–657. https://doi.org/10.2307/2647821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minkenberg, M (2002) The Radical Right in Postsocialist Central and Eastern Europe: Comparative Observations and Interpretations. East European Politics and Societies 16(2), 335–362. https://doi.org/10.1177/088832540201600201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minkenberg, M (2013) From Pariah to Policy-Maker? The Radical Right in Europe, West and East: Between Margin and Mainstream. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 21(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2013.766473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minorities at Risk Project (2009) Minorities as Risk Dataset. College Park, MD: Center for International Development and Conflict Management. www.mar.umd.edu/.Google Scholar
Mudde, C (1996) The War of Words: Defining the Extreme Right Party Family. West European Politics 19(2), 225–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402389608425132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudde, C (1999) The Single-Issue Party Thesis: Extreme Right Parties and the Immigration Issue. West European Politics 22(3), 182–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402389908425321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudde, C (ed.) (2005) Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudde, C (2007) Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nardulli, PF, Wong, CJ, Singh, A, Peyton, B and Bajjalieh, J (2012) The Composition of Religious and Ethnic Groups (CREG) Project. Urbana-Champaign: Cline Center for Democracy, University of Illinois. https://clinecenter.illinois.edu/project/Religious-Ethnic-Identity/composition-religious-and-ethnic-groups-creg-project.Google Scholar
Norris, P (2005) Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pirro, ALP (2015) The Populist Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pred, A (2000) Even in Sweden: Racisms, Racialized Spaces, and the Popular Geographical Imagination. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Pytlas, B (2018) Radical Right Politics in East and West: Distinctive Yet Equivalent. Sociology Compass 12(11), e12632. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramet, S (1999) The Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press.Google Scholar
Ruedin, D (2009) Ethnic Group Representation in a Cross-National Comparison. Journal of Legislative Studies 15(4), 335–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/13572330903302448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rydgren, J (2008) Immigration Sceptics, Xenophobes or Racists? Radical Right-Wing Voting in Six West European Countries. European Journal of Political Research 47(6), 737–765. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2008.00784.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rydgren, J (ed.) (2018) The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schall, CE (2016) The Rise and Fall of the Miraculous Welfare Machine. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Schneider, SL (2008) Anti-Immigrant Attitudes in Europe: Outgroup Size and Perceived Ethnic Threat. European Sociological Review 24(1), 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcm034.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sides, J and Citrin, J (2007) Opinion about Immigration: The Role of Identities, Interests and Information. British Journal of Political Science 37(3), 477–504. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123407000257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, P (2012) Collecting Ethnic Statistics in Europe: A Review. Ethnic and Racial Studies 35(8), 1366–1391. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.607507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sniderman, PM, Hagendoorn, L and Prior, M (2004) Predisposing Factors and Situational Triggers: Exclusionary Reactions to Immigrant Minorities. American Political Science Review 98(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000305540400098X.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spies, D and Franzmann, ST (2011) A Two-Dimensional Approach to the Political Opportunity Structure of Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe. West European Politics 34(5), 1044–1069. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2011.591096.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steenvoorden, E and Harteveld, E (2018) The Appeal of Nostalgia: The Influence of Societal Pessimism on Support for Populist Radical Right Parties. West European Politics 41(1), 28–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2017.1334138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroschein, S (2019) Populism, Nationalism, and Party Politics. Nationalities Papers 47(6), 923–935. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2019.91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swank, D and Betz, H-G (2003) Globalization, the Welfare State and Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe. Socio-Economic Review 1(2), 215–245. https://doi.org/10.1093/soceco/1.2.215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaksberg, T (2017) Hatred and Antiziganism in Bulgaria. Deutsche Welle, 31 October, www.dw.com/en/bulgarians-unfazed-by-anti-roma-hate-speech-from-deputy-prime-minister/a-41183829.Google Scholar
van der Brug, W, Fennema, M and Tillie, J (2005) Why Some Anti-Immigrant Parties Fail and Others Succeed: A Two-Step Model of Aggregate Electoral Support. Comparative Political Studies 38(5), 537–573. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414004273928.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volkens, A, Pola, L, Matthieß, T, Merz, N, Regel, S and Werner, A (2015) Manifesto Corpus. Version 2015a. Berlin: WZB Berlin Social Science Center. https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/datasets/MPDS2015a.Google Scholar
Widfeldt, A (2008) Party Change as a Necessity: The Case of the Sweden Democrats. Representation 44(3), 265–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344890802237031.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wodak, R (2015) The Politics of Fear. London: Sage.Google Scholar
World Bank, (2018) World Development Indicators. World Bank. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators.Google Scholar
Wright, M and Bloemraad, I (2012) Is There a Trade-Off between Multiculturalism and Socio-Political Integration? Perspectives on Politics 10(1), 77–95. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592711004919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Svraka supplementary material

Svraka supplementary material
Download Svraka supplementary material(File)
File 648.9 KB