Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe

233 Pages·1994·21.408 MB·English

by  Hans-Georg Betz (auth.)

RADICAL
RIGHT-WING
POPULISM IN
WESTERN EUROPE
Also by Hans-Georg Betz
POSTMODERN POLITICS IN GERMANY:
The Politics of Resentment
RADICAL
RIGHT-WING
POPULISM IN
WESTERN EUROPE
Hans-Georg Betz
M
MACMILLAN
© Hans-Georg Betz 1994
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1994 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-62809-6 ISBN 978-1-349-23547-6 ((eeBBooookk))
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-23547-6
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Design by Acme Art, Inc.
NewYork,NY
For Sabina
CONTENTS
List of Tables . Vlll
Preface .... .IX
1. Radical Right-Wing Populism and the Challenge of Global Change . 1
2. Resentment as Politics . . . . 37
3. Immigration and Xenophobia 69
4. The Two Faces of Radical Right-Wing Populism .107
5. The Social Bases of Political Resentment .... . 141
6. Political Conflict in the Age of Social Fragmentation . 169
Notes ... .191
Bibliography . 201
Index. . . . .223
LIST OF TABLES
1.1 Electoral Results for Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties
2.1 The Political Origins of the Radical Right-Wing Electorate
2.2 Interest in Politics
2.3 Rating of Political Priorities, Austria, 1992
3.1 Foreign Residence in the EC
3.2 Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Western Europe
3.3 Opinions ofEC Citizens on the Presence of Non-EC Citizens,
Migrants, and Racist Movements in the EC
3.4 German Attitudes toward Various Immigrant Groups
3.5 The Social Basis of Xenophobia
3.6 Norwegian Voters' Views on Immigrants
5.1 The Gender Basis of Radical Right-Wing Populist and
Left-Libertarian Parties
5.2 Age Composition of New Democracy (1991) and Norwegian
Progress Party (1989) Voters
5.3 Percentage of Electorate Voting for Front National (1993) and
Republikaner (1992) by Age Distribution
5.4 Class Composition of Those Supporting the Danish Progress Party
5.5 Support for the Danish Progress Party, by Education
5.6 Social Base of Front National Voters, 1993
5.7 Social Composition of Automobile Party Voters, 1991
5.8 Social Composition of Norwegian Progress Party Voters, 1989
5.9 Social Composition ofLega Nord Voters, 1991
5.10 Percentage of Population Favoring the Republikaner Party,
1989/1990, by Social Base
5.11 Social Composition of Republikaner Support, Baden-Wiirttemberg
State Election, April 1992
6.1 Attitudes toward Immigrants and Foreign Residents
PREFACE
This book grows out of a long interest in the economic, social, and cultural
transformation in Western Europe. I first started to think about its conse
quences for West European politics when I thought about the origins of the
German Greens in the late 1980s. During my research I had the opportunity
to talk to Harald Neubauer, at the time the general secretary of a little known,
mostly Bavarian party, the Republikaner. The result was an article on the
politics of resentment in Germany and a chapter in my book on "postmodern
politics in Germany" in which I tried to show that both Greens and Republika
ner were the products of larger changes in German society. During my work
on the Republikaner I became increasingly interested in similar parties in other
parts of Western Europe. When I had the chance to live in Italy for two years
in the early 1990s I had the opportunity to witness first hand the dramatic rise
of the Lega Nord in northern Italy.
This book deals primarily with the political aspects of radical right-wing
populism and its causes in Western Europe. Those who search for answers
accounting for the growing violence against foreigners or the spread of neo-naz
ism among young people will be disappointed. As heinous and deplorable as
these phenomena are, they are the acts of relatively small minorities in Western
Europe. By contrast, radical right-wing populist parties have attracted sizeable
portions of the West European population; their deputies and representatives
sit in local, regional, national, and European parliaments, their leaders have
appeared as guests on talk shows. This book is an attempt to explain how it was
possible that hardly forty-five years after the end of the Second World War the
radical Right could have become a significant factor in West European politics.
Initial financial support for this project was provided by the Bradley Institute
for Democracy and Public Values, Marquette University. I am grateful for its
support. I would like to thank my graduate assistant, Ake Densert, for his
invaluable help in dealing with Scandinavian sources and Susanne Bennman in
giving me her time to translate Danish material. I am particularly grateful to
Linda Merrill, who awakened my interest in the French Right. I also want to
thank]0rgen GoulAndersen, Marcus]. Schmidt, Marc Swyngedouw, and Peter
Ulram for sharing their work and sources with me. Survey data on Norwegian
attitudes toward immigrants were provided by the Norwegian Social Science
X RADICAL RIGHT -WING POPULISM IN WESTERN EUROPE
Data Service, which delivered the data, and the Norwegian Central Bureau of
Statistics, which did the field work. I would like to thank Bj0rn Henrichsen
and Knut KalgraffSkjak for their help.
I would especially like to thank John Felice for his continuous support while
I was at the Loyola University Rome Center of Liberal Arts. Final thanks go to
my wife, Sabina Bhatia, for her patience and encouragement. It is to her that
this book is dedicated.