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Cited by 644Populism, Right-Wing MovementsGerman legal, social, and political studiesMigration, Refugees, and Integration

Ethno‐nationalist populism and the mobilization of collective resentment

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Bonikowski, Bart·2017·The British Journal of Sociology
DOI 10.1111/1468-4446.12325
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Abstract

Scholarly and journalistic accounts of the recent successes of radical‐right politics in Europe and the United States, including the Brexit referendum and the Trump campaign, tend to conflate three phenomena: populism, ethno‐nationalism and authoritarianism. While all three are important elements of the radical right, they are neither coterminous nor limited to the right. The resulting lack of analytical clarity has hindered accounts of the causes and consequences of ethno‐nationalist populism. To address this problem, I bring together existing research on nationalism, populism and authoritarianism in contemporary democracies to precisely define these concepts and examine temporal patterns in their supply and demand, that is, politicians’ discursive strategies and the corresponding public attitudes. Based on the available evidence, I conclude that both the supply and demand sides of radical politics have been relatively stable over time, which suggests that in order to understand public support for radical politics, scholars should instead focus on the increased resonance between pre‐existing attitudes and discursive frames. Drawing on recent research in cultural sociology, I argue that resonance is not only a function of the congruence between a frame and the beliefs of its audience, but also of shifting context. In the case of radical‐right politics, a variety of social changes have engendered a sense of collective status threat among national ethnocultural majorities. Political and media discourse has channelled such threats into resentments toward elites, immigrants, and ethnic, racial and religious minorities, thereby activating previously latent attitudes and lending legitimacy to radical political campaigns that promise to return power and status to their aggrieved supporters. Not only does this form of politics threaten democratic institutions and inter‐group relations, but it also has the potential to alter the contours of mainstream public discourse, thereby creating the conditions of possibility for future successes of populist, nationalist, and authoritarian politics.

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Authors
Bonikowski, B.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Bonikowski, Bart
ORCID
Bonikowski, Bart
Venue
The British Journal of Sociology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-11
Volume
68
Issue
S1
Pages
S181-S213
ISSN
  • 0007-1315 (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-4446
DOI
10.1111/1468-4446.12325
OpenAlex
W2786983643
Semantic Scholar
1c61e314fdbb0b61245101dbfee9e6f6419c507f
Cited by
644
References
123
Citations by year
2026: 46 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 83 · 2023: 81 · 2022: 118 · 2021: 73 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 1
FWCI
244.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 7 d)
Locations
  • British Journal of Sociology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › German legal, social, and political studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Refugees, and Integration
Keywords
radical right, authoritarianism, nationalism, political discourse, discursive framing, status threat, ethnic and religious minorities, Brexit, Trump campaign, democratic backsliding, public attitudes
MeSH terms
Anger, Culture, Ethnicity, United Kingdom, Humans, Politics, Social Identification, United States

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