scholarly journals Populism and International Relations: (Un)predictability, personalisation, and the reinforcement of existing trends in world politics

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 711-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Destradi ◽  
Johannes Plagemann
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Government Formation ◽  
International Partnerships ◽  
Status Seeking ◽  
Global North ◽  
Different Shapes ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The Impact

AbstractAs populists have formed governments all over the world, it becomes imperative to study the consequences of the rise of populism for International Relations. Yet, systematic academic analyses of the international impact of populist government formation are still missing, and political commentators tend to draw conclusions from few cases of right-wing populism in the Global North. But populism – conceptualised as a ‘thin’ ideology based on anti-elitism and anti-pluralism – takes different shapes across world regions as populists combine it with different ‘thick’ ideologies. To reflect such diversity and gain more systematic insights into the global implications of populism, we focus on cases of populist government formation in the Global South. We find that populists in power are not, per se, more belligerent or less willing to engage globally than their non-populist predecessors. Factors like status seeking or a country's embeddedness in international institutions mitigate the impact of populism. Its most immediate effect concerns procedural aspects: foreign policymaking becomes more centralised and personalised – yet, not entirely unpredictable, given the importance of ‘thick’ ideologies espoused by populist parties and leaders. Rather than changing course entirely, populists in power reinforce existing trends, especially a tendency towards diversifying international partnerships.

Constructing Identity in “Glocal” Politics

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-106
Author(s):  
M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Construction Of Identity ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This paper seeks to understand the impact of current global politicaland socioeconomic conditions on the construction of identity. I advancean argument based on a two-step logic. First, I challenge the characterizationof current socioeconomic conditions as one of globalization bymarshaling arguments and evidence that strongly suggest that along withglobalization, there are simultaneous processes of localization proliferatingin the world today. I contend that current conditions are indicative ofthings far exceeding the scope of globalization and that they can bedescribed more accurately as ccglocalization.~H’2a ving established thisclaim, I show how the processes of glocalization affect the constructionof Muslim identity.Why do I explore the relationship between glocalization and identityconstruction? Because it is significant. Those conversant with current theoreticaldebates within the discipline of international relations’ are awarethat identity has emerged as a significant explanatory construct in internationalrelations theory in the post-Cold War era.4 In this article, I discussthe emergence of identity as an important concept in world politics.The contemporary field of international relations is defined by threephilosophically distinct research programs? rationalists: constructivists,’and interpretivists.’ The moot issue is essentially a search for the mostimportant variable that can help explain or understand the behavior ofinternational actors and subsequently explain the nature of world politicsin order to minimize war and maximize peace.Rationalists contend that actors are basically rational actors who seekthe maximization of their interests, interests being understood primarilyin material terms and often calculated by utility functions maximizinggiven preferences? Interpretivists include postmodernists, critical theorists,and feminists, all of whom argue that basically the extant worldpolitical praxis or discourses “constitute” international agents and therebydetermine their actions, even as they reproduce world politics by ...

scholarly journals The Misogyny of Authoritarians in Contemporary Democracies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitasha Kaul
Keyword(s):  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Politics Of Identity ◽  
Global Projects ◽  
Global North ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Argument Proceeds

Abstract Contemporary democracy in multiple countries has been under assault from what has been variously called right-wing populism, authoritarian populism, cultural majoritarianism, new nativism, new nationalism, quasi-fascism, and neo-fascism. While the authoritarian behaviors of several electorally legitimated leaders in these countries have been in focus, their misogyny is seen as merely an incidental part of their personality. This article highlights the centrality of misogyny in legitimating the political goals and regimes of a set of leaders in contemporary democracies—Trump, Modi, Bolsonaro, Duterte, and Erdogan (all but Trump are still in power)—in countries from across Global North/South, non-West/West, with mixed populations and different majority religions. The argument proceeds as follows. First, I clarify the conceptualization of misogyny and explain why it matters. Second, I demonstrate the substantive misogyny of political leaders who are/have been heads of hegemonic right-wing political projects in five contemporary democracies (Trumpism, Modification, Bolsonarismo, Dutertismo, and Erdoganism). Third, I put forward three systematic ways in which misogyny works as an effective political strategy for these projects, by enabling a certain politics of identity to demonize opponents as feminine/inferior/anti-national, scavenging upon progressive ideas (rather than rejecting them) and distorting them, and sustaining and defending a militarized masculinist approach to policy and delegitimizing challenges to it. This article, thus, contributes to the literature on how masculinity, misogyny, and gender norms more broadly intersect with political legitimacy, by arguing for understanding the analytic centrality of misogyny to the exercise of political power in multiple global projects.

The ‘Alternative for Germany’: The rise of right-wing populism at the heart of Europe

Politics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Lees
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Party System ◽  
German Society ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Alternative Für Deutschland ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Strong Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Alternative For Germany

This article charts the rise of the ‘Alternative for Germany’ ( Alternative für Deutschland or AfD) from its inception in late 2012 to its unexpectedly strong performance in the 2017 Federal election. In terms of the ‘inward’ aspect of Euroscepticism, the article considers the impact of the emergence of successively more hardline leaderships in 2015 and 2017, which led to a shift beyond opposition to aspects of the European integration process to a more profound critique of German society and politics. In terms of the ‘outward’ aspect, it assesses the significance of these developments in the wider debates around Euroscepticism and populism. The article concludes that the AfD’s Euroscepticism is now nested within an ideological profile that increasingly conforms to the template of an orthodox European right-wing populist party. It argues that the widely unanticipated level of electoral support for the AfD in the 2017 Federal elections and its status as the main opposition party in the Bundestag is a systemic shock and potential critical juncture in the development of the German party system and the contestation of European integration in the Federal Republic.

Right-wing populism with Chinese characteristics? Identity, otherness and global imaginaries in debating world politics online

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenchen Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
World Order ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Global Circulation ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The One ◽  
Western Hegemony

The past few years have seen an emerging discourse on Chinese social media that combines the claims, vocabulary and style of right-wing populisms in Europe and North America with previous forms of nationalism and racism in Chinese cyberspace. In other words, it provokes a similar hostility towards immigrants, Muslims, feminism, the so-called ‘liberal elites’ and progressive values in general. This article examines how, in debating global political events such as the European refugee crisis and the American presidential election, well-educated and well-informed Chinese Internet users appropriate the rhetoric of ‘Western-style’ right-wing populism to paradoxically criticise Western hegemony and discursively construct China’s ethno-racial and political identities. Through qualitative analysis of 1038 postings retrieved from a popular social media website, this research shows that by criticising Western ‘liberal elites’, the discourse constructs China’s ethno-racial identity against the ‘inferior’ non-Western other, exemplified by non-white immigrants and Muslims, with racial nationalism on the one hand; and formulates China’s political identity against the ‘declining’ Western other with realist authoritarianism on the other. The popular narratives of global order protest against Western hegemony while reinforcing a state-centric and hierarchical imaginary of global racial and civilisational order. We conclude by suggesting that the discourse embodies the logics of anti-Western Eurocentrism and anti-hegemonic hegemonies. This article: (1) provides critical insights into the changing ways in which self–other relations are imagined in Chinese popular geopolitical discourse; (2) sheds light on the global circulation of extremist discourses facilitated by the Internet; and (3) contributes to the ongoing debate on right-wing populism and the ‘crisis’ of the liberal world order.

scholarly journals Populism and Environmental Performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Tobias Böhmelt
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Combine Data ◽  
Executive Leaders ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Level Performance

Abstract This article examines the impact of populism on environmental politics, focusing on countries’ outcome-level performance. I develop the argument that populist leadership likely undermines environmental quality. First, populist leaders tend to reject and refrain from implementing “green” policies, as these are usually promoted by “corrupt elites.” Second, populism erodes democratic institutions, thus offsetting a series of mechanisms that are related to better environmental outcomes. Empirically, I combine data from the Global Populism Database covering sixty-six countries and more than two hundred executive leaders with information on environmental performance at the outcome level. The findings suggest that populist leadership is strongly linked to lower environmental performance—also when controlling for a series of alternative influences and distinguishing between left- and right-wing populism. This research greatly adds to our understanding of the determinants of environmental policies, the role of regime type and ideology, and the literature on populism.

scholarly journals New Face of European Union: Right-Wing Populism in the EU-Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 99-132
Author(s):  
E. V. Khakhalkina ◽  
K. P. Andreev ◽  
A. V. Munko
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Structural Methods ◽  
The Eu

The European Union undergoes several qualitative transformations. Today it faces major demographic changes, the distance between the EU and national states is growing because of Brexit and high rates of immigration to Europe. The configuration of mainstream parties is also transforming in an unpredictable way. All these processes bring the phenomenon of right-wing populism to the forefront of political life of the European Union. This phenomenon was an answer both to internal andexternal challenges. The aim of the article is to identify the components of right-wing populism using the examples of some memberstates, to show its threats and risks, as well as ways to minimize the impact of this phenomenon on all aspects of the EU life. To achieve this goal, party programs (primarily right-wing populist ones), national and European elections data, materials from the Eurobarometer and other public opinion services, speeches and interviews of leading politicians, and other materials are used. The methodological approach is based on the principles of interdisciplinarity. The authors used comparative-typological, functional and structural methods. The problems of immigration and Islamophobia in the EU are explained with the help of the civilizational concept of A.J. Toynbee. The structure of the article provides the study of the phenomenon of right-wing populism through such indicators as separation of elites from the population (including European democracy and lack of democracy), immigration (and Islamophobia), as well as the EU identity. The article provides a detailed analysis of the member- state cases including the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, the countries of Eastern Europe and others. The authors conclude that right-wing populism has dual nature, its significance in individual countries of the European Union increases, and it is deeply integrated into the party and parliamentary mechanism of European democracies.

scholarly journals Responses to the Covid-19: A Political Economic Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 72-82
Author(s):  
Ratna Mani Nepal
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Inequality Index ◽  
Market Economies ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Death Cases

The Covid-19 pandemic posed serious threats to the national and international communities. Worldwide responses to combat its effects seemed weak and controversial. It led individual countries to exercise responses that varied depending upon their tradition, institutions, and leadership. What worked? And what did not? And why is still not comprehended. In this background, this study examines correlation between market economy frameworks such as liberal market economies (LMEs), coordinated market economies (CMEs), state-led market economies (SMEs)and Covid-19 caused deaths. More so, the death cases have been analyzed and interpreted based on published data from worldometer.com as well as national and institutional sources of 23 countries representing three distinct market economy frameworks. The data is juxtaposed with the acts of right-wing populism that determined decision making and institutional mobilization against Covid-19. The approach is dichotomized with a country's human development index and income inequality index (Gini Index). This study found that a country’s market economy framework has had a correlation with the Covid-19 caused deaths The impact, however, was associated with the acts of right-wing populism within different market economies. The 5 selected countries with LMEs have highest; another 5 selected countries with CMEs have higher and 13 selected countries with SMEs have lowest number of deaths. The findings also proves that rate of human development does not appear to be a valid framework for explaining differing death rates between the countries.

scholarly journals Wpływ mowy nienawiści zawartej w wypowiedziach przedstawicieli partii Alternatywa dla Niemiec na zmiany zachodzące w systemie zarządzania mediami w RFN

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-36
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Kamińska-Korolczuk
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
New Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Media Management ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
The Media ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Alternative For Germany

The impact of hate speech contained in the statements of the Alternative for Germany party representatives on changes taking place in the media management system in Germany The purpose of the article is to present the introduced legal solutions regulating the functioning and management of the media system in Germany, which came into force under the influence of changes in political communication. A case study is presented examples of hate speech in the discourse of the party of the new right-wing populism –Alternative for Germany (Alternative fur Deutschland, AfD). The party uses rhetoric which until now has been marginal in the German media and since the refugee crisis it has become an increasingly common form of expression. The analysis was conducted against the backdrop of events that influenced the Bundestags to adopted Law improving law enforcement in social networks (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechtsdurchsetzung in sozialen Netzwerken, Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz, NetzDG). The analysis leads to the conclusions that the new right-wing populism changed the style of communication on the German political scene, which is not without influence on the decisions making by the legislator to introduce specific legal provisions regulating the management and framework of discourse in the social media in this state.

Trump, Right-Wing Populism, and the Future of Organized Labor

2020 ◽  
pp. 50-66
Author(s):  
Bill Fletcher ◽  
José Alejandro La Luz
Keyword(s):  
Black People ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
True Nature ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Media ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

This chapter argues that the core problem is not ideology or corporate self-interest but rather the rise of a right-wing populism that feeds on racism and xenophobia. When workers suffer from stagnating or declining incomes, loss of benefits and pensions, declining health and health care coverage, and increased job insecurity, the right gives them an answer: blame black people, Latinxs, immigrants, Jews, or Muslims; blame the media elites, academics, or experts, not your employer; embrace the rich in the hope that someday you can be one of them; and condemn powerless people as the cause of your problems. The chapter describes how populism draws its energy from a racist, sexist, and xenophobic framing of the impact of the economic crisis on working-class Americans while also rejecting the postwar global order in favor of a return to American isolationism. It laments the Left's failure to offer plausible solutions and to create lasting solidarity across gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality. This chapter explains that no revival of labor will be possible without engaging union members about race, gender, immigration, and the true nature of right-wing populism.

The Anarchical Society at 40

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
International Society ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Racial Inequalities ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Society Perspective ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact

Hedley Bull’s The Anarchical Society was published in 1977. Though considered as one of the classics in International Relations, it does not address many world political issues that concern us deeply today—volatile great power relations after the end of the Cold War, the rise of terrorism, financial crises, climate change, the impact of the Internet, deep-rooted racial inequalities, violence against women. Moreover, through the evolution of International Relations as an academic pursuit, various limitations of the type of approach followed by Bull are coming to light. Against this background, eighteen contributors to this collection, with diverse intellectual orientations and academic specializations, have revisited Bull’s book forty years on to assess its limitations and resilience. A number of contributors point to certain fundamental problems stemming from Bull’s a historical conceptual theorizing. However, several others find arguments and insights developed or hidden in his text which are still relevant, in some cases, highly so, to understanding contemporary world politics while others explore ways of augmenting Bull’s intellectual repertoire. An intricate tapestry of ideas emerges from the criss-crossing contributions to the volume and, through this, it becomes clear that there is more to The Anarchical Society than the ‘international society’ perspective with which it is conventionally associated. The contemporary relevance of Bull’s work is clearest when we recognize the flexibility of his conceptual framework and, in particular, the often overlooked potential of his concept of the ‘world political system’ of which, Bull acknowledges, modern international society is only a part.

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