Europe at the Crossroads

Confronting Populist, Nationalist, and Global Challenges

Pieter Bevelander, Ruth Wodak, Pieter Bevelander, Ruth Wodak

• Publisher: Nordic Academic Press
• Year: 2020
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9789188909190
• Subtopic: European Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The far right is on the rise. And there are signs that part of the political mainstream in Europe, the US, and beyond is considering accommodating far-right populist parties and their divisive, ethno-nationalist programs. Europe at the Crossroads is an urgent scholarly response to the sociopolitical challenges that far-right programs pose to the idea of a more egalitarian world. It offers an interdisciplinary analysis and critique of the dynamics of the far right in Europe from Poland to the UK, from Sweden to Greece. The authors present pertinent alternatives when tackling the exclusionary rhetoric and the politics of resentment. Each contributor investigates the current advance of far right populism and the threat to liberal democracy. Their texts address the historical roots and activities of the ideologies behind Orbanism or Brexit for example. The slogan 'Fortress Europe' once a pejorative term now appeals to large numbers of voters. The authors analyze the power balance in the European Parliament, particularly in connection with the elections in the spring 2019.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Europe at the crossroads
• 1. On radical right mainstreaming in Europe and the US
• 2. The EU’s values crisis
• 3. Analysing the micropolitics of the populist far right in the ‘post-shame era’
• 4. Six theories and six strategies concerning right-wing populism
• 5. The rise of neo-nationalism
• 6. The end of EU-topia and the politics of hate
• 7. Articulations of climate change by the Austrian far right
• 8. Gender and body politics of the extreme right in Austria
• 9. Islamophobia without Muslims as a social and political phenomenon
• 10. The determinants of (right-wing) political engagement among adolescents in Sweden
• 11. The battle over rights in Switzerland
• About the authors