The Rise of Neo-Nationalism in Europe: A Veblenian Perspective

Abstract:

The rise of neo-nationalism has posed a serious threat to European nation-states since the 1990s not only because it is reminiscent of nineteenth and twentieth century ethno-nationalism but also because it reinforces, and is symptomatic of, ongoing social, cultural, and economic tensions in Europe. This article argues that the institutional approach developed by Thorstein Veblen to analyze the role of nationalism during World War I offers meaningful insights to the study of European neo-nationalism today. Veblen's contributions are framed within a critical realist approach in order to provide an analysis of the structural incompatibilities which have been exploited by neo-nationalist parties in Europe. Within this institutional framework, the article offers reflections on neo-nationalism's social, economic, cultural, and political impact upon European democracies.

Keywords::

• Neo-Nationalism
• Veblen
• Institutionalism
• critical realism

JEL Classification Codes::

• B52
• F60
• Z13

Notes

1 I am indebted to a referee for their penetrating comments on this section of the article and for pointing out Veblen's excellent quote on “mutilation” in particular.

2 The distinction that Veblen draws between civic (such as France and the UK) and ethnic (such as Germany and Japan) nations became an important dichotomy in nationalism studies starting with the work of Hans Kohn ([1944] 2005) in the 1940s and gaining mainstream focus in the 1990s during the conflicts in the Balkans (Kymlicka 2001). This does not signify, as Veblen would have rightfully argued, that “civic” nations are ethno-culturally neutral. However, it signifies that the democratic state is built upon principles that, in theory, make ethno-cultural neutrality possible. It becomes, then, the responsibility of the majority culture and state policies to act upon those principles.

3 While in a few instances, far-right parties re-emerged in the 1950s–1970s era, a majority of neo-nationalist parties started to appear and gain political visibility in Europe in the 1990s (Ignazi 2003).

4 A political party found to be in violation of these laws will be banned from political life. Thus, the far-right party Vlaams Blok (Flemish Block) was forced to disband in 2004 for violating anti-racist and anti-discriminatory laws in Belgium. In its re-organization as Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), it has mostly purged overt racist and xenophobic language from all its documents (Erk 2005).

5 Through colonization European powers sought to secularize Islam and to assist in its political and spiritual demise. European colonial control over most of the Arab world in the early to mid-twentieth century tempered “Western” fear and fascination of Islam and of the Arab world and rendered anti-Islamic sentiment dormant in the “West” (Allen 2010). However, post-World-War-II decolonization, the 1970s oil crisis, and the Iranian revolution, among other major events, increased the geopolitical visibility of the Arab and Islamic world. At the local level, these events heightened the awareness among cultural majority groups in Europe of Muslims’ “proximity” (Allen 2010; Duroy 2011).

6 The French Communist Party was among the first parties to voice opposition to immigration by arguing that it negatively impacted French workers (Rydgren 2003).

7 Since European parliamentary elections in most EU member states are based upon a proportional system, neo-nationalist parties have been able to participate in national and international political life in countries such as France and the UK.

8 A similar approach could be applied to the current situation in the United States, but is beyond the scope of this article and would require a different and careful historicization of the expression of neo-nationalist sentiment.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Quentin Duroy

Quentin Duroy is an associate professor in the department of economics at Denison University.