The victims strike back: Globalisation and right-wing populist attitudes in the EU. Evidence from the 2008 European Values Study

ABSTRACT

Right-wing populist (RWP) parties and attitudes are flourishing in many European countries. This is often linked to the emergence of a new cleavage that juxtaposes the victims and beneficiaries of globalisation. Using data from the 2008 European Values Study (EVS) this paper investigates how globalisation affects both (1) the overall level of RWP attitudes in 27 EU countries, and (2) the attitudinal gap between victims and beneficiaries of globalisation. The results show (1) a clear and consistent effect of social position on RWP attitudes in all countries, (2) effect of globalisation on both overall levels of RWP attitudes, as well as (3) on the attitudinal gap between victims and beneficiaries. However, the determinants of the overall level and of the gap differ, and this explains the observed regional differences in Europe regarding the distribution of RWP attitudes.

KEYWORDS:

• Right-wing populism
• European union
• globalisation
• political cleavages
• political attitudes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).