Exclusionary Populism in Austria, Italy, and Switzerland
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200105600302 |
| Author | Hans-Georg Betz |
| Subject Matter | Article |
HANS-GEORG
BETZ
Exclusionary
populism
in
Austria,
Italy,
and
Switzerland
S
NCE
THE
LATE
1980S,
A
NEW
BREED
OF
RADICAL
right-wing parties
and
movements
has
gained
considerable
political
ground
in
a
number
of
liberal democracies.
Several
characteristics
distinguish
them
from
the
more
traditional
parties: reliance
on
charismatic
leadership;
the
pursuit
of
a
populist
strategy
of
political
marketing
with
a
pronounced
consumer
(that
is,
voter)
orientation; and
an
appeal
to
popular
anxi-
eties,
prejudices,
and
resentments.
Typically,
new
populist
parties
and
movements
have
marketed
themselves
both
as
uncompromising
defenders
of
the
rights
and
interests
of
the
common
people
and
as
the
only
true
representatives
and
promoters
of
'genuine democracy.'
At
the
same
time,
they
espouse an ideology
that
is
perhaps
best
described
as
a
type
of
exclusionary
populism.'
At
its
core
is
a
restrictive
notion
of
citizenship
that
holds
that
genuine democracy
is
based
on
a
Associate
professor,
Department
ofPolitical
Science,
Canadian
Centre
for
German
and
European
Studies,
York
University.
The
author
would
like
to
thank Margaret MacMillan
for
very
helpful
comments
on
an
earlier
draft
of
this
article.
1
A
number
of
similar
concepts
have
been
proposed
to
capture the
essence
of
the
contemporary radical
right.
Among
the
most
interesting
are
'holistic
nationalism'
(Roger
Eatwell,
'The
rebirth
of
the
"extreme
right"
in
Western
Europe?'
Parliamentary/Affairs
53[July
20001,407-25),
'ethnocratic
liberalism'
(Roger
Griffin,
'Interregnum
or
endgame?
The
radical
right
in
the
"post-fascist"
era,'Joumal
of
Political
Ideologies
5[June
2000],
163-78),
'integralism'
(Douglas
R.
Holmes,
Integral
Europe:
Fast-Capitalism,
Multiculturalism,
Neofascism
[Princeton
NJ:
Princeton
University
Press
20011),
and
'reactionary
tribalism'
(Robert
J.
Antonio,
'After postmodernism: reactionary
tribalism,'
American
Journal
of
Sociology
1o6[July
2000],
40-87).
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Summer
2001
Hans-Georg Betz
culturally,
if
not
ethnically,
homogeneous community;
that
only long-
standing
citizens can
be
full
members
of
civil
society;
and
that
society's
benefits
should
accrue
only
to
those
who,
either
as
citizens
or
at
least
as
taxpayers, have
made
a
substantial
contribution
to
it.
2
The
spirit
of
this
common doctrine
has
found poignant
expression
in
the notion
of
one's
own
people
first'
and
the
call
for
'national
preference.'
In
its
more
extreme
cases,
exclusionary
populism
takes
the
form
of
cultural nativism.
The
contemporary
radical
right
couches
its
exclu-
sionary agenda in
the language
of
traditional
liberalism,
advancing
the
notion
of
'rights'
-
of
'ethnic
people,'
to
a
'culture,'
but
also
to
individ-
ual
safety
-
that
address
'deepseated
and
understandable
fears
about
the
erosion
of
identity
and
tradition
by
the
globalizing
(but
only
partially
homogenizing)
forces
of
modernity.'
3
In
almost
all
cases,
exclusionary
populism
follows
the
'post-racist'
turn
introduced
by
the
French intel-
lectual
new
right.
The
nouvelle
droite
took
leave
of
the
traditional
focus
on inequality
while
affirming
'the
incommensurability
of
different
cul-
tures.'
The
goal
was
to
preserve 'collective
identities
(and
inter-com-
munitarian
differences)
at
all
costs.'
4
Rather
than promoting
notions
of
ethnocultural
superiority,
the
aim
of
exclusionary
populism
is
to
protect
'the
own'
society,
culture,
and
way
of
life
against
alien
intrusion and
contamination.'
In
contem-
porary
right-wing
discourse, this means,
above
all,
safeguarding
and
defending
the
achievements
and
gains
of
European
culture
and
civi-
lization against
challengers
ranging
from
American
popular culture
to
Islam.
Just
why
popular
politics
of
exclusion
have
been
particularly
suc-
cessful
in
Western
European countries
and
regions -
Norway
and
Denmark,
France,
the
Flemish
part
of
Belgium,
Austria,
the
northern
part
of
Italy,
and
Switzerland
-
is
an
intriguing
question.
6
These
areas
2
This
includes 'guest
workers'
but
not
refugees
and
asylum
seekers.
3
Griffin,
'Interregnum
or
endgame?'
173.
4
Pierre Andrd
Taguieff,
'From
race
to
culture:
the
new
right's
view
of
European
iden-
tity,'
Telos
(nos
98-99,1993-4),
1o0;
on
'post-racism'
see
Ezio
Mauro,
'1l
paese
post-
razzista
di
Bossi
e
Berlusconi,'
La
Repubblica,
31
March
2000.
5
Pierre
Andr6
Taguieff,
'The
new
cultural
racism
in
France,'
Telos
(no.
83,
1990),
109-122;
Taguieff,
Surla
nouvelle
droite
(Paris:
Decartes
1994),
254-65,
99-125.
6
For
an
overview
of
the
right-wing populist
party family
see
Hans-Georg
Betz
and
Stefan
Immerfall,
eds,
The
New
Politics
of
the
Right
(New
York:
St.
Martin's
1998);
Paul
Hainsworth,
ed,
The
Politics
of
the
Extreme
Right
(London:
Pinter
2000).
394
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL Summer
2001
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