Psychology can play an important role in expanding our understanding of the demandside of populism by revealing its underlying relational logic. Social psychological perspectives on populism are beginning to show how: 1) the division between us ('the good people') and them ('the corrupt elites'/'foreign others') taps into core intergroup dynamics, 2) economic and cultural processes are construed in terms of basic status concerns, and 3) collective emotions become mobilised through political communication. Taking these insights into consideration, we reflect on psychology's contribution to the study of populism thus far, and chart out an ambitious role for it at the heart of this interdisciplinary field.
Between the years 1991-1995, three wars were fought on the territory of former Yugoslavia, which led to the fall of the supra-national state and a newfound emphasis on ethnic and national identities. Since then, collective memories in the 'newly' created nations have undergone tremendous change in attempts to clarify 'who we were before and who we are now'. The current study looks at the present-day understandings of the past in Belgrade, Serbia. Through an analysis of history textbooks coupled with an intergenerational comparison of focus group data, the study attempts to account for both reified and lay representations of the past as well as any divergence that exists between them. The findings suggest that there is a close link between remembering and belonging, a connection that functions to frame identity in exclusive rather than inclusive terms.Through this process, where one version of the past is considered the only right one, critical attachment becomes equated with in-group detachment and attempts to acknowledge the transgressions of the in-group become silenced.
The construction of national identities through political discourse is a growing field of interest to social psychologists, particularly as many countries face changing demographics, borders and social realities as part of globalization, immigration and continued political integration and conflict. Through an analysis of 17 key speeches by Serbian politicians over the past 25 years, the present paper explores the question of how politicians, as entrepreneurs of identity, discursively manage the relationship between identity continuity and political change over time, in attempts to construct the future of a nation. We particularly explore this issue in the context of Serbia's present political aspirations toward joining the European Union. The findings indicate that (i) political change becomes negotiated within the framework of established and legitimized identity discourses that have developed over time, and (ii) while history is frequently drawn on to support political agendas, it is successful to the extent that this history offers a sense of cultural continuity rather than a coherent narrative of historical events and time periods. We conclude by arguing for the benefits that a diachronic approach to political discourse can offer social psychologists interested in the discursive construction of national identity.
Social groups, and the social identities which people develop as part of them, are often experienced as stable and continuous over time. Thus, countries experiencing rapid socio-political change often face the challenge of re-constructing the meaning of the social group to adapt to the demands of the present, while simultaneously making this re-construction appear as a natural progression of 'our' historical journey. In the present paper, I ask the question of how, in times of socio-political change, the past is used in the present, and the implications this has for how individuals represent their nation's future. Drawing on Serbia and its political movement towards EU integration, the present article illustrates how developed and legitimized historical narratives, linked to the myth of origin of a nation, become utilized to frame present challenges. In doing so, it allows for uncertainties in the present to become anchored in established historical narratives, which in turn have consequences for which political actions are deemed acceptable and legitimate for the future.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.