‘Actually existing’ right-wing populism in rural Europe: insights from eastern Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ukraine

Mamonova, Natalia; Franquesa, Jaume; Brooks, Sally

doi:10.1080/03066150.2020.1830767

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…The crisis of the globalized capitalist economy, which resulted in the peripheralization of rural areas and the related crisis of representative democracies, triggered rural resentment against the existing order. This resentment has manifested itself in rural support for right-wing populist parties and in grassroots nationalist movements (Mamonova et al, 2020) both in Hungary (Kovai 2018;Szombati 2018;Vigvári 2019) and in Germany (Lees 2018;Vorländer et al, 2018;Förtner et al, 2021;Schmalz et al, 2021). Left-wing populism (Goes and Bock 2017;Mouffe 2018;Förtner et al, 2021), which builds on "equality and social justice" (Mouffe, 2018: 47) and a radical democracy "in which differences are still active" but where people are united in their opposition against "forces or discourses that negate all of them" (38), has not been able so far to reach the precaritized inhabitants of peripheralized rural areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peripheralization, Political Discontent, and Social and Solidarity Economy—Case Studies From Rural Hungary and Germany

Mihály

2022

Front. Polit. Sci.

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The reintegration of Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies into globalized capitalism resulted in increasing regional polarization and the emergence of internal peripheries. The crisis of the globalized capitalist economy in 2008 resulted in the further peripheralization of rural areas, and the related crisis of representative democracies triggered rural resentment against the existing order. Inhabitants of peripheralized areas have a feeling of abandonment and political discontent. The rise of right-wing populism may be understood as a revolt of people living in precarious conditions in peripheralized areas both in Hungary and Germany. Left-wing populism, which builds on equality and social justice and is based on radical democracy, has not been able so far to reach the precaritized inhabitants of peripheralized rural areas. Solidarity economy, which is a contemporary social movement, refers to a comprehensive program aimed at transforming the entire economy, and may have the potential to address the political discontent of people living in peripheralized rural areas. In spite of the rising support for right-wing populism, social and solidarity economy (SSE) initiatives are being carried out in rural peripheries. These initiatives are based on the principles of participatory and economic democracy. Spaces provided by SSE initiatives can become forums for deliberation and co-management to develop economic democracy and become seeds of a solidarity economy movement in CEE. Therefore, based on a critical realist ethnographic approach, this paper aims to answer the question of how SSE initiatives may address the everyday material challenges and political discontent of people living in peripheralized villages by studying two SSE initiatives being carried out in two contrasting cases of peripheralization. Studying SSE initiatives in relation to 1) the locality they are embedded in, 2) “subaltern” groups within the locality, and 3) participatory, economic and 4) representative democracy helps to better understand in what ways SSE initiatives can mobilize political discontent to strengthen the solidarity economy movement in CEE.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peripheralization, Political Discontent, and Social and Solidarity Economy—Case Studies From Rural Hungary and Germany

Mihály

2022

Front. Polit. Sci.

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“…Often, the support for these parties is rooted mainly in rural areas. This phenomenon is also known as rural populism (see, e.g., Jadhav 2021; Mamonova, Franquesa, and Brooks 2020). It has, for example, been observed that the votes of people living in “flyover country” and “the Rust Belt” were crucial for the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election (Rodríguez‐Pose 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By promising the prioritization of smallholder agriculture over multinational enterprises, Jobbik became the largest opposition party in Hungary in 2018, winning 19 percent of the vote (Lubarda 2020). Similarly, in Ukraine in 2019, right‐wing populist parties attempted to win votes by making agricultural demands in response to growing rural resentment among farmers due to their fear of land grabs in the course of land reforms aimed at opening up the market (Mamonova et al 2020). Moreover, in Italy, the government formed by the Lega party criticized the EU for “not defend[ing] Italian farmers against unfair international competition, thus threatening both the economic sustainability and the cultural relevance of Italian agriculture” (Iocco, Lo Cascio, and Perrotta 2020:743).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Analyses that have considered moderate anti‐European parties have reported that the direction of the effect reverses, with people in urban areas being more likely to vote for an anti‐European party (Dijkstra, Poelman, and Rodríguez‐Pose 2020). Moreover, besides in the poor, strongly agricultural, and historically right‐wing rural areas with many migrant farm workers, the Spanish right‐wing populist party Vox has achieved its greatest successes in urban areas where the upper‐middle and upper classes reside; that is, around Madrid (Mamonova et al 2020). Furthermore, the AfD has attracted support in areas of western Germany characterized by very high population densities and poor economic conditions, as well as in urbanized areas of southern Germany with a good economic situation (Bergmann et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rural vote for Trump has been put into the context of an intensified competition caused by the globalized market economy and a general decline in the incomes of specialty crop farmers in the Western states and farmers in the Southern and Midwestern states (Montenegro de Wit et al 2021). Similarly, in Europe, the modernizing reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU have put pressure on many farmers to expand their businesses and intensify their farming through technology, and have led them to become increasingly dependent on bank loans, the food industry, and retail chains (Mamonova et al 2020). By promising the prioritization of smallholder agriculture over multinational enterprises, Jobbik became the largest opposition party in Hungary in 2018, winning 19 percent of the vote (Lubarda 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How Rural is Rural Populism? On the Spatial Understanding of Rurality for Analyses of Right‐wing Populist Election Success in Germany*

Deppisch¹,

Osigus²,

Klärner³

2021

Rural Sociology

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In this article, the authors take up the thesis of the narrative that the support for right-wing populist election successes is located in rural areas. For the case of the German right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) the authors propose a complex definition of rurality, and perform a quantitative small-scale analysis of the national election results in Germany in 2017. They examine the potential connection between a high share of votes for the AfD and the rurality of a municipality. The results show that in eastern Germany, the fairly rural municipalities have comparatively high AfD vote shares, whereas in western Germany, the fairly rural and the non-rural municipalities have similar AfD vote shares. Therefore, it appears that the thesis that rural areas are the source of the support of right-wing populism applies to some, but not to all rural areas of Germany. *The authors thank Miriam Hils-Cosgrove and Dina Führmann for language editing as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the earlier versions of this paper.

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Neo-colonialism in the Polish rural world: CAP approach and the phenomenon of suitcase farmers

et al. 2022

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Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP), including agri-environment-climate measures (AECMs), also generates threats. The study identifies an extremely disturbing process that can be referred to as “internal neo-colonialism”, which has been driven by the technocratic agrarian policy of the EU and transformations in Poland at the turn of the twenty-first century. The associated disadvantageous practices mainly affect areas under threat of marginalisation and peripheralisation, including Poland with its post-Socialist heritage, which has shaped the attitudes and behaviour of society and has consolidated linkages between politics and business. In order to retrace such activities, the study analyses EU funds granted in support of farmers implementing AECMs, with a focus on analysing the place of residence of the “farmer” and the location of the farm. As the research shows, the attractiveness of CAP support causes Polish agriculture and Poland’s countryside, including its natural and financial resources, to be drained by so-called “suitcase farmers”, i.e. people/entities not tied to the place where the agricultural activity is pursued, many of whom live in cities. One common practice is to take over land located in legally protected areas noted for their high quality of natural environment. Not only does the practice of land grabbing strengthen the social exclusion of rural communities and the peripheralisation and pauperisation of these areas, but it also hinders discussion about environmental justice and the ecological integrity of rural areas.

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‘Actually existing’ right-wing populism in rural Europe: insights from eastern Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ukraine

Cited by 16 publications

References 68 publications

Peripheralization, Political Discontent, and Social and Solidarity Economy—Case Studies From Rural Hungary and Germany

Peripheralization, Political Discontent, and Social and Solidarity Economy—Case Studies From Rural Hungary and Germany

How Rural is Rural Populism? On the Spatial Understanding of Rurality for Analyses of Right‐wing Populist Election Success in Germany*

Neo-colonialism in the Polish rural world: CAP approach and the phenomenon of suitcase farmers

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