Right-wing hegemony and immigration: How the populist far-right achieved hegemony through the immigration debate in Europe

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly clear that the debate on Islam and Muslim immigrants has moved into the center of European political discourse. The increasing volume of publications about the role of Islam in social, cultural and political spheres indicates that Islam is now a major political issue, often associated with the debate on terrorism and security. This article argues that the shift in focus should be understood as the result of a hegemonic shift that goes back to the mid-1980s when the populist far-right intervened in the immigration debate in Europe. The far-right not only presented immigration as a cultural threat to the future of European nations but also succeeded in moving immigration to the center of political discourse. This was done through successive right-wing political interventions that helped establish Muslim immigrants as an incompatible ontological category predicated on culture, and kept the national focus on immigration as an imminent threat to ‘our common’ achievements.

European Parliament Elections of May 2014: Driven by National Politics or EU Policy Making?

“…As a result of the completion of the Single European Market in general and the Schengen agreement in particular, the open border policy and intra-EU migration has become a salient political issue long before the refugee crisis that dominates the news at the time of writing. Immigration and national identity are particularly salient issues for parties on the right and the extreme right of the political spectrum (Golder, 2003;Meyer & Rosenberger, 2015;Mudde, 1999;Yilmaz, 2012). As the consequences of the politics of open borders are directly attributable to EU-level policies, our fifth hypothesis predicts:…”

State, Market and Society Relations: The Roaring Last Fifty Years

“…With the rise in international migration and refugees to Europe and the USA, certain right-wing parties and politicians are using this effectively to consolidate their popularity by championing anti-immigration agendas and projecting immigration as a threat to the future of Europe and the USA (Yilmaz 2012).…”

‘Sexually modern nativist voters’: do they exist and do they vote for the populist radical right?

“…This is often reflected in the programme of PRR parties, that is, regarding their focus and their framing of the countries national identity. Supply-side studies have shown that it is particularly the ethnicizing of other issues that is typical to PRR politics (Faist 1994;Yılmaz 2012); however, previous voter studies have not shown the relevance of sexual issues. In short, we question the extent to which those who support LGBT freedoms but hold anti-migration attitudessexually modern nativist voters -vote for PRR.…”