Patriotism, Nationalism, and Populism: The New Playground

Abstract

How does right-wing populism combine with various attitudes to one’s country or transnational culture? This question has often been mentioned but never systematically dealt with. We propose the following: high-profile patriotism and its closest cousin, classical nationalism, fit the populist agenda very well; the “people” are seen as one’s ethno-national community. Moderate statist nationalism might be too elitist for some populist tastes, but it still connects well with mainstream right-wing populism. Transnational communitarian (belonging to a confession, religion, and the like) is the main populist alternative to nationalism. Which of the two will dominate depends on the nature of cleavage(s) dominant in any given society. Liberal nationalism is not suitable for right-wing populism and cosmopolitanism even less so; it does, however, attract some left-wing populists. Having explored this further, the last part of the paper will be dedicated to analyzing the wider causes of populist success, with the conclusion sketching the way toward blocking or eliminating these causes, pointing to an aspirational picture of a more just society in which populist extremism would have very little or no chance of success.

This text is based on my 2019 paper “Populism and Nationalism” but introduces several new topics. I wish to thank Violeta Beširević who prompted me to write the 2019 paper and Mitja Sardoč and Ana Matan for prompting the present one.