"The New Politics of Resentment", Hans-George BETZ (1993): Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe

Fiche de lecture Politique & international Sciences politiques

Date de publication :

22/01/2007

Langue :

Français

Format :

.doc

Nombre de pages :

5 pages

Niveau :

grand public

Consulté :

1 fois

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Sommaire :

Sommaire

The mobilization of protest and resentment
1. The revival of a new racism
2. Hostility to the current State beyond xenophobia
The profound social and cultural transformation of advanced western democracies
1. The increasing social and cultural fragmentation
2. The attraction of voters across the social spectrum

Résumé :

Professor at the department of political science at the University of Geneva, hans-george betz is an eminent social scientist who works on the extreme right and populist parties in western europe. the article under study is entitled the new politics of resentment: radical right-wing parties in western europe and dated from 1993. During the past few years a radical populist right has emerged in a number of West European democracies. According to betz, radical right-wing populist parties are radical in their rejection of the current system, they are right-wing in appeal to xenophobia and they are populist in their instrumentalization of anxiety and disenchantment. Mixing xenophobia with a neoliberal economic program, radical right-wing populist parties have been increasingly successful at the polls. In his study, betz aims at analysing the reasons of such significant gains at the polls by using explanatory models. Does the rise of the radical populists reflect temporary resentment and single issue protest or does it represent a response to structural problems of advanced western democracies? According to the author, radical right-wing populist parties' success can be explained partly in terms of a protest against immigration from third world countries and the established political parties and partly as the result of the profound social and cultural transformation of advanced western democracies. First, it will be worth analysing the mobilization of protest and resentment by the right-wing populists. Then, I will focus on their ability to offer programs that confront the challenge linked to economic, social and cultural transformation of advanced West European democracies. Social changes are used as tools which serve their radical right-wing discourses.