30.06.2014

Departmental Seminar: Populist Political Economy?

Wednesday 2 July 2014, 16:00 c.t., 124 IfP

Institutskolloquium/Departmental Seminar

Wednesday 2 July 2014, 16:00 c.t., 124 IfP

Dr. Mikko Kuisma (Oxford Brookes University):

Populist Political Economy? True Finns, Sweden Democrats and the Nordic Model of Welfare

One of the key features of the literature on the rise of the Populist Radical Right (PRR) in Europe has been the debate between cultural and economic factors in explaining their electoral success. While many authors emphasise the centrality of cultural explanations, it is argued here that we should not disregard economic motivations or, more precisely, the link between the economic grievances of voters and the electoral success of PRR parties. Using the True Finns and Sweden Democrats as case studies, it is argued that instead of adopting a “culture vs. economy approach” we should concentrate on the nationalist ontology of the parties that can accommodate both nativist and economic nationalism. Examples of these include a general anti-immigration sentiment, Euro-scepticism, and welfare chauvinism or “welfare state nostalgia”.

Mikko Kuisma studied Political Science at the University of Birmingham, where he also received his PhD in 2004 and held a ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Afterwards, Kuisma worked as Lecturer in European Politics at the University of Wales Aberystwyth and as Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. Today, he is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Oxford Brookes University (since September 2006). His research interests embrace Comparative Political Economy of welfare states with a special focus on the constitution of citizenship in national models of capitalism. Furthermore he is interested in new institutional theory, global governance and global civil society.