Description
Debates on the rise of populism and nationalism are abundant but the array of responses to those parties and movements have been much less explored. Why has no significant party declared itself as globalist? Who is defending the liberal world order and how? Why did some parties respond to the rise of nationalism with another definition of national identity (e.g. Macron’s patriotism) while others simply avoid the topic? The increasing presence of global problems and international institutions have triggered the politicization of globalization and supranational organizations which has important foreign policy implications. Much has been written on the ‘nationalist side’ but not on what opposes it. Is it cosmopolitanism, patriotism or Europeanism? Although the nationalist parties have been able to put forward a more or less common articulation of their project, there is a myriad of different articulations of party and movement’s position when criticizing nationalism. An exploration of the responses to nationalism is important because it is taken as a crucial (sometimes the crucial) aspect of the new cleavage between supporters and critics of globalization that, according to many (Kriesi et al., 2008; Zürn and De Wilde, 2016), is shaping voting behavior and today’s politics. I aim to study first, the increasing relevance of opposition to ‘nationalists’ as a political identity (for both parties and voters) and, second the many different ways in which this opposition is being articulated (some of them, paradoxically, well within the nationalist framework). For simplicity, I have termed this the ‘anti-nationalist vs nationalist’ divide within the new cleavage.
Thus, the research puzzle I will try to solve is why ‘anti-nationalist’ parties have not formed a relatively common articulation of their position while nationalist parties have? I will first engage in a systematic study of the different ways opposition to nationalist parties has been articulated in Spain by employing content analysis methods. Secondly, I will test the validity of hypothesis regarding institutional legacies, party family affiliation and authority transfer to explain variation across parties in Western democracies. My project focuses, therefore, on an important aspect of the increasing politicization of the new globalization cleavage that is challenging the world order.
