Vlkisch populism: a Polanyian-type movement?

The rise of right-populist formations marks a caesura in the political system of many early industrialized countries. Although populist parties generally recruit their voters from all classes and strata of society, it is undeniable that they enjoy above-average approval and support from male production workers. As the authors’ studies reveal, right-populist orientations are hardening even among more active segments of works councils and trade unions. The chapter examines right-populist formations as movements of a Polanyian type which are successfully ethnicizing the social question. The authors interpret these movements as a kind of imaginary, conformist revolt in opposition to excessive market control of gainful employment. In contrast to the implications of Marxian class universalism, a levelling market power can reinforce an endemic tendency among wage-earners towards demarcating non-class-specific boundaries as a basis for claims for protection from the “maelstrom of the market†and market competition. As the chapter demonstrates, right-populism is currently achieving just that.