Varieties of welfare populism: radical right voters between chauvinism and producerism

This article reconstructs why (radical) right voters oppose immigrants’ access to the Belgian welfare state. Applying the CARIN deservingness framework our in-depth interviews demonstrate that ‘welfare chauvinism’ falls short to grasp all their diverse arguments. Besides material interests and the identity of the in-group, migrants’ deservingness is also morally questioned because they allegedly lack efforts and contributions. In this producerist logic, the focus is not on identity but on other deservingness criteria like individual responsibility (control) and reciprocity. Immigrants must earn their place in society by hard work and good conduct. Although the ideological premise of ‘welfare producerism’ differs from those underpinning ‘welfare chauvinism’ - the former leaning to the right, the latter to the left - both can come together within a broader welfare populism. Its resentment unites by scapegoating the non-natives as undeserving poor and the welfare state because it sacrifices its ‘own kind’ of people.