Shifting Repertoires of Populism and Neo-Nationalism: Austria and Brexit Britain

Abstract

This chapter seeks to contribute to an understanding of the Hanson phenomenon by locating it in a global context. More specifically, it focuses on developments in Europe which in many respects parallel those in Australia: the rise of populism and neo-nationalism. I take two examples from two distinct phases of the emergence of right-wing populist repertoires: Phase One (1980s/90s): the populist-neo-nationalist right in Austria; Phase Two (current): the UK and Brexit. The term ‘repertoire’ is borrowed from social movement analysis and has the advantage of highlighting the open-ended and shifting nature of populism. Repertoires shift and are open to innovation. The chapter examines the pioneering phase in which small or peripheral countries (e.g., Austria, The Netherlands, and Australia) had a disproportionate influence, and how the repertoire developed there is adopted and adapted in the course of - and after - the EU referendum in the UK. The chapter concludes by arguing that populism and neo-nationalism have become increasingly mainstream; common property across the political spectrum. The broader context here is one in which nation states narrow their <i>raison d'être</i>, and the source of their legitimacy, as they increasingly focus upon a single task: the defense of borders, above all against migrants.