What explains rising skepticism toward immigration and the growing appeal of right-wing populist parties in Europe? James F. Hollifield will discuss his upcoming publication, examining the role of anomie, a condition of social disconnection characterized by declining trust, weakened community ties, and a diminished sense of belonging, in shaping political attitudes.
Abstract of the paper
Negative attitudes towards immigration and cultural diversity, and the attendant surge in voting for right-wing national populist parties in Europe, can be explained in significant part by a sense of anomie, linked to alienation, a decline in social trust and integration, and a deterioration of civil society. This social-psychological phenomenon is largely distinct from an individual's economic position, sense of nationalism, and generalized social conservatism—three factors often posited as sources of anti-immigrant sentiment and attraction to the far right. Using data from the European Social Survey, we explore support for and opposition to immigration throughout the European Union and voting for national populist parties in France and Germany, core EU member states that host some of the continent's largest immigrant populations. We find little support for the thesis that anti-immigrant attitudes and national populism are predominantly rooted in an angry and dispossessed working class; rather, the atomization and social marginalization driving these phenomena cut across economic lines. Our findings suggest that social trust and integration, or the lack thereof, are at least as important as economic, nationalist, and cultural concerns in explaining anti-immigrant sentiment and support for right-wing nationalist parties in Europe.
About the speaker
James F. Hollifield, PhD, is Ora Nixon Arnold Professor of International Political Economy in the Department of Political Science, Director of the Tower Center, and Acting Director of the Texas-México Center at SMU. He is a member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. A scholar of international and comparative political economy, he has written widely on issues of political and economic development, with a focus on migration. Recent books include Understanding Global Migration (Stanford UP 2022) and Controlling Immigration 4th edition (Stanford UP 2022), Migration Theory 4th edition (Routledge 2023), and International Political Economy: History, Theory and Policy (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). Hollifield has served as an advisor for governments around the world and for many international organizations on matters of migration and human and economic development. In 2021-22 he was a Fellow of the French Institute for Advanced Studies in Paris; and in 2024 he received a Career Achievement Award from the American Political Science Association.