NotAttaman Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 A(n IMO) fairly well-sourced article touching upon the rise of the Alt-Right in the Western world over both the last couple years and the past decades overall. To avoid plagiarizing the whole thing, a choice section from later on in the article: The most systematic effort to do this, to date, comes from Harvard University’s Pippa Norris and the University of Michigan’s Ronald Inglehart. Norris and Inglehart looked at 12 years of European Social Survey data, surveying a whopping 294,000 respondents, to figure out the relationship between economic and cultural grievances and support for the European far-right. They found something startling: Earlier research suggesting the European far right draws support from globalization’s losers was simply wrong. "The strongest populist support," they write, "remains among the petty bourgeoisie — typically small proprietors like self-employed plumbers, or family owned small businesses, and mom-and-pop shopkeepers — not among the category of low-waged, unskilled manual workers." Only one of the five economic variables they tested — employment status — correlated well with support for the populist right. That held true even when they controlled for variables like age, sex, ethnic identity, and minority status. Then they set up an alternative model, one that tested whether five distinct cultural factors — like anti-immigrant attitudes and authoritarian values — would predict support for the far right. Every single one did. In short: There was no good evidence that economic anxiety was driving cultural resentment. Economics played some contributing role, but it seems much more likely that the far-right backlash is about what the far-rightists say it’s about: immigration, race, and culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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