The European Mainstream, the Populist Radical Right, and the (Alleged) Lack of a Restrictive Alternative

The populist radical right (PRR) has now become a permanent presence in several West European parliaments, causing issues of nationalism, welfare state chauvinism, and a draconian approach to border control to move up the electoral and party agendas. The PRR has thus ceased to be a mere irritant and now constitutes a serious threat to the political mainstream.

To explain this upward trajectory the literature typically references the PRR as the sole political actor to offer an alternative to existing immigration and integration policies. However, such explanations downplay the role that the mainstream plays in this process, and, especially, whether the lack of a restrictive and assimilationist choice can alone provide a satisfactory account for the remarkable success that many PRR parties have witnessed in recent years.

This submission constitutes the introductory chapter to an edited volume to be published by Routledge (ca. summer 2017). It outlines the rationale for the book, the research questions addressed and discusses some of the initial findings.