Social Identity and Working Class Support for the Populist Radical Right

Why are blue-collar workers increasingly supporting the populist radical right in Western Europe? Previous explanations for this phenomenon suggest that it is the result of their economic and cultural grievances and their general discontent towards the political system. Social Identity and Working Class Support for the Populist Radical Right argues that these explanations are unable to account for why the working class - despite their deteriorating economic position in recent decades - would prefer to vote for a party family that they agree with more on cultural issues (the populist radical right) than economic issues (the populist radical or mainstream left). To explain this puzzle, the book develops a theory utilizing the literature on social identity. It argues and empirically finds that political and economic conditions relatively unfavourable to the working class increase blue-collar worker support for the populist radical right in Western Europe by strengthening these workers'