Social Precarization and Ressentiments (completed)

Funded by Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)

The notion of a causal relation between the emergence of extreme right wing attitudes and increasing socio-economic uncertainties is a widely held belief by the media, politicians, and scientists. Nevertheless, a closer look at empirical data reveals that a range of other factors play an important role in the formation of such attitudes. Additionally, theories which seek to explain this relationship remain relatively vague and many of the related questions remain unanswered. For instance, why is it that some people who suffer from a lack of socio-economic security show a clear affinity towards right-wing extremist ideologies while others who are determined to live under similar conditions do not? Why is it that particularly social and ethnic minorities are devaluated by so-called losers of modernisation processes? And what is the explanation for the fact that among the lower middle-classes xenophobic and anti-Semitic stereotypes can be found more frequently than within other segments of the social strata?

The aim of this PhD project is to examine connections between social precarization and extreme right attitudes since German unification. The examination entails an analysis of the relevant empirical data of the last 15 years – such as the results of empirical research on right-wing extremism and socio-economic transformations that trigger social insecurity and uncertainty in Germany. In order to re-analyse this data, the examination applies research concepts of so-called “Process“ or “Figurational Sociology” (as founded by Norbert Elias) to the empirical data – since the usage of  concepts such as “habitus” or the theory of “established and outsiders” may provide new insights in the relationship of social precarization and the development of extreme right attitudes. On the basis of this secondary analysis the project seeks to provide a more differentiated view on these often simplified linkages.