These are the slides for my Oxford talk on competition between the Centre Left and the Extreme Right (aka Working Class Parties 2.0) for the working class vote in Western Europe. The presentation is based on
- Arzheimer, Kai. “Working Class Parties 2.0? Competition between Centre Left and Extreme Right Parties.” Class Politics and the Radical Right. Ed. Rydren, Jens. London, New York: Routledge, 2013. 75–90.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [HTML]
The propensity of workers to vote for the Extreme Right has risen significantly. This “proletarisation”” is the result of the interplay between a long-term dealignment process and increasing worries amongst the European working classes about the immigration of cheap labour. As a result, Western European Centre Left parties may find themselves squeezed between the New Right on the one hand and the New Left on the other. There is no obvious strategy for dealing with this dilemma. Staying put will not win working class defectors back. Toughening up immigration policies is unpalatable for many party members, does not seem to make Social Democrats more attractive for working class voters, and might eventually alienate other social groups.
@InCollection{arzheimer-2012c, author = {Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {Working Class Parties 2.0? Competition between Centre Left and Extreme Right Parties}, booktitle = {Class Politics and the Radical Right}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = 2013, pages = {75--90}, keywords = {eurorex, cp}, editor = {Rydren, Jens}, abstract = {The propensity of workers to vote for the Extreme Right has risen significantly. This "proletarisation"" is the result of the interplay between a long-term dealignment process and increasing worries amongst the European working classes about the immigration of cheap labour. As a result, Western European Centre Left parties may find themselves squeezed between the New Right on the one hand and the New Left on the other. There is no obvious strategy for dealing with this dilemma. Staying put will not win working class defectors back. Toughening up immigration policies is unpalatable for many party members, does not seem to make Social Democrats more attractive for working class voters, and might eventually alienate other social groups.}, url = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/working-class-parties-extreme-right.pdf}, html = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/extreme-right-working-class-centre-left-competition/}, address = {London, New York} }
