Looking beyond Populism: Identity Politics in the European Union (TruLies Blog by Matthias Waechter)
Over the course of the past year populism has gained a successful foothold in national politics right across European member states. In the search for a strategy with which the European Union can fight populism, identity politics may prove to be a successful counterweight. Populism may in fact provide an opportunity for the EU to move away from its rhetorical strategies of the past towards a new narrative which reaches out and touches people emotionally.
Dr. Matthias Waechter is director at the “Institut Européen-European Institute” in Nice and fellow at the “Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)”.
The project “TruLies – The Truth about Lies on Europe”, aided by the Stiftung Mercator and run by the Institute for European Politics (IEP) in cooperation with Das Progressive Zentrum, has two principal objectives. On the one hand, it strives to deconstruct Eurosceptic and populist prejudices, animosities, and false assertions, by means of social scientifically-grounded analysis. Thus, it aims to contribute to a rationalisation of the public discourse and debate in Germany (and beyond). On the other hand, “TruLies Europe” endeavours to publicly communicate its findings beyond the select circle of scholars to political actors, civil society, and the wider public. You may find further information on our website: http://trulies-europe.de/.
Matthias Waechter´s contribution can be found here.
