Insecurity Politics: How Uncertain Lives Lead to Populist Support

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The everyday realities of financial and work insecurity that drive right- and left-wing populism

In Insecurity Politics, Lorenza Antonucci examines the lived, everyday experiences that underpin political disaffection. Countering the reductive portrayals of populist voters as left-behind outsiders, Antonucci focuses on the ordinary, yet increasingly precarious, realities of work and financial instability as key to understanding the surge in populist support in both right- and left-wing politics. Drawing on robust comparative quantitative and qualitative analyses across nine European countries, Insecurity Politics describes the micro-level material and cultural dynamics that drive antiestablishment politics. It finds that dissatisfaction with work and a growing sense of financial insecurity fuel populist sentiments.

Antonucci maps the evolving landscape of insecurity in contemporary Europe, tracing its roots to structural transformations of European welfare states and deep-seated cultural shifts. Proposing an original framework that combines cultural and economic explanations, the book shows how economic, social, and political factors shape receptivity to antiestablishment politics. Moving beyond conventional wisdom that attributes today's populism to cultural backlash or globalization, Antonucci addresses a critical blind spot in current research. But Insecurity Politics offers more than a mere diagnosis; it also argues that a nuanced understanding of populist attitudes could inform a renewed political agenda-one more attuned to the complex realities of European citizens.

Author Bio

Lorenza Antonucci is associate professor of sociology at the University of Cambridge and was the German Kennedy Memorial Fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University from 2022 to 2023. Antonucci is the author of Student Lives in Crisis.