Identity motives among supporters of right-wing populist parties in Denmark

• Autor(a) principal: Guski, Anne
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/18832
• topic: Partidos políticos; Extrema direita; Populismo; Política migratória; Identidade política; Imigrantes islâmicos; Dinamarca; Identity motives; Right-wing populism; Perceived threat; Islamophobia

In last decades, Denmark has been facing major challenges related to the integration of immigrants, along with the fact, that right-wing populist parties, have achieved significant electoral support. Common patterns in Europe among the right-wing populist parties have been previously identified in the literature, yet it is still unclear why some people support such parties' immigration policy and how these political parties’ discourses and strategies affect people’s identities. The goal of this study was to examine the identity motives, driving people to support right-wing populist parties’ immigration policy. 16 supporters of the immigration policy of the two major Danish right-wing populist parties, were interviewed. Identity Process Theory was the leading theory used to examine participants identity motives and to investigate how the right-wing populist parties' strategies influence supporters' identity. The study suggested that participants need of self-efficacy was a key element in explaining the support of the parties’ immigration policy. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that the participants seems to be influenced by the parties' discourses and strategies, which was illustrated through the participants social representation of Muslims. The analysis shows that perceived cultural differences between Danish people and Muslims are considered to be a threat to the participants need of belonging. Muslims are considered to be the triggers of social change, leading to uncertainty regarding the future of the Danish society. Finally, participants shared representations of Denmark, as a homogeneous community and the fear of losing such society, appeared as an essential element in explaining the participants support of far-right anti-immigration positions.