Explaining rural protest: a comparative analysis

Populism, Neoliberalism and Agrarian Movements in Europe. Understanding Rural Support for Right‐Wing Politics and Looking for Progressive Solutions

“…Their appeals find a fertile ground in the countryside, where people have been feeling politically ‘overlooked’ and ‘forgotten’ for decades. Indeed, in many countries, politicians used to ignore the interests of rural population for a variety of reasons, including the relatively low electoral weight of rural constituencies (just 28 per cent of the EU‐28 population) and entrenched stereotypes about rural constituents’ supposed apolitical character (Woods ). With the rise of populism, the ‘power has leaked to the countryside’, where rural people have revolted against the hegemony of urban elites and neoliberal values (Beckett ).…”

“…Thus, there are a number of bottom‐up initiatives in rural Europe that are inspired by food sovereignty, social justice and agrarian populism, however, they are small‐scale, focus on narrow ‘bread‐and‐butter’ issues and remain within national borders. Indeed, Woods (, p. 36) argued that ‘rural activists in the Global North largely failed to develop and mobilise transnational networks of solidarity and collective action’. This is a serious shortcoming in the current political conjuncture.…”

“…Europe’s populists are making inroads in the countryside by tapping into feelings of abandonment and exploiting rural resentment against elites, migrants and ethnic minorities. This rural support for populist parties in Europe has remained largely overlooked in academic debates (with some notable exceptions such as Woods , ; Strijker et al ; Gonda ). Meanwhile, as Paxton (, p. 6) reminds us, ‘[i]t was in the countryside that both Mussolini and Hitler won their first mass following, and it was angry farmers who provided their first mass constituency’.…”

Authoritarian Populism and the Rural World

“…The rising discontent and resentment in rural society have triggered what Woods (2005) called 'rural reawakening'an increase in rural mobilisation and activism in response to neoliberal policy reforms, globalisation, and extensive social change in the European countryside. However, rural protest groups remain mostly fragmented and only informally linked, which limits their ability to challenge the status quo (Woods 2015;Mamonova and Franquesa 2020a). Meanwhile, large-scale agribusiness and multinational corporations successfully lobby European governments.…”

‘Actually existing’ right-wing populism in rural Europe: insights from eastern Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ukraine

“…When people are unable to live up to salient social identities and their constitutive values, they experience low self-esteem, shame and insecurity (Salmela and von Scheve 2017). Scholars observed increasing socio-economic tensions (Woods and McDonagh 2011) declining life-satisfaction (Bunkus et al 2020), and widespread feelings of a loss of dignity (Franquesa 2018) However, rural protest groups remain mostly fragmented and only informally linked, which limits their ability to challenge the status quo (Woods 2015;Mamonova and Franquesa 2020a).…”