Varieties of Laborism. Social Inclusion and Exclusion in Working-Class Visions of the Political Economy

Abstract

This articles makes a contribution to the seeming economic puzzle around workers‘ far-right vote. Drawing on 75 qualitative interviews with Austrian and German blue-collar workers, it highlights that the core question moving workers‘ socio-economic policy preferences is about the value of work. There are, however, multiple ideological ways of addressing this question. One of these is „exclusivist“ and typical for the far-right: it goes with a narrow materialistic framing of the value of work and a demand of sanctions for those who do not work. The article equally highlights a „moderate“ and an „inclusivist“ way of addressing the value-of-work question, both of which find resonance among workers. It proposes that addressing this core question from diverse ideological perspectives within democracy may help to reconnect a seemingly „left behind“ working-class to democratic politics.