Abstract
Since the end of the Cold War, perhaps one of the most prominent features of Europe’s political landscape is the emergence and rise of right-wing populism. Much research suggests that countries with a higher proportion of socioeconomically excluded population show a higher probability to support the radical right parties. However, there remain few studies that explore the condition under which the fundamental relationship will be more or less pronounced. This paper interprets social exclusion in the context of European society as a result of being deprived by ethnic outgroups and introduces mega-sport event as an innovative perspective, to examine whether and how the relationship between social exclusion and the support for the European radical right would be moderated by mega-sport event. As mega-sport event is not just about sport, but crossing borders of ethnicity, social identity construction, and state-building, it can be viewed as a political tool of nationalist mobilization. It is argued that the positive relationship between social exclusion and the support for the radical right parties would be stronger with the ethno-nationalism mobilized by the mega-sport event. The major contribution of this study is that, as indicated, it integrates the nationalized and ethnicized characteristics of sport mega-events into observing the variation in the level of social exclusion as well as its political effects.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Social Exclusion, Right-Wing Populism, Mega-Sport Event, Nationalist Mobilization
