(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
In many European countries, right-wing populist and right-wing extremist parties have gained increasing support since the 1980s. A research project funded by the European Commission and the governments of Austria and Switzerland has sought to find out if there is any connection between the major changes in working life and the development of the European extreme-right. ("Socio-Economic Change, Individual Reactions and the Appeal of the Extreme Right," SIREN, 2002-2004)
The research group examined eight countries, Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary and Austria and looked at the support of the Vlaams Blok in Belgium, Danish People's Party, Front National in France, Alleanza Nazionale, the replacement for the neo-fascist the Movimento Social Italiano party, and Lega Nord in Italy; the Swiss People's Party (SVP), the various right-wing extremist parties in Germany, the Hungarian Justice and Life Party and Haider's Austrian Freedom Party.
These parties are similar to one another when it comes to gathering voters on xenophobia and far-reaching nationalism. They have a very different profile in economic policy. Some are neoliberal of ideology and attack regulations of economic life on a principled basis, while others focus more on social-political superstitions.
Tougher working life – and so what?
The SIREN project was based on the fact that tough working conditions and problems with health and safety in the workplace are not something of the past. On the contrary: In most countries, the work pressure has increased while more and more people are fearing losing their jobs due to the severe changes in the working life.
SIREN researchers found that when working conditions worsen, employees experience extra badness because it does not match the usual picture of working life in a so-called "Knowledge society." And when jobs become more insecure, and the connection to working life more random, it is at the same time worse than before to accept that working conditions are also deteriorating. It does not help that social protection through public welfare schemes is also weakened in many countries.
Two paths to right-wing extremism
The SIREN survey found that there are two in relation to the development in the working life “Psychological paths” to right-extreme attitudes, one way for winners and one way for losers.
There is a group of people who develop right-extreme attitudes even if they feel that working conditions have changed for the better. Typical for those who follow this one “The road to victory” is that they identify strongly with the company / organization and experience that they themselves have qualities that ensure that they assert themselves well in the competition. They develop a kind of social Darwinism (it is the strongest that survives), they are characterized by chauvinism (downgrading of other nations) and by prejudice against immigrants – and they end up in right-wing extremism on that basis.
"The Loser's Road" is typical of people who experience that working conditions have worsened and who have no meaningful identification with the job. They perceive society as unfair, and are convinced that the work they do is not valued for profit. They see themselves as not skilled enough or strong enough to improve the situation on their own – and direct the aggression outwards, often towards immigrants. From there, the road to right-wing extremism is short.
The losers become racists
Prejudice against immigrants is clearly linked to working conditions. The survey shows, for example, that people who have experienced that their family income has increased over the last five years have fewer prejudices against immigrants than those who have experienced that family income has gone down. And those who have experienced changes for the better at work have a greater tolerance for immigrants than those who have experienced changes for the worse.
Those with the most vulnerable attachment to working life also react most strongly to the relocation of jobs to the new Member States in the East – and to the fact that migrant workers from there move into jobs they themselves have or could have had. Such reactions are exacerbated by the fact that the enlargement of the EU is presented as something unequivocally positive.
- We will not be seen!
SIREN researchers found that job dissatisfaction has increased significantly over the past two decades. Then people provoke that the causes of the discontent, unemployment, social insecurity and increasing inequality are not actively combated more politically. Many people experience it that way "The world of the workers has disappeared from the political scene and from the media." The workers' lack of interest in politics therefore has its parallel in the politicians “Lack of interest” for workers' problems.
The disappointment was particularly great in relation to the social democratic parties – and partly in relation to the trade union movement: "Many workers believed that the Social Democratic Party no longer represented the working class. The ideological and programmatic differences between the most important parties seem to have disappeared. It increases dissatisfaction with politics and allows for populist politics entrepreneurs. "
Social Wages and Democracy
The SIREN researchers find that appeals for tolerance may work against their intent and have two suggestions for countering xenophobia and racism: social wages and pervasive democratization.
Social wages are justified as follows: Individually, the power situation for most workers is weakened by the high unemployment and collectively, the bargaining power is threatened by the increasing capital mobility. Social wages will give everyone a basic income that makes labor less of a commodity than it is today. It will strengthen the employee's position in the labor market and create opportunities for basic improvement of working conditions and working environment.
But at the same time, society must be democratized from top to bottom: "It is not surprising that the major political projects of the last decade, the internal market, the European Monetary Union, the single currency and the recent enlargement are perceived as decisions taken by political and economic elites who were neither open to influence from the majority of the European citizens or promoted their interests – despite the fact that they strongly interfered with people's lives. "
"Only if people are able to identify their own lives with how democracy operates at the grassroots level can they also be able to identify with democratic goals. The lack of democracy at the local level and in companies must be taken seriously. "
In addition, it is necessary "To tame the wild economic competition between individuals, companies and countries." Competition and competitiveness must not become a dominant social value, is the conclusion of the SIREN researchers
