Populism, dominance, and differentiation in the EU

Abstract

It is widely held that the EU has become more differentiated in the last decade or so, and analysts are actively engaged in considering whether that is good or bad for the EU. Our point of departure is that the most problematic forms of differentiation are those that are closely associated with dominance understood as arbitrary and unjustified forms of rule. The purpose of this panel is to examine populism’s role in that context. To what extent and how does populism add to EU differentiation? In what sense and how is this related to dominance? Populism is an essentially contested concept and is a multifaceted phenomenon in need of further unpacking. This panel does that in several ways and manners. It discusses populism in relation to sovereignism, which refers to how populism and nationalism combine. This is not a mere terminological shift but adds new insights of relevance for differentiation and dominance in the EU context. Further, the panel compares populist and non-populist civil society actors’ conceptions of dominance and visions of (dis)integration. Third, the panel discusses the relationship between populists’ policies of national exclusion and the EU’s character as a segmented order (subject to material and normative constraints). Finally the panel situates these analyses within a broader context of populists’ and non-populists’ ‘thought communities’ (conceptions of the EU) within six EU member states.

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