Identity politics and mobilization in times of crisis. The Alliance for Romanian Unity and political identities in Romania

In the last parliamentary elections (2020), Alliance for Romanian Unity (AUR), a far-right populist party gained over nine percent of the votes, one month after the local elections where the score was slightly under one per cent. Their strategy was based on four pillars: family, fatherland, faith and freedom and the campaign included activism for the unification between Romania and Moldova, an opposition to progressive politics, criticism of foreign investments, and skepticism towards further European integration. Since then, the party and its leader, George Simion, reached over 20 percent of support and a second place in the polls. Starting from Fukuyama`s identity politics theory and Melendez & Kaltwasser work on political identities, this analysis explains the social and political background (after 2014 Presidential elections) and the main drivers of AUR rising. By using process tracing, the preliminary findings of our work show that the party was not the driving force, but the needed cohesion incentive that brought forward individuals and groups that belong to the same identity group. Using a populist and nationalist speech was sufficient for the party to gather, in a short time, significant support from those who felt unrepresented and shared an antiestablishment political identity. Moreover, the crisis generated by Covid-19 pandemic played a significant role in the political mobilization of exclusive identities at different levels.