Artikelen

Progressief of populistisch? De economische attitudes van sociaal zwakke categorieën nader onderzocht

Auteurs

  • Derks,Anton

Trefwoorden:

Populism, Social attitudes, Working class, Conservatism, Belgium, Economics, Social inequality, Disadvantaged

Samenvatting

In Political Man, S. M. Lipset (1960) argued that the working classes are progressive in the economic domain, but conservative (or authoritarian) in the cultural domain. Middendorp (1978) has elaborated these findings and stimulated an extensive body of empirical research in the lower countries. In the literature, we find much discussion and disagreement about the concept of "cultural conservatism." The notion of the progressive attitudes of the working classes in the economic domain, however, remains unchallenged. In this paper, we examine the economic orientations of the working classes, using Belgian (Flemish) survey-data (N = 1,577). The analysis shows that the political-economic attitudes of the working classes are very ambivalent, which renders it problematic to describe these positions unequivocally as "economically progressive." Feelings of deprivation and structural inequality are no longer systematically translated into leftist ideological identifications. Protest against social inequality is often accompanied by protest against the arrangements of the welfare state. The concept of "populism" is more adequate to interpret these findings. 3 Tables, 39 References. Adapted from the source document.

Biografie auteur

Derks,Anton

Gepubliceerd

2001-07-01

Nummer

Sectie

Artikelen