POPULISM AND IMMIGRATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

This article analyses the correlation between populism and immigration in the EU. After examining the literature on the current state of the populist movements in the EU, along with the results of comparative fieldwork carried out in Germany, France, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, the article seeks to understand and explain how the debates on immigration, refugees, mobility and Islam influence the rise of far-right populism in Europe. To do this, the main components of the populist discourse in Europe on immigrants and refugees are described, and the socioeconomic, political and cultural factors in populist extremism are analysed along with the resentment about diversity, multiculturalism, Islam, immigration and mobility held by the followers of populist parties in the five European countries chosen.