On emotion and the politics of status: The state of populism in Europe - a Dutch perspective

The populist revolt in the Netherlands does not seem to be able to make a real push. This chapter argues that at least part of the success of populism is not related to the demise of liberal democracy, but to its relative success. The populist revolt largely evokes two types of reactions in Dutch politics: the left believes in a politics of disadvantage, while the right has more confidence in a politics of (national) cultural identity. Egalitarians have fully fixated themselves on the current state of inequality, and believe that once these differences, perceived as unjust, have been eliminated, anger and envy will no longer play any significant role. A politics of status focuses on the effects of the relative success of immigrants, on the aggrieved reactions to claims of women and immigrants to be treated equally.