Torben Schwuchow: Right Wing Populism and the Struggle for Dignity at Work

The dissertation asks about the (moral) significance of a decent, secure and socially valued work for the voters of right wing populist parties.

The dissertation focuses on thesis that the rise of right-wing populist parties is strongly linked to the degradation of labor. In order to analyze the successes that right-wing populist parties achieve especially among workers the dissertation asks about the (moral) significance of a decent, secure and socially valued work for the voters of right wing populist parties.

The following questions are discussed in the project:

1. Interpretations and theories of (right-wing) populism: How is (right-wing ) populism discussed in the social sciences? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these explanations?
2. Dignity at work: How can the moral significance of a decent work be explained in terms of moral and social theory? What class differences exist with regard to the (moral) meaning of work? How is dignity and self-respect expressed at work? Who is affected by humiliations at work and which strategies do workers develop to defend their dignity at work? By drawing on ethnographic studies I develop a "working-with-dignity-index" to answer these questions. This index will be used in a quantitative survey to examine the correlation of voting behavior/political attitudes and the degradation of work
3. New sociopolitical arrangements: Which sociopolitical arrangements can secure the dignity at work in the future? What opportunities do these arrangements offer to respond to the challenge of right-wing populism?