Economic Nationalism and Populism – Intertwining Relations

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to analyse two very closely related categories, economic nationalism and economic populism. They intertwine both in the lived politics on the ground and in intellectual debates. Despite a rich interdisciplinary discourse, scholars interested in economic nationalism and economic populism still disagree not only how to explain them, but more fundamentally – about what they are and what their relation is. This paper answers this deficit by addressing the question of the intertwining connections between economic nationalism and populism. In the first instance it reconstructs the basic definitions of economic nationalism – its constitutive elements, its historicity and periodization as well as its main categorisations. The next section focuses on economic populism, it starts with reconstructing the general definitions of populism and then consequently emphasises its economic dimension. In the conclusive part, as well as in throughout the argumentation of whole text, the author highlights the relations between economic nationalism and populism, their overlapping components and elements that they do not share. The origins of populism (as a movement) were economic in nature. Economic populism (as an empty-hearted ideology) is intertwined with nationalism in many of its contemporary (re)incarnations. Both economic nationalism and populism are increasingly important due to their raising political popularity and they require a closer look and scholarly attention.