Abstract

Since the upsurge of the so-called ’third wave' of right-wing extreraism many researchers have addressed the question to what extent the success of these kind of parties is grounded in diffuse feelings of political alienation. Unfortunately these inquiries did not produce unequivocal answers. As a matter of fact some of the findings are clearly contradictory. In the first part of this article we will establish that these divergences are largely attributable to alternative conceptualisations and operationalisations. In the second part of the article we will question the validity of the conventional causal direction, namely from 'feelings of alienation' to 'voting for an extreme-right wing party'. We will show that it might be very fruitful to reverse this relationship. In this respect we will test to what extent repeatedly voting for an extreme-right wing party such as the Vlaams Blok in Belgium actually produces feelings of'external political powerlessness'.

How to Cite:

Thijssen, P., (2001) “Extreem-rechts en politieke aliënatie: Een causaal mysterie? Case-Study: Het Vlaams Blok”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 22(3), 243–271. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86530