National Populism and Borders

Oscar Mazzoleni, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Research Observatory for Regional Politics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Cecilia Biancalana, Research Fellow, Department of Culture, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Italy, Andrea Pilotti, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne, Laurent Bernhard, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne, and Department of Political Science, University of Zurich, Grégoire Yerly, PhD candidate, Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne and Lukas Lauener, Researcher, Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS), and PhD candidate, Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

‘This book investigates instrumentalisation of borders by national-populist parties from different interdisciplinary perspectives while focusing on a single case study, i.e. Switzerland during the COVID-19 crisis. The theoretical approach which distinguishes between borders as issues, narratives and territorial spaces of mobilisation is innovative and should be applied to other contested regions and crises. A must-read for everybody who would like to understand the intricacies of globalised border- and body politics.’

• Contents:1 Introduction: national populism and the politicisation ofborders in a changing Europe 1Oscar MazzoleniPART I NATIONAL POPULISTS’ CONSTRUCTIONOF BORDERS2 The politicisation of borders in national-populistdiscourse: Geneva and Ticino during the COVID-19 pandemic 17Cecilia Biancalana and Grégoire Yerly3 Convergence without conflict? Trans-bordernational-populist strategies in multi-scalar spaces of mobilisation 37Cecilia Biancalana and Oscar Mazzoleni4 Framing the people and the elites: two models ofnational-populist border politicisation. The case of theGeneva and Basel cross-border regions 55Grégoire Yerly5 Do bordering preferences affect the populist attitudes of citizens? 78Laurent BernhardPART II BORDERS AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION6 What drives elite opinions on European integration?Examining the territorial dimension 96Lukas Lauener and Laurent Bernhard7 Breaking down public opinion on European integration:the role of national borders 119Lukas Lauener8 Direct democracy, border residence and Euroscepticism:evidence from a proposition to terminate the freemovement of persons between Switzerland and theEuropean Union 143Laurent Bernhard and Lukas LauenerPART III CITIZENS’ ATTITUDES IN CROSS-BORDERSPACES OF MOBILISATION9 Cross-border relations and national-populist politicisation:a citizen perspective 166Andrea Pilotti and Oscar Mazzoleni10 Between economy and constituency: ambivalent attitudestowards cross-border workers 193Oscar Mazzoleni and Andrea Pilotti11 Not really a “left-behind” place: national-populistre-bordering in a rich but declining periphery 210Oscar Mazzoleni and Andrea Pilotti12 Conclusions: multi-scalar national populism and borderpoliticisation 229Cecilia Biancalana and Oscar MazzoleniIndex