Why Does Globalization Fuel Populism? Economics, Culture, and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism

Dani Rodrik

Annual Review of Economics, 2021, vol. 13, issue 1, 133-170

Abstract: There is compelling evidence that globalization shocks, often working through culture and identity, have played an important role in driving up support for populist movements, particularly of the right-wing kind. I start with an empirical analysis of the 2016 presidential election in the United States to show that globalization-related attitudinal variables were important correlates of the switch to Trump. I then provide a conceptual framework that identifies four distinct channels through which globalization can stimulate populism, two each on the demand and supply sides of politics. I evaluate the empirical literature with the help of this framework, discussing trade, financial globalization, and immigration separately. I conclude the review by discussing some apparently anomalous cases in which populists have been against, rather than in favor of, trade protection.

Keywords: globalization; populism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (71)

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Working Paper: Why Does Globalization Fuel Populism? Economics, Culture, and the Rise of Right-wing Populism (2020)
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DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-070220-032416

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