1st Edition

Popular Music and the Rise of Populism in Europe

Edited By Mario Dunkel, Melanie Schiller Copyright 2025
202 Pages
by Routledge

202 Pages
by Routledge

This book focuses on the role of popular music in the rise of populism in Europe, centring on the music-related processes of sociocultural normalisation and the increasing prevalence of populist discourses in contemporary society. In its innovative combination of approaches drawing from (ethno)musicology, sociology, and political science, as well as media and cultural studies, this book develops... Read more

Popular music and the rise of populism in Europe: An introduction

Mario Dunkel and Melanie Schiller

 

1. Populist discourses in pro-government, anti-government, and anti-elite songs in Hungary under the Orbán regime

Emília Barna and Ágnes Patakfalvi-Czirják

 

2. Playing “Italianness” in popular music: National populism and music in contemporary Italy

Manuela Caiani and Enrico Padoan

 

3. “I wanna get back home”: Performing a populist Austrian homeland in popular music

André Doehring and Kai Ginkel

 

4. Populism in the land of pop: The Sweden Democrats, popular music, and the performance of heroic averageness

Melanie Schiller

 

5. Pop stars as voice of the people: Xavier Naidoo, Andreas Gabalier, and the performance of populism during the Covid-19 pandemic

Mario Dunkel and Reinhard Kopanski

 

Afterword: Popular music and populism in Europe

Mario Dunkel and Melanie Schiller

 

Index

Biography

Mario Dunkel is Professor for Music Education with a focus on transcultural music mediation at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg.

Melanie Schiller is Professor of Contemporary Media Cultures at Radboud University in Nijmegen.

“The great strength of this fascinating collection is that it does indeed show how popular music is linked to the rise of populism in Europe. With its subtle and sophisticated case studies and its careful framing, this book reveals the political importance of music and the cultural roots of populism.”
John Street, Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of East Anglia


“This wonderful collection shows that populism is more than just parties, movements and leaders – it extends into popular culture as well. Theoretically-imaginative and empirically-rigorous, it considers the intersection of populism and popular music in Europe, and opens up new avenues for thinking about how populism operates in the 21st century.”
Benjamin Moffitt, Associate Professor of Politics, Australian Catholic University

Popular Music and the Rise of Populism in Europe by Mario Dunkel and Melanie Schiller is an original and thought-provoking exploration into the entanglement of populism and popular culture. The volume presents a culture-centric lens to understand the rise of populism in contemporary Europe, thereby making a very welcome contribution to an increasingly saturated field of research. A must-read for scholars and students of populism who are interested in understanding the multifaceted dimensions of populist influences.”
Léonie de Jonge, Assistant Professor in European Politics and Society, University of Groningen