The social breakdown thesis (also known as the
anomie
In sociology, anomie or anomy () is a social condition defined by an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards or guidance for individuals to follow. Anomie is believed to possibly evolve from conflict of belief systems and causes b ...
–social breakdown thesis)
[Fella, S. and Ruzza, C. (2009) ''Reinventing the Italian Right: Territorial politics, populism and post-fascism, Abingdon: Routledge'', p 215] is a theory that posits that individuals that are socially isolated — living in atomized, socially disintegrated societies — are particularly likely to support
right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...
parties.
According to social breakdown theory, when traditional social structures based on class and religion are breaking down, individuals lack a sense of belonging and are attracted to ethnic nationalist parties because, according to psychological research, it leads to an increased sense of self-esteem and efficacy.
[Merkel, P. and Weinberg, L. (2004) ''Right-wing Extremism in the Twenty-first Century'', Frank Cass Publishers: London, pp 50-51]
Support
Some studies have shown that support for the French
Front National and the German
Die Republikaner correlates positively with a high urban level of social isolation and low religious and trade union ties.
A Dutch study has linked social isolation and support for the far-right.
Criticism
Social breakdown thesis was at one time a popular theory to explain the
rise of Nazism during the interwar years in Weimar Germany but fell out of favour after greater empirical research.
Jens Rydgren argues that social breakdown theory has little empirical support within the academic literature on this topic.
[Rydgren, J. (2007) The Sociology of the Radical Right, Annual Review of Sociology, p 247] The academics Fella and Ruzza argue that a blanket social breakdown thesis is an insufficient explanation for the rise of far-right parties given the different voting profiles of European far-right parties.
See also
*
Ethnic competition thesis
*
Linked fate
*
Modernisation losers thesis
*
Relative deprivation thesis
Relative deprivation is the lack of resources to sustain the diet, lifestyle, activities and amenities that an individual or group are accustomed to or that are widely encouraged or approved in the society to which they belong. Peter Townsend, ''Po ...
References
{{extremeright
Far-right politics
Sociological theories
Theories of political behavior