Filling the Ideological Void: ‘Restorative’ Nostalgia and the Radical Right Parties in Romania
Filling the Ideological Void: ‘Restorative’ Nostalgia and the Radical Right Parties in Romania

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the role occupied by nostalgia as a group-based emotion in shaping the ‘micro-politics’ of the radical right parties. The paper argues that the high ideological eclecticism of RRP is primarily due to the strategies deployed in the weaponization of the past. As a discursive strategy, nostalgia substantially conditions party appeals well beyond the symbolic and mythological references, contaminating broader policy-oriented assertions. The study is focused on two paired examples of ultranationalist parliamentary parties: the Greater Romanian Party and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians. Content analysis of primary and secondary sources emphasizes that despite a 30-year time gap, the two Romanian RRP showcase remarkably high levels of programmatic and discourse overlap due to nostalgia-based strategies of boosting nationalist identities.crucial.

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