Johana Wyss

The rising support for populist movements is a global issue. In Europe alone, populist parties have steadily increased their support, entering most national parliaments. This rise has been accompanied by a drastic populist politicisation of how to interpret the past ‘correctly’. To explore the intrinsic relationship between memory and populism, this project aims to investigate the everyday mnemonic practices and populist sentiments of ordinary people living in European transnational regions. Thus, it purposefully shifts the centre of the populism studies’ focus from elite public social actors and the nation-state to ordinary people and the transnational borderland where, in fact, both antagonistic memories and support for populist movements are arguably the strongest.