Marketing Radicalism: The Cultural Production of Far-Right Populism in Contemporary Hungary (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)

The commodification and marketing of nationalism in a populist-governed countryMost accounts of populist politics revolve around political parties, electoral politics, eroding democratic institutions, media, and political propaganda.In Marketing Radicalism, Virág Molnár examines instead populism as a cultural process-one that reshapes cultural identities and meanings of cultural citizenship.Looking at such domains as fashion, publishing, and tourism, Molnár shows how identity politics, culture wars, culture industries, consumer markets, and popular culture contribute to the rise of far-right populism.The marketing of nationalism creates powerful narratives that reimagine the nation as a populist fantasyland, and these narratives are used by far-right governments in their efforts to topple liberal norms. Hungary under Viktor Orbán has provided an ideological blueprint for far-right populist politicians-and a cautionary tale for liberal democracies.Using Hungary’s commodification of nati