A question of belonging
Nationalism connects the idea of a nation with claims about political authority, membership and sovereignty. Studying it requires more than identifying patriotic language. Who is included in the nation, who speaks for it, and how are its boundaries justified? Eirikur Bergmann’s work approaches these questions through the history of Iceland, comparisons across the Nordic countries and the development of nativist populism in Europe and the United States.
History matters
Nordic Nationalism and Right-Wing Populist Politics examines national sentiments in relation to the region’s imperial histories. A Nordic comparison is useful precisely because neighbouring states need not tell the same story about themselves. The book offers a route into the historical setting of contemporary nationalist politics. Neo-Nationalism then widens the geographical and chronological frame, organising its account around successive waves of nativist populism in the post-war period.
The Icelandic connection
The article Iceland: A postimperial sovereignty project connects Iceland’s approach to Europe with political identity formed through the independence struggle. Its concern is the tension between sovereignty and economic participation, not a claim that all Icelanders share a single position. Sense of Sovereignty examines a related question: how national ideas enter political debate about the EEA and EU membership. These studies give historical depth to the later work on populism.
Reading across concepts
Nationalism and populism should not be treated as interchangeable labels. The former raises questions about the nation; the latter about the relationship between the people and elites. Reading the Icelandic case study alongside the comparative books helps identify where these ideas intersect and where they diverge. For work on political rhetoric, continue to the three-step model; for institutions and international cooperation, follow the Iceland and Europe research guide.
Original publications
- Iceland: A postimperial sovereignty project (2014) · Source
- Sense of Sovereignty. How national sentiments have influenced Iceland‘s European policy (2009) · Source
- Populism in Iceland: Has the Progressive Party turned populist? (2015) · Source
Books for further reading
- Nordic Nationalism and Right-Wing Populist Politics (2017) · Publisher
- Neo-Nationalism (2020) · Publisher