In recent years, anti-establishment and anti-immigration populism has unsettled Western and Central Europe. Leaders such as Jean-Marie Le Pen in France, Jörg Haider in Austria, Silvio Berlusconi and Gianfranco Fini in Italy, Christoph Blocher in Switzerland, and the late Pim Fortuyn in the Netherlands pushed themselves onto center stage in politics. For longer or shorter periods, some were in power. Movements once lodged securely on the far right were thus able to engage a mass electorate and challenge a political establishment that seemed unable to address the fears of ordinary Europeans. Although the political success of right-wing populist parties has ebbed over time-and especially after their failing performances in government-their impact on "intellectual" discourse and the political-cultural climate of Europe remains.

This unprecedented impact of right-wing populism derives from a political identity crisis across Europe. The disruptive effects of globalization and the...

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