ABSTRACT
Populism is a phenomenon with a long history, and in this interview Hans-Georg Betz presents the origins of American nativism. He first discusses the anti-German sentiments that were popular before the American Revolution, and the attacks against Irish Catholics in the 1830s, and how on these premises originated in the 1850s a populist and nativist movement called the Know Nothings. Next, Betz discusses the evolution of one of the first examples of modern populism, the People’s Party, and its disintegration following the 1896 election. Our time travel covers Boulangisme in 19th-century France and Donald Trump’s presidency, discussing, among other things, today’s Islamophobia, Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour.
