ABSTRACT
Dichotomous images of the “countryside” and the “city” are at work in many social discourses in Austria, coupled with anti-elitist and racist positions, which culminate in the proclamation of an affinity for Heimat (homeland). At the same time, shifts in life-worlds can be observed which, in place of a dichotomy between the rural and the urban, reveal complex entanglements of different groups, lifestyles and spatial imagery. It, therefore, makes sense when engaging critically with the spatial aspects of anti-elitism within the context of right-wing populist politics to take a closer look at the plurality of life models and ideals in the city and the countryside in order to analyse how spaces and their meanings are produced and negotiated on an ongoing basis, instead of perpetuating the seemingly plausible but unquestioned dichotomy between the city and the countryside.
