ABSTRACT
In order to cover the relevant literature concerning the research topic of the book, it is necessary to explore three different fields of study. The first concerns populism studies. Populism has been conceptualised and examined since the 1950s by pioneers such as Richard Hofstadter, Franco Venturi, Isaiah Berlin and others, and today and after a growing interest (particularly since the late 20th century), there are three main conceptualisations: the ideational approach (first articulated by Cas Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser), the strategic approach (not only presented by Kurt Weyland but also followed by authors such as Alan Ware) and the sociocultural approach (proposed by Pierre Ostiguy and following sociological rather than political premises). It is also important to pay particular attention to those who have explored right-wing populism in the last decade, such as Cas Mudde, Matthew Goodwin, Pippa Norris or Ronald Inglehart. The second field to be examined is that of nationalism studies, starting with the main theories of nationalism (modernism, primordialism and ethno-symbolism), and the notion, fundamental for this book, of nationalism as an ideology and more specifically one that intersects with other dynamics, ideological or not. Finally, there needs to be an examination of the recent focus around the intersection between nationalism and populism and how it has been studied in the last decade (among both those studying left-wing and right-wing populism), with a particular focus on the works of Rogers Brubaker, Yannis Stavrakakis and Benjamin De Cleen, who have engaged in an academic debate since 2017 on this particular topic.
