Psychological Borders in Europe and the United States

Book excerpt: Psychological Borders in Europe and the United States: Contemporary Nationalism, Nativism, and Populism presents an integrative sociopolitical and psychological analysis model to examine contemporary sociopolitical rising ideologies in Europe and the United States; specifically, nationalism, nativism, and populism. Further, this book explores processes involved in the construction and sociopolitical mobilization of large, group identities. Political psychology is introduced to discuss the formation of national and psychological borders and their manifestations, including dynamics of identity driven aggression. The connection between the rise of ideologies, such as nativism and populism, and historical collective traumas is discussed, highlighting the role of social re-enactments, identity transformation, and large collective mourning to contemporary sociopolitical dynamics in Europe and the United States. Ethnic, racial, and intergroup conflict, and the role of immigration and asylum policy in maintaining, changing, and transforming existing collective identities is discussed, to then examine the war between Russia and the Ukraine. This book includes specific case applications to European countries and the United States, where nationalism, nativism, and populism have been on the ascendant.