Immigration and populist radical right in Europe: Writing immigration into power struggle in France, The Netherlands, and Austria

The immigration crisis in Europe culminated with the rise of populist radical right parties in the region. This research primarily investigates the connexion between the immigration crisis and the political success of populist radical right parties in France, the Netherlands and Austria. Contrary to the general claim that increased immigration automatically translates into voter gravitation toward the far-right, this study argues that immigration is a political tool utilized by far-right parties for their political success. This study employs post-structuralism as a theoretical framework to analyse the immigration discourse of the Front National in France, The Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, and the Freedom Party in Austria. This study covers the period between 2013 and 2017. Findings in this study prove that the immigration crisis was a political tool used to delegitimize mainstream immigration discourse and undercut the popularity of pro-immigration mainstream parties in France, the Netherlands and Austria. This study also finds that the Front National, the Party for Freedom, and the Freedom Party propagated an immigration discourse that facilitated the mainstreaming of their political ideology and also their popularity with the electorate. Consequently, resulting in their electoral success in recent elections.