Paper short abstract:

A relation between the rise of populist racism and social disorientation is suggested. The sense of the loss of orientation, comparable to the age of French Revolution and of the New States, may underlie the rise of extremist ideologies at present.

Paper long abstract:

In view of the present advancement of populist racism, this paper suggests an inherent relation between the rise of extremist ideologies and the sense of social disorientation generated by migrational movements. Ideologies tend to proliferate when general social orientations are felt to be lost and a chaotic situation is approaching near. Such a situation was typically found during French Revolution, "the greatest incubator of extremist ideologies," when the central organizing principle of political life was destroyed. The same pervasive sense of disorientation appeared in the mid-twentieth century among the New States when they were propelled into the midst of a precarious international order (C. Geertz). A comparable situation seems to obtain at present, particularly in and around Europe, where the influx of refugees escaping from inhumane tragedy are putting the host societies into such a strain. Extremist ideologies abound, which are attributable not only to so-called political, economic and religious factors but also to social stress and disorientation experienced both by those who suffer and move and those who must receive them. The European case can be contrasted with the situation at the opposite side of the globe, Japan, which receives an equally large number of migrants, though different kind, while maintaining the firm structure and orientation of the present without showing any sign of ideological transformation despite its extreme nationalist past. Ethnographic enquiry of the mutual relations on the concrete empirical level, where ideologies are born, is necessary for understanding reality and what we can hope for.