Daphne Halikiopoulou

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+44 (0) 118 378 8519
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Professor
- Module Convenor of PO2CGP and PO3FAR
- Politics and International Relations UoA REF Lead
- Politics and International Relations Impact Lead
Areas of interest
Comparative European politics, voting behaviour and party politics, nationalism and extremism, far right parties, far left parties, comparative methods.
Impact and Outreach
Daphne frequently appears in the media. She has been interviewed by the BBC World Service, Channel 4 News, France24, Al Jazeera, the Atlantic, and the New York Times among others. Daphne has written numerous blog posts and opinion pieces for LSE EUROPP, Newsweek, the Huffington Post, the Conversation, Open Democracy, the Financial Times, El Pais, Social Europe, the Washington Post and the Independent.
Postgraduate supervision
Daphne is interested in supervising students in the following topic areas:
- the rise of far-right parties
- Brexit
- voting patterns in Europe
- nationalism and political mobilisation
- extremism.
Research projects
2021/2022: Understanding right-wing populism and what to do about it- in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and Tim Vlandas (University of Oxford). How can we understand the rise of right-wing populism and what can we do about it? This report examines the electoral success of right-wing populist parties (RWPPs) in 17 European countries and makes recommendations for how progressives should respond. Specifically, we study the three Ps:
People: Why do individual people vote for RWPPs?
Policy: What is the role of policy?
Parties: What makes certain RWPPs more successful than others?
The structure of the Three Ps provides a framework to address crucial questions many progressive decision-makers, strategists and citizens have:
Is it cultural or economic concerns that drive support for RWPPs?
Can economic & social policies prevent the success of RWPPs?
Can populism alone explain the success of RWPPs?
What should progressives do to address voters of RWPPs?
The report will provide comprehensive answers to those and many more questions and include hands-on visualizations, policy recommendations as well as an in-depth insight into country-specific and regional peculiarities and distinctions. It will be published in early 2022.
2019: Daphne is part of the PopuList team. The PopuList is a peer-reviewed list of populist, far right, far left and Eurosceptic parties that obtained at least 2% of the vote in at least one national parliamentary election since 1998. The PopuList is supported by the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, The Guardian, and the ECPR Standing Group on Extremism and Democracy (Citation: Rooduijn, M., Van Kessel, S., Froio, C., Pirro, A., De Lange, S., Halikiopoulou, D., Lewis, P., Mudde, C. & Taggart, P. (2019). The PopuList: An Overview of Populist, Far Right, Far Left and Eurosceptic Parties in Europe).
2019: University of Reading Research Fellowship: the aim of this project is to examine far right populism on a global scale. Specifically, it aims at identifying different patterns of nationalist narratives and how they appeal to different social groups in different countries. It does so by comparing far right populist parties with varied success in Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Brazil.
2015: Hellenic Observatory/ National Bank of Greece funded project entitled: 'Radicalising the Mainstream? The Rise of the Golden Dawn and its Impact on Greek Party Politics' (with Kyriaki Nanou, University of Nottingham, and Sofia Vasilopoulou, University of York). The project, which is part of the broader Comparative Agendas Project (CAP), examines the extreme right Golden Dawn and its impact on the dynamics of party competition in Greece.
Background
Daphne is a professor of comparative politics and has written extensively on nationalism and the cultural and economic determinants of far-right party support.
She is the author of The Golden Dawn's 'Nationalist Solution': explaining the rise of the far right in Greece (with Sofia Vasilopoulou) and numerous articles on European far-right parties.
Her research appears in the European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Government and Opposition, European Political Science Review, and Nations and Nationalism among others.
In 2016, Daphne was the recipient of an American Political Science Association (APSA) European Politics and Society Section Best Paper Award for my co-authored article 'Risks, Costs and Labour Markets: Explaining Cross-National Patterns of Far-Right Party Success in European Parliament Elections' (with Tim Vlandas).
She is joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal Nations and Nationalism (with John Breuilly, John Hutchinson and Eric Kaufmann) and co-editor (with Daniel Stockemer) of the Springer book series in Electoral Politics.
Academic qualifications
- Higher Education Academy Fellow (2013)
- PhD European Studies, London School of Economics (2007)
- MSc Comparative Politics, London School of Economics (2001)
- BA Politics and International Relations, Lancaster University (2000)
Awards and honours
2020: Daphne is working with Daniel Stockemer (University of Ottawa) on a survey funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (Canada office). The survey, which will be fielded in the US, Canada and Germany, examines – and seeks to disentangle – the cultural, economic and security-related dimensions of anti-immigration attitudes.
2016: American Political Science Association (APSA) European Politics and Society Section Best Paper Award for 'Risks, Costs and Labour Markets: Explaining cross-national patterns of far right party success in European Parliament Elections' (with Tim Vlandas).
Professional bodies/affiliations
- Vice President of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN)
- Joint Editor-in-Chief of Nations and Nationalism (Wiley)
- Visiting Fellow, Sciences Po CEVIPOF (2015)
Selected publications
Blog posts and newspaper articles:
- 09/20 Why far right party success is about alliances between voters with different immigration grievances, and not just about culture, LSE EUROP
- 04/20 The pandemic is exposing the weaknesses of populism, but also fuelling authoritarianism, LSE Brexit
- 12/19 Far-right voters don't dislike government. They just want to keep its benefits for their own ethnic group, Washington Post Monkey Cage
- 11/19 Resisting the seductions of populism, Social Europe
- 07/19 Nationalism and Populism: Between culture and economy, Populism Observer
- 07/19 2019 Greek elections: Hope or caution?, Who Governs Europe
- 06/19 Populistas de extrema derecha, El Pais
- 05/19 Understanding the far-right populists: focus on their political message, Social Europe
- 09/18 Far right groups may be diverse but here's what they have in common, The Conversation
- 03/18 Breaching the social contract: why the success of the Golden Dawn in Greece points to a crisis of democratic representation, Democratic Audit
- 02/18 Three dangerous generalisations you could be making about populism, Political Quarterly Blog
- 04/17 Why are far right parties increasing their support across Europe? A note on the French election, Huffington Post
- 02/17 What is new and what is nationalist about Europe's new nationalism?, Huffington Post
- 02/17 What is new and what is nationalist about Europe's new nationalism?, LSE EUROPP
- 10/15 Four ways to deal with the Golden Dawn, Kathimerini
- 07/15 The No Vote threatens democracy in Greece, Newsweek
- 07/15 Greek crisis: As Greece spirals towards disaster, a new era of extremist politics begins, The Independent
- 07/15 How Greece crisis sparked a new era of extremist politics, The Conversation
- 06/15 Why the Golden Dawn is a Neo-Nazi Party, Huffington Post
- 05/15 The Golden Dawn's Nationalist Solution: Explaining the Rise of the Far Right in Greece, LSE EUROPP
- 02/15 Élections grecques, l'espoir en chemin?, La Revue Nouvelle
- 01/15 The Significance of the Golden Dawn as third party in parliament, Lifo Newspaper
- 01/15 Syriza won with a radical left programme, but keeping the middle class on side may be key to retaining power, LSE EUROPP
- 06/14 Scapegoating Europe? How discontent with domestic politics determined the EU vote, Open Democracy
- 05/14 Golden Dawn's success in the European elections shows the party now has a stable support base among Greek voters, LSE EUROPP
- 09/13 The Rise of the Golden Dawn casts a Shadow on Greek Politics, Huffington Post
- 06/12 Greece's response to austerity has been to say "no to the Fourth Reich" but yes to the neo-Nazism of the Golden Dawn, LSE EUROPP
- 06/12 The recent elections may have only postponed Greece's default and Eurozone exit, LSE EUROPP
- 06/12 Golden Dawn, SYRIZA or a pro-memorandum party?, Counterpoint
- 05/12 New elections in Greece seem increasingly likely, further damaging the country's credibility, LSE EUROPP
- 04/12 Socio-economic volatility and the rise of anti-establishment politics will characterise Greece's most important election in nearly 40 years, LSE EUROPP
- 03/12 As long as cartelisation, patronage, and corruption dominate Greek politics, economic reforms will be doomed to failure, LSE EUROPP
- 12/10 Moving from a race-based agenda to a focus on civic virtue has aided the BNP's resurgence in the last decade, LSE British Politics and Policy
- Media Interviews:
- 06/20 On populism and COVID-19, Estadão
- 03/20 Populism is Meaningless, The Atlantic
- 01/20 Populism is morphing in insidious ways, The Atlantic
- 07/19 Tired Greeks set to clobber progressive Left government and return to old-style political dynasty, The Telegraph
- 07/19 Giannis Antetokounmpo: NBA star's rise from 'hustling' on Athens streets to MVP award, BBC Sport
- 05/19 Interview on the 2019 EP elections, Radio Catalonia
- 05/19 E.U. Elections 2019: A guide to the Parliament vote, The New York Times
- 05/19 Documentary: The rise of the far-right, BBC Scotland
- 05/19 European elections could reveal popularity and chaos of populists, Al Jazeera
- 03/19 Who are the far-right extremists? BBC World Service, The Real Story
- 03/19 Populism and how it impacts democracy, The Daily Star, Bangladesh
- 12/18 'Their ideas had no place here': How Crete kicked out Golden Dawn, The Guardian
- 11/18 Politics: Where Next? Populism, Channel 4
- 10/18 Far-Right, Radical Right, Extreme Right: What is this all about?, PAUTA (Chile)
- 09/18 The rise of the far-right in Europe, Radio Athina 9.84
- 03/17 Why the defeat of the Dutch Trump Geert Wilders is far from the end of Europe's far-right populists, Huffington Post
- 02/17 The rise of the far-right in Europe, Harvard Political Review
- 12/16 Brexit, Trump, Le Pen and the rise of the right: the anger goes global, The Independent
- 12/16 Why Europe's populist revolt is spreading, Irish Examiner
- 11/16 Why Europe's populist revolt is spreading, Newsweek
- 03/16 Brussels Attacks: Right-wing political parties point to immigration, Newsweek
- 03/16 Justin Welby is wrong. It is racist to blame migrants for your fears about jobs and wages, The Independent
- 02/16 Anti-Islam organisation Pegida is exporting hate across Europe, Newsweek
Publications
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2022) Understanding right-wing populism and what to do about it. IPPR Progessive Review ISSN: 2573-2331 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/newe.12309
- Arndt, C. , Halikiopoulou, D. , Vrakopoulos, C. (2022) The centre-periphery divide and attitudes towards climate change measures among Western Europeans. Environmental Politics ISSN: 1743-8934 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2022.2075155
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2022) Understanding right-wing populism and what to do about it. FES , Vienna. ISBN: 9783986281564
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2022) Populism and nationalism. In: Manucci, L. , (eds.) Making sense of populism: Interviews with the experts. Routledge , London.
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2021) The far right. In: Carter, N. , Keith, D. , Sindre, G. , Vasilopoulou, S. , (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Political Parties. Routledge
- Vlandas, T. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2021) Welfare state policies and far right party support: moderating ‘insecurity effects' among different social groups. West European Politics ISSN: 1743-9655 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2021.1886498
- Stockemer, D. , Halikiopoulou, D. , Vlandas, T. (2021) ‘Birds of a feather’? Assessing the prevalence of anti-immigration attitudes among the far right electorate. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 47 (15). pp. 3409-3436. ISSN: 1369-183X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1770063
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2020) The political implications of COVID-19: what now for populism?. In: Billio, M. and Varotto, S. , (eds.) A New World Post COVID-19 Lessons for Business, the Finance Industry and Policy Makers. Edizioni Ca'Foscari , Venice, Italy. ISBN: 9788869694424 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-442-4/030
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2020) When economic and cultural interests align: the anti- immigration voter coalitions driving far right party success in Europe. European Political Science Review , 12 (4). pp. 427-448. ISSN: 1755-7739 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S175577392000020X
- Vasilopoulou, S. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2020) Political culture. In: Featherstone, K. and Sotiropoulos, D. , (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Modern Greek Politics. Oxford University Press , Oxford. ISBN: 9780198825104
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2020) Economic crisis, poor governance and the rise of populism: the case of Greece. Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy , 55 (1). pp. 34-37. ISSN: 1613-964X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10272-020-0866-4
- Rooduijn, M. , van Kessel, S. , Froio, C. , Pirro, A. , De Lange, S. , Halikiopoulou, D. , Lewis, P. , Mudde, C. , Taggart, P. (2019) The PopuList: an overview of populist, far right, far left and Eurosceptic parties in Europe.
- Hutchins, R. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2019) Enemies of liberty? Nationalism, immigration and the framing of terrorism in the agenda of the Front National. Nations and Nationalism , 26 (1). pp. 67-84. ISSN: 1469-8129 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nana.12555
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2019) Right-wing populism as a nationalist vision of legitimating collective choice: a supply-side perspective. The International Spectator , 54 (2). pp. 35-49. ISSN: 0393-2729 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2019.1588544
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2019) What is new and what is nationalist about Europe’s new nationalism? Explaining the rise of the far right in Europe. Nations and Nationalism , 25 (2). pp. 409-434. ISSN: 1469-8129 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nana.12515
- Vrakopoulos, C. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2019) Vigilantism in Greece: the case of the Golden Dawn. In: Mares, M. and Tore, B. , (eds.) Vigilantism Against Migrants and Minorities. Routledge , London and New York.
- Bonikowski, B. , Halikiopoulou, D. , Kaufmann, E. , Rooduijn, M. (2019) Populism and nationalism in a comparative perspective: a scholarly exchange. Nations and Nationalism , 25 (1). pp. 58-81. ISSN: 1469-8129 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nana.12480
- Vlandas, T. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2019) Does unemployment matter? Economic insecurity, labour market policies and the far-right vote in Europe. European Political Science , 18 (3). pp. 421-438. ISSN: 1680-4333 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41304-018-0161-z
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2018) A right-wing populist momentum? A review of 2017 elections across Europe. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies , 56 (S1). pp. 63-73. ISSN: 1468-5965 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12769
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2018) The Far Right challenge: comment on “The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy". International Journal of Health Policy and Management , 7 (2). pp. 195-198. ISSN: 2322-5939 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2017.82
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2018) Voting to leave: economic insecurity and the Brexit vote. In: Leruth, B. , Startin, N. , Usherwood, S. , (eds.) The Routledge handbook of Euroscepticism. Routledge Handbooks Routledge , Abindon. pp. 444-455. ISBN: 9781138784741
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2018) Breaching the social contract: crises of democratic representation and patterns of extreme right party support. Government and Opposition , 53 (1). pp. 26-50. ISSN: 1477-7053 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/gov.2015.43
- Halikiopoulou, D. , Vasilopoulou, S. , Nanou, K. (2016) Changing the policy agenda? The impact of the Golden Dawn on Greek party politics. GreeSe Paper Series (103).
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2016) Political instability and the persistence of religion in Greece. The policy implications of the cultural defence paradigm. In: González, F. and D'Amato, G. , (eds.) Multireligious Society Dealing with Religious Diversity in Theory and Practice. Ashgate , Abingdon. ISBN: 9781472488022
- Vlandas, T. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2016) Why far right parties do well at times of crisis: the role of labour market institutions. ETUI working paper ISSN: 1994-4446
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2016) Risks, costs and labour markets: explaining cross-national patterns of far right party success in European Parliament elections. Journal of Common Market Studies , 54 (3). pp. 636-655. ISSN: 1468-5965 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12310
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2015) The rise of the Golden Dawn in Greece. In: Charalambous, G. , (eds.) The European Far Right: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. PRIO Cyprus Centre Report PRIO Cyprus Centre / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (2/2015). , Cyprus. pp. 23-28. ISBN: 9788272886607
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2015) Η εθνικιστική λύση της Χρυσής Αυγής. Κρίση του έθνους κράτους και άνοδος της Ακρας δεξιάς στην Ελλάδα. Εκδόσεις Επίκεντρο , Thessaloniki. ISBN: 9789604586233
- Vasilopoulou, S. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2015) Greek politics: economic crisis or crisis of democracy?. World Affairs , 178 (3).
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2015) The rise of the far right in debtor and creditor European countries: the case of European Parliament elections. The Political Quarterly , 86 (2). pp. 279-288. ISSN: 1467-923X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12168
- Vasilopoulou, S. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2015) The Golden Dawn's 'nationalist solution': explaining the rise of the far right in Greece. Reform and Transition in the Mediterranean Palgrave Pivot , London. pp 96. ISBN: 9781137487124 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137535917
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2014) Radical left-wing Euroscepticism in the 2014 elections: a cross-European comparison. Is Europe afraid of Europe? An Assessment of the result of the 2014 European Elections. Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies / Karamanlis Foundation , Athens. pp. 112-126.
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2014) Support for the far right in the 2014 European Parliament Elections: a comparative perspective. The Political Quarterly , 85 (3). pp. 285-288. ISSN: 1467-923X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12102
- Vasilopoulou, S. , Halikiopoulou, D. , Exadaktylos, T. (2014) Greece in crisis: austerity, populism and the politics of blame. Journal of Common Market Studies , 52 (2). pp. 388-402. ISSN: 1468-5965 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12093
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2013) Political instability and the persistence of religion in Greece: the policy implications of the cultural defence paradigm. RECODE working paper series (18). ISSN: 2242-3559
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2013) The Rise of the Golden Dawn. In: Giusto, H. , Kitching, D. , Rizzo, S. , (eds.) The Changing Faces of Populism: Systemic Challengers in Europe and the U.S.. Foundation for European Progressive Studies , Brussels. pp. 107-124. ISBN: 9782930769011
- Vasilopoulou, S. and Halikiopoulou, D. (2013) In the shadow of Grexit: the Greek election of 17 June 2012. South European Society and Politics , 18 (4). pp. 523-542. ISSN: 1743-9612 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2013.779784
- Halikiopoulou, D. , Mock, S. , Vasilopoulou, S. (2013) The civic zeitgeist: nationalism and liberal values in the European radical right. Nations and Nationalism , 19 (1). pp. 107-127. ISSN: 1469-8129 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2012.00550.x
- Halikiopoulou, D. , Nanou, K. , Vaslopoulou, S. (2012) The paradox of nationalism: the common denominator of radical right and radical left euroscepticism. European Journal of Political Research , 51 (4). pp. 504-539. ISSN: 0304-4130 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2011.02050.x
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. , eds. (2011) Nationalism and globalisation: conflicting or complementary. Routledge pp 208. ISBN: 9780415581974
- Halikiopoulou, D. and Vasilopoulou, S. (2010) Towards a ‘civic’ narrative: British national identity and the transformation of the British National Party. Political Quarterly , 81 (4). pp. 583-592. ISSN: 1467-923X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2010.02129.x
- Halikiopoulou, D. (2010) Patterns of secularization: church, state and nation in Greece and the Republic of Ireland. Ashgate pp 202. ISBN: 9781409403456
- Asari, E. , Halikiopoulou, D. , Mock, S. (2008) British national identity and the dilemmas of multiculturalism. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics , 14 (1). pp. 1-28. ISSN: 1557-2986 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537110701872444