Invitation: How are Populist Movements attracting Millennials and why?

On 2 October 2016, Hungary holds a referendum on the European Union’s mandatory migrant quotas. It is concerning that the referendum campaign can be best portrayed as a mixture of populist anti-EU and xenophobic messages. Two months later, in December, Austria will re-run its presidential election and chances are that election results are to favour for the first time a far-right candidate. These circumstances and the growth of populism and rightwing extremism in Europe brought together FEPS and Policy Solutions to analyse these dynamics as they entail a serious risk for the core of the European project and social democratic values.

 Join us on 29 September 2016 (Thursday) at 18.15 for the launch of Populism Tracker, a comprehensive website created by Policy Solutions and FEPS that aims at shedding a deeper political understanding of the distancing between citizens and their institutions as a reaction and a product of this worrying phenomena. The analysis of populist trends in Europe will serve as a constructive tool for progressives to counterbalance the growing forces of populism in Europe.

https://www.progressivepost.eu/spotlights/populism/

In the second part of the event, FEPS will present its 2^nd edition of the Progressive Post magazine which focuses on the youth – the Millennial generation in Europe – and their views and aspirations towards politics. How can progressives reclaim the ground of populist forces that seemingly are capturing the hearts and minds of the younger generation?

 https://www.progressivepost.eu

With this two-fold event we will look into the European tendencies and Millennial’s political engagement in order to find inspiration for progressives to battle the growing populism wave in Europe.

Speakers:

Opening remarks

Javier MORENO, Secretary General, S&D Group

Sergei STANISHEV, President of the Party of European Socialists

Presentation of Populist Tracker website

Tamas BOROS, Co-Director of Policy Solutions

Panel Discussion

Christophe SENTE, Lecturer Université Libre de Bruxelles

Fabio WOLKENSTEIN, Researcher, London School of Economics

Laura SLIMANI, President of the Young European Socialists

Moderator: Maria FREITAS, Policy Advisor, FEPS