This talk will consist of the book launch of Insecurity Politics in Cambridge (UK), which precedes the presentation in Cambridge (US) at Harvard University where the book project started.
In Insecurity Politics, Dr Lorenza Antonucci examines the lived, everyday experiences that underpin political disaffection. Countering the reductive portrayals of populist voters as left-behind outsiders, Antonucci focuses on the ordinary, yet increasingly precarious, realities of work and financial instability as key to understanding the surge in populist support in both right- and left-wing politics.
Drawing on robust comparative quantitative and qualitative analyses across nine European countries, Insecurity Politics describes the microlevel material and cultural dynamics that drive anti-establishment politics. It finds that dissatisfaction with work and a growing sense of financial insecurity fuel populist sentiments. Proposing an original framework that combines cultural and economic explanations, the book shows how economic, social, and political factors shape receptivity to anti-establishment politics.
Dr Antonucci will be joined in conversation by and .
Insecurity Politics releases on 31 March 2026, and the introduction can be read online: /books/ebook/9780691287300/insecurity-politics#preview