New Research on Europe Seminar & Weatherhead Research Cluster on Comparative Inequality and Inclusion — Book Talk | Insecurity Politics: How Unstable Lives Lead to Populist Support
Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way
27 Kirkland St.
Cambridge
Tue., Apr. 7, 2026, 4 – 5:30 p.m. 
*Please note: this event will take place at CGIS Knafel K262. Please register if you would like to join via Zoom.*
Join us for a conversation with Lorenza Antonucci on her recent book Insecurity Politics: How Unstable Lives Lead to Populist Support (Princeton University Press, 2026) which examines the everyday experiences that underpin rising political disaffection across Europe.
Challenging reductive portrayals of populist voters as simply “left behind,” Antonucci's book focuses on the ordinary yet increasingly precarious realities of work and financial instability. Drawing on comparative quantitative and qualitative research across nine European countries, Antonucci highlights the micro-level material and cultural dynamics that fuel anti-establishment politics in both right- and left-wing movements.
Bridging economic and cultural explanations, Insecurity Politics advances a new framework for understanding contemporary populism, moving beyond accounts centered solely on cultural backlash or globalization. Antonucci will explore how economic insecurity, workplace dissatisfaction, and broader social forces shape receptivity to populist appeals, and what a more grounded understanding of these dynamics might imply for a renewed political agenda.
Gazette Classification: Special Events
Organization/Sponsor: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies
Speaker(s): Lorenza Antonucci, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Cambridge, Peter A. Hall, Krupp Foundation Professor of European Studies, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Senior Advisor, Executive Committee, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Chair Michèle Lamont, Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies and Professor of Sociology and of African-American Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Contact Info: [email protected]
Harvard Key Required: No
More info: ces.fas.harvard.edu…