Political Consumerism and Nationalist Struggles in Europe

This chapter explores the intersection between political consumerism and nationalism through three cases of nationalist struggles in Europe. It outlines how political consumerism can and has been used for democratically dubious purposes and argues that political consumerism can also lend itself to politics that are not always progressive. First, the chapter theorises political consumerism and nationalism through questioning the ideological basis of nationalism, as well as the relationship between banal nationalism and everyday nationhood. It then explores the methodological approaches and challenges to studying this intersection before it commences on a close examination of three cases; the first is a boycott halal campaign in England, the Catalan boycott in Spain and the German boycott in Greece. Located at different societal levels of struggle (local, regional and national) these cases illustrate contradictions and tensions in the intersection between political consumerism and nationalism, illustrating the ideological ambiguity inherent in nationalism.