Sam Johnson
The sources of national populism: a study of political views amongst youth in Serbia and Poland.
Biography
I have a BSc (Hons) in Politics from Brunel, University of London and an MSc in Democracy and Comparative Politics from University College London (UCL). I completed my undergraduate dissertation on democratic backsliding in Poland since 2015 and my master’s thesis on decentralisation, language policy, and minority rights in North Macedonia.
My primary areas of interest are nationalism, populism, collective memory, and democratic backsliding.
Research interests
My research considers sources of nationalism and populism in Serbia and Poland. Drawing on theories of nationalism and populism, I am conducting semi-structured interviews and focus groups with university age students to understand the pervasiveness of national populism amongst young people in Belgrade and Warsaw. The research aims to understand the similarities and differences between the support for national populist politics in these two countries and ask what lessons might be learnt.