Why do average voters in emerging liberal democracies support exclusivist and extremist political parties? This lecture addresses this question by examining the case of ethnic Serbian refugees fleeing violent conflict in Bosnia and Croatia and ultimately settling in Serbia. In contrast to the existing literature on political identity formation that emphasizes top‐down mobilization, it is argued that individuals were more likely to vote for ethno‐nationalist parties when they engaged in close interpersonal networks consisting of other refugees. The study is based on the original survey of 1,200 newcomers and local residents, as well as 104 in‐depth interviews. In the neighborhoods where newcomers settled in greater numbers, they formed close friendships with others who arrived under similar circumstances and expressed greater social distance toward local Serbs. Individuals whose interpersonal networks consisted predominantly of other refugees also shared an inclination toward ethno-nationalist political parties. In contrast, individuals whose interpersonal networks were more heterogeneous, as well as those who lived in neighborhoods with a smaller proportion of newcomers, were less likely to support ethno‐nationalist parties.

Mila Dragojević received her Ph.D. from Brown University. Her research is driven by questions about the conditions under which cultural traits become foundations of politicized collective identities, and how cultural traits become associated with inter‐group conflict. Her previous work has been published in Nationalism and Ethnic Politics and Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism. Now an Assistant Professor at The University of the South, she teaches Ethnicity and Political Violence, Modern European Politics, Latin American Politics, and Comparative Politics, among other courses.