Contesting the populist claim on “the people” through popular culture: the 0110 concerts versus the Vlaams Belang

Abstract

Although they belong to different spheres, popular culture and populism can in some cases become intertwined and interlocked because they are both built around the antagonism between people and elite. Populist parties are often happy to associate themselves with popular culture as this allows them to strengthen their bond with the (signifier) people. This article looks at an inverse movement: the contestation of a populist party's claim on the people through popular culture. It analyzes the discursive struggle between the Flemish extreme-right populist party Vlaams Belang and 0110. On 1 October 2006, a series of concerts ''for tolerance, against racism, against extremism, and against gratuitous violence'' featuring many of Belgium's most popular artists from all kinds of genres, were held in four Belgian cities. The article shows how the organization behind the 0110 concerts managed to turn popular culture against the Vlaams Belang, thus questioning this party's claim on the signifier ''people''.

YouTube as a site of debate through populist politics: the case of a Turkish protest pop video

“…Populist politics involves 'representing popular interests and values' (Williams 1976, 238) including a universal 'appeal to the people and anti-elitism' (Laclau 2005, 7). In fact, 'the people' pitted against 'an elite' other are essential to the concept of popularism (De Cleen and Carpentier 2010;Laclau 2005;Storey 2003). According to Laclau (2005, 74) and De Cleen and Carpentier (2010), 'the people' is an important notion where meaning is shifting and fought for by different groups (Laclau 2005, 74).…”

“…In fact, 'the people' pitted against 'an elite' other are essential to the concept of popularism (De Cleen and Carpentier 2010;Laclau 2005;Storey 2003). According to Laclau (2005, 74) and De Cleen and Carpentier (2010), 'the people' is an important notion where meaning is shifting and fought for by different groups (Laclau 2005, 74). For example, De Cleen and Carpentier (2010) identify how the people are constructed differently by Belgian extreme right-wing political groups and those opposed to them.…”

The populist political logic and the analysis of the discursive construction of ‘the people’ and ‘the elite’

“…More symbolic manners of pointing out the 'high' position of this powerful group and its disconnection from the 'low' include references to 'the elite' in its 'ivory tower' , or to the well-off neighborhoods where they live, the kinds of houses they live in, and the kind of cafés and restaurants they visit. The Flemish Vlaams Belang for example has dismissed pop artists organizing a concert against the party by arguing that those "who only pass their times in lounge bars in the South [het Zuid, a gentrified area of Antwerp] and live in an expensive loft, will have little trouble from multicultural society" 2 (see De Cleen 2009;De Cleen and Carpentier 2010).…”

Turkish newspapers’ role in winning votes and exasperating Turkish–Kurdish relations: The Ağrı shootings

“…Populist discourses construct 'the people' pitted against 'an elite' other (De Cleen and Carpentier, 2010;Laclau, 2005). It 'pretends to speak for the underdog whose political identity is constructed by opposing it to an elite' (De Cleen and Carpentier, 2010: 180).…”