Limiting Democratic Horizons to a Nationalist Reaction: Populism, the Radical Right and the Working Class

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the term 'populism' has become increasingly linked to reconstructed radical right parties in Europe such as the French Front National and UKIP. Through its many uses and misuses in mainstream discourse, this association has created a mythology around such parties and their appeal to the 'people'. This development has facilitated the return of nationalism and racism to the forefront of the mainstream political discourse and simultaneously obscured the deeper causes for such a revival. This article explores the ways in which populist hype, based on a skewed understanding of democracy as majority, has divided the 'people' along arbitrary lines, tearing communities apart at the expense of more emancipatory actions. Based predominantly on electoral analysis and discourse theory, with a particular focus on the role of abstention, the aim of this article is to examine the process through which, by way of its involuntary and constructed association with the radical right, the 'people', and the working class in particular, have become essentialised in a nationalist project, moving further away from a narrative of class struggle towards one of race struggle.

Islamophobia in Reactionary News: Radicalizing Christianity in the United States

“…Somewhat counterintuitively, the Islamophobic discourse in this article most closely resembles what Mondon andWinter (2017: 2162) call 'liberal Islamophobia', which ' can be contrasted with the illiberal [Islamophobia] by its proclaimed allegiance to fantasized liberal and democratic principles' since it does not overtly invoke or critique the race of those subjects under scrutiny, and in fact might deny doing so as in this Breitbart article:…”

“…Aurelien Mondon (2017) has revealed the transformation of class-based to race-based concerns and conflict among those under the influence of the radical right in Europe, as well as in the United States (Mondon & Winter, 2018), while Chip Berlet (2011 has noted that right-wing populists in the United States employ coded language to conceal racism within other policy issues, since racism in far-right discourse actually resides comfortably within mainstream society (Berlet & Sunshine, 2019: 485). This point highlights the underlying racist element of Islamophobic discourse even if critiques of religion lie at the forefront.…”

Resisting the ‘populist hype’: a feminist critique of a globalising concept

“…Substantively, populist revolts are often equated with 'white working class men' 66 or 'the left behinds' and their collective refusal to accept cultural and socio-economic change. 67 As mentioned earlier, populist voters are often assumed to be motivated by a cultural anxiety which stems from a fear that their identity and status are under threat. 68 Moreover, we are told that they are a 'small c' conservative lot to the extent that, unlike other 'protest prone' groups, they are marked by 'their reactiveness: they generally have to be mobilised by a populist actor, rather than taking the initiative themselves'.…”

Critical research on populism: Nine rules of engagement

“…Disagreement on the nature and normative evaluation of populism notwithstanding, the growing body of work on populism has largely converged on the centrality of populism in the current political conjuncture (an argument we have been hearing since the early 2000s at least). Whilst there is no doubt that populism is an important factor in contemporary politics and critical academics need to engage with pressing social issues and participate in public debate, we need to reflect carefully on whether populism is indeed as central as it is assumed to be, and whether all of what is labelled populism is actually such a pressing issue comparatively speaking (Mondon 2017). We need to look at how we might perhaps be adopting -rather than critically engaging with -the largely anti-populist agenda and terms of debate set by journalists, politicians, and funding bodies (wherein 'populism' appears as the central signifier).…”