Metapolitics and Cultural Hegemony: The Concept of the Elite in the Discourse of the New Right Institut für Staatspolitik

Abstract

Most research on right-wing populism focuses on the construction of ʼthe peopleʼ. Conversely, I ask how the other side of the populist conflict line – ʼthe eliteʼ – is discursively constructed. To this end "I examine the debates of the far-right Institut für Staatspolitik (IfS) using Robert Entmanʼs framing analysis. Subsequently, I contextualize the results within the elite discourse of the German New Right. Summing up the results, the IfS states that starting from the student protests in the 1960s and 1970s the elite has become leftist or ʼmulticulturalistʼ. Through the eliteʼs hegemony in the media, it exerts a pressure of conformity. While the IfS constructs the elite negatively, it is not anti-elite. By labeling its political enemies as elites, the IfS tries to speak in the name of ʼthe peopleʼ. At the same time, it is elitist argues even for a right-wing elite. In pointing out this paradoxical construction, it becomes clear that the framing of right-wing actors should not be confused with the actual reality. Notably, the IfSʼs discursive strategy reflects a metapolitical or hegemony theoretical approach that is paradigmatic for the New Right.