‘Rocking the establishment’: Subculture, authenticity and the populist radical right in Sweden

Abstract

This article uses the recent rise of populist radical right discourses in society as a cultural and political phenomenon to explore the role of popular music in constructing these discourses, with a focus on the Sweden Democrats (SD) and musician Peter Jezewski. By examining Jezewski’s direct collaborations with the SD and his song ‘My Land’, the article uncovers how popular music culture participates in the construction of populist discourses of ‘the people’ in nativist terms. The article contends that certain subcultural styles in popular music resonate strongly with populist discourses of a ‘silenced majority’ in need of a strong populist leader and as such contribute to the construction of the ‘people’ versus ‘elite’ antagonism beyond the political realm. The case study of Jezewski’s song and music video emphasises how nostalgic rock culture enables populist articulations by aligning with populist radical right anti-establishment, preservationist−nativist discourses and the performative construction of ‘the people’. Drawing on cultural studies resources, the article hence investigates the practices that bring ‘a people’ into existence through cultural tropes and mechanisms to better comprehend the links between articulations of populism, popular culture and subcultural performances of counter-hegemonic resistance.