Uncivility on the web

Abstract

This paper explores the connection between the rise of new types of online uncivil discourses and the recent success of populism. While discussions on the upsurge of populism have centred on institutionalised politics and politicians, only limited attention has been paid to how the success of the former and the latter was propelled by developments outside of the political realm narrowly conceived. Our interest is therefore in the rise of uncivil society, especially on the web, and in its ‘borderline discourse’ at the verge of civil and uncivil ideas, ideologies and norms. Those discourses – showcased here on the example of the language on immigration/refugees in Austria and Sweden – have been using civil-to-uncivil shifts in the discursive representations of society and politics. They have progressively ‘normalised’ the anti-pluralist views across many European public spheres on a par with nativist and exclusionary views now widely propagated by right-wing populist politics in Europe and beyond.

Racism toward the Roma through the affordances of Facebook: bonding, laughter and spite

“…This shift, shaped in part by the affordances of social media has meant that social and political debates have moved away from more clearly articulated ideas to having a rather symbolic nature drawing on buzzwords and often using highly exaggerated boundaries such as between ‘our people’ and ‘others’ (Krzyżanowski and Ledin, 2017: 577). This has been directly related by authors to a demise in forms of politics which favor clearly articulated arguments and a rise of those which favor buzzwords and simplifications (Krzyżanowski and Ledin, 2017). This shift also relates to the growth of a populist notion that politics and policies should be direct, simple, and presented in ways which are immediately graspable (Taggart, 2000), what Wodak (2017) describes as a kind of symbolic politics.…”

“…This shift also relates to the growth of a populist notion that politics and policies should be direct, simple, and presented in ways which are immediately graspable (Taggart, 2000), what Wodak (2017) describes as a kind of symbolic politics. This process of simplification and polarization of social and political debate on social media, it is argued, challenges traditional norms of political communication leading to a growth in political expression that is entirely uncivil (Krzyżanowski and Ledin, 2017). Such shifts are said to be lying at the root of the growing trends in ethnic nationalism which are key components to the rising of extreme right-wing populist politics (Rydgren, 2017).…”

People on the move: how museums de-marginalize migration

“…In spite of these possible criticisms and if we agree that normalization yields borderline discourse that galvanizes extremist ideas (Krzyżanowski and Ledin 2017), then we can safely say that the museums we examined are spaces where such positions are assumed as well as contested, reimagined or otherwise subverted. In their diversity as well as acclimatization to neo-liberal pressures, museum discourses of migration still offer a meaningful, layered and socially relevant counter-discourse to the widely circulating stereotypes in public discourse.…”

“…Understanding how museums mediate migration can throw into relief "wider political dynamics and policies on immigration in contemporary Europe" (Krzyżanowski, Triandafyllidou, and Wodak 2018, 4). Set against a borderline public discourse that normalizes refugee migration and its actors as (undeserving) fortune seekers, passive victims, and politically undesirable if not threatening (KhosraviNik 2009;Santa Ana 2015;Krzyżanowski and Ledin 2017), this paper shows how heritage museums portray migration as a lived and (re)liveable reality, generating a post-normalized, anti-borderline discourse if you will that de-marginalizes mass migration in an attempt to offer pleasurable and memorable visitor experiences.…”

Normalization and the discursive construction of “new” norms and “new” normality: discourse in the paradoxes of populism and neoliberalism

“…In their recent work on the spread of uncivil online discourses, Krzyżanowski and Ledin (2017) looked at the normalization of radical and uncivil discourses in the wider online and offline public spheres. Departing from Link's model above, Krzyżanowski and Ledin argue that normalization entails the creation of a specific borderline discourse, which, while drawing on the affordances of established civil public discourses, essentially presents "uncivil" ideas related to unacceptable norms of social conductsuch as, e.g.…”