Populism Nationalism Post Truth Politics Ilker Yaman Heda

Populism, Nationalism & Post Truth Politics Ilker Yaman, Heda Adamisinova & Guro Flaarønning 03. 05. 2017, Aristotle University

Questions How to define populism? How is populism connected to nationalism and post truth? 3. Is the nationalism different from 1930? 1. 2.

Who is a populist?

SURGE OF ANTISYSTEMIC POLITICAL WAVES IN EUROPE □Syriza, M 5 S, Podemos & Momentum was founded during the financial crises Spain – Podemos – “We Can” – *2014 Greece – Syriza - (Coalition of Radical Left) - *2004 Ireland – Sinn Fein (We Ourselves) - *1905 (original form), *1970 (current form) □Except the Af. D all the right wing populist parties pre-existed the financial crises (from 1970 and even older) France – National Front (FN) *1972 (front-the place where fighting takeplace) Netherlands – Party for Freedom (PVV) *2006 Austria - Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) *1956 Sweden - Sweden democrats *1988 Denmark – Danish People’s Party *1995 Finland – True Finns *1995 Germany – Alternative for Germany (Af. D) *2013 UK – UK Independence Party *1993 Italy - 5 STAR MOVEMENT *2009

THE POLITICAL THEORY OF POPULISM

1 WHAT IS POPULISM? Oxford dictionary says populism is ‘’a member or adherent of a political party seeking to represent the interests of ordinary people. Also: a person who supports or seeks to appeal to the concerns of ordinary people.

“ POPULISM ‘ONE OF THE MOST CONTESTED CONCEPTS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES’ Cas Mudde (2013) ‘LONG BEEN A CONTESTED AND AMBIGUOUS CONCEPT‘ Michael Kazin (2016)

Theoretically, populism has been conceptualized with three sub-dimensions: § § § anti-establishment attitudes, a preference for popular sovereignty (the rule of ‘the people’) a belief in the homogeneous virtuousness of the people (‘us’ and ‘them’)

THEORY IDEOLOGY STRATEGY DISCOURSE “thin-centered ideology, that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogenous and antagonistic groups, ‘the pure people’ and ‘the corrupt elite’, and which argues that politics should be an expression of the volonté générale (general will) of the people. ” ‘populism is best defined as a political strategy through which a personalistic leader seeks or exercises government power based on direct, unmediated, uninstitutionalized support from large numbers of mostly unorganized followers. ’ ‘populism in modern democracies is best seen as an appeal to ‘the people’ against both the established structure of power and the dominant ideas and values of the society. [. . . ] They involve some kind of revolt against the established structure of power in the name of the people. Mudde (2004), Kaltwasser (2007) Roberts, (2006), Jansen (2011) Kazin, (1995), Laclau (2005)

DISCOURSE THEORY Populism is a discourse that invokes the supremacy of popular sovereignty to claim that corrupt elites are defrauding ‘the People’ of their rightful political authority. It becomes an anti-elite discourse in the name of the sovereign People.

The Essex School of Discourse Analysis

‘’our people, through their vote for SYRIZA will open the way for a great change in History. [. . . ] Sunday is not just about a simple confrontation between SYRIZA and the political establishment of the Memorandum. [. . . ] It is about an encounter of the people with their lives. An encounter of the people with their fate. [. . . ] Between the Greece of the oligarchy and the Greece of Democracy. [. . . ] The people unite with SYRIZA’’

“ …populism what near beer is to beer, only not as close. Time for a reality check. Populism is not a style, it’s a people’s rebellion against the iron grip that big corporations have on our country — including our economy, government, media, and environment…

PASSIVE REVOLUTION Passive revolution is a transformation of the political and institutional structures without strong social processes. It is a significant change that is not a rapturous one, but a slow and gradual metamorphis which could take years or generations to accomplish.

WANT BIG IMPACT? Use big image

• Anti elite • Anti pluralist • ”moralists”

“ Populism is a particular moralistic imagination of politics, a way of perceiving the political world that sets a morally pure and fully unified – but, I shall argue, ultimately fictional-people against elites who are deemed corrupt or in some other way morally inferior. - Jan Werner Müller (2016)

Anti-elitist Sylvi Listhaug’s blog The Norwegian Minister og Immigration and Integration, The Progress Party

Moralists Refugee crisis: Victor Orbán declars that the era of the ”liberal blah” is over in Europe. We see that we have a huge opportunity, if we fight well in this debate, to restore the prestige and appeal of national identity and Christian identity, in opposition to the liberal identity. (speach 2015)

“ We all saw the picture of that little boy on the beach. No heart could remain unmoved, but still we must ask: who killed that little boy? His parents! No one forced anyone out of a Turkish refugee camp – where life is not like that in Germany, but where there is no threat to one’s safety. No one was forced to gather up their children, and take to the sea in a flimsy dinghy in the hope of a better life somewhere, risking their own and their children's lives. This is the truth! One cannot talk like this in Europe today, but this is still the truth.

“ Nigel Farage "We have a £ 10 bn, £ 34 m a day featherbed, that is going to be free money that we can spend on the NHS, on schools, on whatever it is. " "No I can’t [guarantee it], and I would never have made that claim. That was one of the mistakes that I think the Leave campaign made, " Video – ITV ”Good Morning Brittain”

ANTI-PLURALISTS

THE PEOPLE

The people § The populists represent the “real people” § Nigel Farage celebrated the Brexit vote by claiming that it had been a “victory for real people”. Aren’t the other 48 % real? § ”we are also the people” or ”we are the only people” § Silent majority: the reason the real people dont rule § Who are the people? Who is the real French, American, European etc. ?

Who is “the people”? § “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. ” § Article 21, paragraph 3, Universal Declaration of Human Rights § Emil Ludwig (1881 -1948) - “ever on the watch for indications of public opinions; always listening to the voice of the people, a voice which defies calculation. ” § László Majtényi a Hungarian jurist and university professor linked the Orbán’s government’s campaign tactics to Machiavelli’s Prince: “It is very interesting recommendation of Machiavelli that if you have no enemy, you have to look for one that you can [defeat]. ” Guardian, March 13 th 2017 § “When Hitler insisted to Chancellor Bruning that ‘the fundamental thesis of democracy runs: “All power issues from the People”, he was speaking as the leader of a major vote-winning party. Catch –all movements like the NSDAP (the National Socialist German Workers’ Party) were the real successors to the populist impulses of the 1920 s, since they recognized the tremendous power embodied in the popular demand for representative government. ” Mark Mazower, Dark Continent, p. 28

Voice of the ignored people? Article 11, Lisbon Treaty 1. The institutions shall, by appropriate means, give citizens and representative associations the opportunity to make known and publicly exchange their views in all areas of Union action. 2. The institutions shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society. 3. The European Commission shall carry out broad consultations with parties concerned in order to ensure that the Union’s actions are coherent and transparent. 4. Not less than one million citizens who are nationals of a significant number of Member States may take the initiative of inviting the European Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaties.

• “Civil Society” - the content and the form seems not to be stabilized. Viktor Orbán set out a war on civil society institutions in Hungary, namely on George Soros. • Le Monde Diplomatique in Octobre 2016 wrote: “The marginalization of the popular sovereignty by the government explain the easiness with which the European leaders, notably the French get around the verdict of ballot boxes. This may explain the stupor provoked by the UK, which wasn’t consulting the citizens, but considered to respect their will. ”

“ People, mass, crowd, herd vs. elites ⊡Gustave Flaubert (1821 -1880)- “I believe that the crowd, the common herd will always be hateful. ” ⊡Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941) – “that anonym monster the Man in the street” ⊡Ezra Pound (1885 -1972) – “mass of idiots”

Seven theses of populism Populism is the permanent shadow of representative politics. Populists are not against the principle of political representation, they just insist that only themselves are legitimate representatives. 2. Not everyone who criticizes elites are populists. 3. The populist claim to represent “the real people” or “silent majority”. 4. Populism is not a path to more participation in politics. When they often call for referenda, they only do it to confirm what they already have decided. 1.

5. 6. 7. Populist can govern. But in doing so, they will often “occupy” the state with mass clientelism and corruption. Populists should be criticized for what they are – a real danger to democracy. But that does not mean that one should not engage them in political debate. Populism is not a corrective to liberal democracy in the sense of bringing politics “closer to the people” or even reasserting popular sovereignty, as is sometimes claimed. Jan Werner Müller (2016)

NATIONALISM

“ Many critics of Facism liked to see Europe’s move to the Right as a burst of collective insanity, a form of mass madness over which reason must eventually prevail. Even today it seems easier for many people to envisage interwar Europe as a continent lead astray by insane dictators than as one which opted to abandon democracy. - Mark Mazower Dark Continent, p. 26

Nationalism • Strong patriotic feeling, principles or efforts • Strong feeling towards one’s nation and culture. • Jingoism (the interest of one nation above all and exclusion of others) • Often may include superior feeling towards other nations and hate Populism • The ordinary people are exploited by the elite • Calling for actions to overcome it. • Give people what they want

Déjà vu or the prevalence of “refugee threat”? 1920 s high levels of immigration ⊡from Poland, Algeria and elsewhere ⊡welcomed as one way of boosting the birth rate 1930 s anti-immigrant sentiment grew and large crowds ⊡among them the young Francois Mitterand ⊡demands for deportation of the new arrivals ⊡calls for immigration controls against ‘aliens’ ⊡In a melancholy but fascinating article written in 1938, an émigré lawyer asked whether the collapse of belief in a universal international law did not reflect the ‘disintegration of European civilization’. December 1950 ⊡The Times warned: “To a demagogue refugees are what blood in the water is to a shark and the refugee problem is large enough to create revolutionary situation. ⊡Source: Mark Mazower, Dark Continent

1930 s Nationalism • The state merely the expression of racial Volk. ‘Blood is stronger than a passport. ’ • Volksgemeinschaft- racially defined national community. • Legal arrangements- matters of convenience to be followed or repudiated as the Volk dictated. • Equality in international relations was relative ‘to the concrete value of the race represented by the state. ’ Superior or inferior. • Scientific racism

Back then Sir Harry Johnston a British colonial commentator spoke in 1908 about New science of anthropology which will help rulers of empire decide whether races should be preserved, allowed to interbreed or forced to die out. Social darwinism ‘Why continue to lie? ’ wrote a French journalist. ‘There are different levels among men; there is human hierarchy. To deny it is absurd and disregard it a shameful confusion. Leave Ethiopia, two or three Ethiopias is one in not enough…. This is the absolute right of human civilization when the hour comes to impose itself upon barbarism. ’ ⊡The concept of race differed from country to country. British - concerned about differential birth rates between classes. Italian - in favour of racial mixing, which they believe led to ‘hybrid vigour. ’ France - nation was defined mainly in terms of language and culture. Balkans in terms of language and religion.

Current Nationalism • Play down the terrors of the WWII, play up the Islamophobia sentiment. Jean Marie Le Pen’s answer to his Holocaust revisionists accusations: “I ask myself a certain number of questions. I’m not saying the gas chambers did not exist; I haven’t been able to see any for myself. I haven’t studied the question in particular. But I think that it’s a mere detail in the history of WWII. ” • Marine Le Pen banned skinheads from the parties public rallies and claimed that “what happened in the camps was the height of barbarism”

Now ⊡Islam and Islamophobia, fear of erosion of national culture as a result of globalization, blurring of national boarders as a result of European integration. ⊡ The use of social media ⊡Goes beyond the mere political struggle over a profitable political issue. ⊡Many populist radical right parties, (particularly in Western Europe)- initially secular, considering religion more a cultural issue – hence, Scandinavian parties considered Lutheranism as part of their national culture, as South European parties did with Catholicism. Some parties were even explicitly atheist, like the PVV and Geert Wilders, or anti-clerical, like the FPÖ. ⊡At least rhetorically the struggle against “Global Islam” has made populist radical right parties emphasize the “Christian” or “Judeo-Christian” values of Europe and their individual nation. ⊡Source: The study of Populisr Radical Right Parties: Towards a Fourth Wave- Cas Mudde University of Oslo and University of Georgia

https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=z. P 72 TVHXWYE 5: 40 THE RISE OF POPULISM IN EUROPE, Learning from history, Interview with Rainer Hoss author of L’Héritage du commandant; Le petit fils du commandant d’Auschwitz raconte France 24. com

Sir Winston Churchil RHETORICAL INHERITANCE When the Kurds rebelled against British rule, he said: "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes. . . [It] would spread a lively terror. ” He jeered at the Palestinians as "barbaric hoards who ate little but camel dung. ” When Mahatma Gandhi launched his campaign of peaceful resistance, Churchill raged that he "ought to be lain bound hand foot at the gates of Delhi, and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new Viceroy seated on its back. " As the resistance swelled, he announced: "I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. " After 1943 famine broke out in Bengal: He raged that it was their own fault for "breeding like rabbits". At other times, he said the plague was "merrily" culling the population. http: //www. independent. co. uk/news/uk/politics/not-his-finest-hour-thedark-side-of-winston-churchill-2118317. html

The role of media § Populism is a hot topic in the field of political communication § The relationship between the media and populist radical right parties is complex, particularly with regard to the popular press (i. e. tabloids) and private television. § Few popular media outlets openly support populist radical right parties. § Explicit support is not required for agenda-setting § Voters get their information about (populist radical right) parties exclusively from the media, rather than from parties themselves, the media portrayal could give us better insight into why people vote for them. Source: The study of Populisr Radical Right Parties: Towards a Fourth Wave- Cas Mudde University of Oslo and University of Georgia

§ The “new” politicians have a strongly medialized backround (Donald Trump – reality show, Pepe Grilo – comedian) § Marine and her fight with her father, her mother’s photo in the Playboy. Marine Le Pen succeeded her father at 2011 - she was speaking about her experience of being a woman and mother (see also Ivanka’s Trump women defendant role in her father’s public opinion creation). § When Marine expelled her father from the party, “this narrative of fantastic family betrayal, emancipation and political rebirth played well in the press. ” FN tripled the number of seats it held on regional councils and won more votes – nearly 7 million that it had in any other election, ever…In its editorial the following day, Le Monde called upon the country to “take action before the catastrophe. ” § Source: Guardian, 20 April 2017

The media is an opposition game § Trump spoke about the media as: “enemies of the people. ” § Jaroslaw Kaczynski said about the largest broadsheet newspaper (critical to the government and its tactics) Gazeta Wyborcza that it was “against the very notion of the nation. ” § Critical journalist are targets of broader harassment as in Germany during the federal election preparation in late 2017. Far-right figures branded journalists covering their activities with the charged term “Lugenpresse, ” meaning “lying press. ” § Slovak Prime Minister labeled some of critical journalists against him as “Some of you [journalists] are dirty, anti-Slovak prostitutes. § Hungary and Poland authorities ban reporters from entering the parliament. § Other European regions: Montenegro banned filming and photos from a discussion in parliament last summer. § Western Balkan countries under pressure on independent media. § FYROM- the ruling party wielded considerable control over the news in the public broadcaster and friendly private outlets, attacks on reporters while covering antigovernment protests.

§ Serbian officials claims over investigative outlets as foreign-backed provocateurs. § Kosovo’s prime minister phoned to a reporter to threaten him over an article about little regard for media freedom. § Freedom house report states that: Global press freedom declined to its lowest point in 13 years. Only 13% of the world’s population enjoys a Free press. § Reacting to fake news and fact checking may increase the noise, polarize, create an image of the media as a biased actor and continue the errand of propaganda. § “It has been estimated that no-one has ever dominated the media as totally as Donald Trump is doing today. His strategy has brought him to the position he is now commanding, and is offer him strong reach and influence. ” § reutersinstitute. politics. ox. ac. uk § We leave in seemingly fragmented world views and realities. “At the same time, issues are split into single story angles containing no trace of the bigger picture. ” § reutersinstitute. politics. ox. ac. uk

Practical example why broader picture is inevitable for better understanding of realities. Sarkozy 2009 launched the “Great Debate on National Identity” 2010 declared that halal meat is the “issue which most preoccupies the French”. FN “a democratic party…compatible with the Republic. ” Manuel Walls, socialist prime minister between 2014 and 2016, defended a ban on burkini and said the “most important thing” is not unemployment but “the identity battle, the cultural battle. ” Jean Luc Melanchon (communist presidential candidate) in 2010 condemned the candidacy of a headscarf-wearing female candidate in the local elections. Marine Le Pen framed the party’s hard-line stance on immigration as a liberal defense of French laicité, or secularism, against fanatical and illiberal Muslims at home and abroad. Source: The Intercept, Marine Le Pen Is What Happens When You Try to Meet Racism in the Middle

POST-TRUTH § § Are we living in a post-truth era? How is populism contected to post-truth?

Post-truth “ ‘Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’. Oxford dictionary – new word 2016

IS POST-TRUTH A NEW PHENOMENON? Famous liars: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Harry Truman

“ As recently as the early 1970 s we could still get outraged about Richard Nixons serial deceits. Jimmy Carter was elected in pat because he promised never to tell us a lie. By the time of Monica Levisnky and weapons of mass destruction, the mood had changed. Now our attitude seemed to be: Everyone lies, especially our leaders. What’s the big deal? Dishonesty has come to feel less like the exception and more like the norm. - Ralph Keyes (2004)

§ § § We talk about ”narratives” We don’t say lie, but: “misspoke”, “exaggerate”, “exercise poor judgement”, “mistakes were made”, “spin” etc. Does all the lying create room for the anti-establishment?

FAKE NEWS § Fake news become the center of interest in October 2016 in US president election. § Fake news made for 1. profit and 2. propaganda meant to influence. They are spread intentionally and unintentionally. § “If you can convince people that real news is fake, it becomes much easier to convince them that your fake news is real. ” § § Garry Kasparov, Twitter § Daily presentation of our world is reactive and distorted from observation of what is actually going on and what could have been done to ameliorate the situation. It’s about what have been said. § “If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers. ” § Thomas Pynchon ⊡http: //reutersinstitute. politics. ox. ac. uk/news/fake-news-propaganda-and-influence-operations-%E 2%80%93 -guide-journalism-new-and-more-chaotic-media

§ ‘Weaponised Relativism’ – tactic of KGB in 70 s: If you offer enough alternatives to the truth will become blurry. § Gaslighting manipulation technique is used by narcissists to make victim doubt it own senses. § The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth. § -Garry Kasparov, Twitter § When the audience is trained to doubt everything they meet in news, it may lead to devaluation and destabilisation of society’s system for information, and a vacuum might appear. § It’s a threat not only to the media but the whole society. § https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=r. E 3 j_RHkq. Jc § Source: reutersunstitue. politics. ox. ac. uk

ARE POPULISTS DEMOCRATS?

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS A complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image.

POPULIST DEMOCRACY IS ILLIBERAL § Populist democracy is illiberal because it posits the idea of “government by the people” (from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address) as absolute and rejects all checks and balances on the popular will. While constitutional guarantees for minority rights and power-sharing safeguards are key features of liberal democracy, the populist counter-vision accepts no restrictions on the supremacy of the people (Mény & Surel, 2002; Abts & Rummens, 2007) § Populist democracy is illiberal because of its disdain for representative democracy – parliamentarians and career politicians are considered an elevated, unreliable elite. This disdain is not only directed toward mainstream parties but also toward other types of intermediaries such as the mainstream media. (Pappas, 2014) § Populist democracy is illiberal because it opposes a pluralistic understanding of the people. In contrast, its notion of the people is that of a homogeneous, unified actor, leaving no room for minorities. (Caramani, forthcoming; Mudde, 2007, Pappas, 2014)