we need to talk about how we talk about populism: The signifier populism and discursive struggles about democracy in the belgian press
PhD Defence of DESIRE-member Jana Goyvaerts
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
13.11.23
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
13.11.23
Over the course of these last few years, ‘populism’ seemed to be everywhere. From Trump and Brexit to Syriza and Podemos, a ‘populist boom’ appeared to be happening. At the same time, the term ‘populism’ became omnipresent in academic research and media coverage (Brown et al., 2021; Goyvaerts et al., forthcoming; Hunger & Paxton, 2022; Mondon, 2022). This is of course partially due to a rise of populist politics, but the growth of references to ‘populism’ is not a mere consequence of this rise of populist politics, and characterising such politics as ‘populist’ has an impact on the prevalence and success of so-called populist parties. Instead of focusing on populist discourses, this thesis proposes to look at discourses about populism. Recently, there have been more and more researchers who have emphasised the need to study discourses about populism, showing that the use of ‘populism’ is steadily growing and populism is increasingly used negatively, often to label and denounce political adversaries or newcomers. Moreover, populism proves to be a politically charged term, and the meanings attributed to the term seem to differ significantly between different opposing discourses. Therefore, this thesis proposes to look at the role populism plays in broader ideological conflicts by analysing the hegemonic struggles around the term. To do so, the research is guided by the following research question: how is ‘populism’ used as a signifier in Belgian newspapers, and what do the hegemonic struggles around the term look like?
Building on a strong theoretical overview of the literature on discourses about populism, the hegemonic struggles around the signifier ‘populism’ are examined through a qualitative content analysis in Belgian newspaper articles. To capture the complex dynamics and nuances in discourses about populism, this thesis proposes to look at the three main producers of discourses about populism: academia, media and politics. This analysis shows that the term ‘populism’ is consistently used negatively, usually in opposition to democracy. The hegemonic discourse is clearly anti-populist, but there is not one clear anti-populist discourse. ‘Populism’ can rather be seen as a floating signifier that is articulated in rival discourses, and is linked to various signifiers from different democratic theories to construct different and often opposing democratic identities. Moreover, its consolidated negative meaning as a ‘dangerous trend’ allows actors to define this trend differently and reflect on its causes, often articulating critical assessments of the current state of politics and the status quo. Therefore, this thesis proposes to approach anti-populism as a political logic. In an anti-populist political logic, the signifier ‘populism’ is used to construct new frontiers, to defend what is seen as ‘democratic’ and to attempt to naturalise those conceptions. This allows to study the political ideas that are articulated through anti-populism, which becomes a political logic to structure political discourse.
Building on a strong theoretical overview of the literature on discourses about populism, the hegemonic struggles around the signifier ‘populism’ are examined through a qualitative content analysis in Belgian newspaper articles. To capture the complex dynamics and nuances in discourses about populism, this thesis proposes to look at the three main producers of discourses about populism: academia, media and politics. This analysis shows that the term ‘populism’ is consistently used negatively, usually in opposition to democracy. The hegemonic discourse is clearly anti-populist, but there is not one clear anti-populist discourse. ‘Populism’ can rather be seen as a floating signifier that is articulated in rival discourses, and is linked to various signifiers from different democratic theories to construct different and often opposing democratic identities. Moreover, its consolidated negative meaning as a ‘dangerous trend’ allows actors to define this trend differently and reflect on its causes, often articulating critical assessments of the current state of politics and the status quo. Therefore, this thesis proposes to approach anti-populism as a political logic. In an anti-populist political logic, the signifier ‘populism’ is used to construct new frontiers, to defend what is seen as ‘democratic’ and to attempt to naturalise those conceptions. This allows to study the political ideas that are articulated through anti-populism, which becomes a political logic to structure political discourse.
Jana Goyvaerts is a teaching assistant and PhD student at the Department of Communication Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Her doctoral research focuses on discourses about populism and on how the meaning of populism is constructed by journalists, politicians and academics. She graduated in 2017 from the VUB with a thesis on the links between populism and social media.