Populism and the Web: Communicative Practices of Parties and Movements in Europe

The Web plays an increasingly important role in the communication strategies of political parties and movements, which increasingly utilize it for promoting ideas and ideologies as well as mobilization and campaigning strategies.

This book explores the role of the Web for right-wing populist political parties and movements across Europe. Analyzing these groups’ discourses and practices of online communication, it shows how social media is used to spread ideas and mobilize supporters whilst also excluding constructed ‘others’ such as migrants, Muslims, women or LGBT persons. Expert contributors provide evidence of a shift in the strategies of mainstream parties as they also engage in ‘Internet populism’ and suggest ways that progressive movements can and do respond to counter these developments. Topics are explored using a cross-country analysis which does not neglect the particularities of the national contexts.

This work will appeal to researchers and students working in the fields of media and communication studies, political theory, policy analysis, studies of populism, racism and nationalism, gender, LGBT, migration, Islam and welfare.

Mojca Pajnik is Research Advisor at the Peace Institute in Ljubljana and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana.

Birgit Sauer is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Vienna and, since 2014, speaker of the Research Network Gender and Agency at the University of Vienna.