Article in:
Journal of Language and Politics: Online-First Articles

The language of exclusion

A critical comparison of new-right arguments against Islam

| University of Sydney
It has been argued that far-right populist parties (FRPP) distinguish themselves from other parties on the right of the political spectrum through their strong association with nationalism, anti-elitism, authoritarianism and historical mythologizing. These features typically manifest in discourse that attempts to justify exclusionist immigration and asylum policies by presenting Islam as an existential threat to predominantly white societies. This paper seeks to establish whether a conservative party that has never been considered populist could possess the same features as an FRPP by comparing three selected discursive texts – one from mainstream conservative party leader John Howard and two from prominent European FRPP leaders. The analysis revealed that the key difference between the three leaders was Howard’s failure to satisfy the authoritarianism criterion, which was interpreted as a decisive factor in his party’s moderate guise. This suggests that some mainstream parties may be more ideologically extremist than they are perceived to be.
Keywords: discourse analysis, exclusion, ethnonationalism, Islamophobia, national identity
Published online: 10 November 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.19071.tal
Reference list

Reference list

Alduy, Cecile and Stéphane Wahnich
2015 Marine Le Pen Prise aux Mots. Décryptage du Nouveau Discours Frontiste. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
Boukala, Salomi
2020 “The End of EU-topia and the Politics of Hate: Totalitarianism and the Mainstreaming of Far-Right Discourse in the Greek Political Scene.” In Europe at the Crossroads: Confronting Populist, Nationalist, and Global Challenges, edited by Pieter Bevelander and Ruth Wodak, 135–158. Nordic Academic Press.Google Scholar
Brett, Judith
2007 “Exit Right: The Unravelling of John Howard.” Quarterly Essay 28: 1–96.Google Scholar
Caron, Jean-François
2013 “Understanding and interpreting France’s National Identity: The Meanings of Being French.” National Identities 15(3): 223–237. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Chira, Susan
2017 “Marine Le Pen’s Canny Use of Gender in Her Campaign.” New York Times, May 4 2017 https://​www​.nytimes​.com​/2017​/05​/04​/world​/europe​/le​-pens​-campaign​-strategy​-shift​-strong​-but​-soft​.html
Chisari, Maria
2012 “The History and Values of Australian Citizenship Testing.” In New Voices, New Visions: Challenging Australian Identities and Legacies, edited by Catriona Elder, and Keith Moore, 137–151. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Eyerman, Ron
2011 “The End of Tolerance: The Murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh.” In The Cultural Sociology of Political Assassination. Cultural Sociology, edited by Ron Eyerman, 111–144. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fairclough, Norman
1995 Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Fozdar, Farida, Brian Spittles, and Lisa Hartley
2015 “Australia Day, Flags on Cars and Australian Nationalism.” Journal of Sociology 51(2): 317–336. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Freeden, Michael
2003 Ideology: A very short introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Howard, John
2006 “Address to the National Press Club Great Hall.” PM Transcripts. https://​pmtranscripts​.pmc​.gov​.au​/release​/transcript​-22110
Krzyżanowski, Michał
2014 “Values, imaginaries, and templates of journalistic practice: A Critical Discourse Analysis.” Social Semiotics 24(3): 345–365. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2018 “ ‘We Are a Small Country That Has Done Enormously Lot’: The ‘Refugee Crisis’ and the Hybrid Discourse of Politicizing Immigration in Sweden.” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 16(1–2): 97–117. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2018a “Discursive Shifts in Ethno-Nationalist Politics: On Politicization and Mediatization of the ‘Refugee Crisis’ in Poland.” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 16(1–2): 76–96. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Krzyżanowski, Michał, and Per Ledin
2017 “Uncivility on the Web: Populism in/and the Borderline Discourses of Exclusion.” Journal of Language & Politics 16(4): 556–581. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Le Pen, Marine
2015 “Discours de Marine Le Pen (Vendredi 1er mai 2015).” Rassemblement National. https://​www​.rassemblementnational​.fr​/discours​/discours​-de​-marine​-le​-pen​-vendredi​-1er​-mai​-2015
Mondon, Aurelien, and Aaron Winter
2019 “Mapping and Mainstreaming Islamophobia: Between the illiberal and liberal.” In The Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia, edited by Irene Zempi, and Imran Awan, 58–70. Abingdon: Routledge. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
National Press Club of Australia
n.d. “Speakers.” Accessed May 2 2019. https://​www​.npc​.org​.au​/speakers
Mellor, David, Di Bretherton, and Lucy Firth
2007 “Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Australia: The Dilemma of Apologies, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation.” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 13(1): 11–36. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mudde, Cas
2007 The Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2019 “The Far Right May Not Have Cleaned Up, but its Influence Now Dominates Europe.” The Guardian, May 28 2019 https://​www​.theguardian​.com​/commentisfree​/2019​/may​/28​/far​-right​-european​-elections​-eu​-politics
Mudde, Cas, and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser
2018 “Studying Populism in Comparative Perspective: Reflections on the Contemporary and Future Research Agenda.” Comparative Political Studies 51(13): 1667–1693. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Partij Voor de Vrijheid
2017 “Verkiezingsprogramma PVV 2017 – 2021.” Accessed May 2 2019. https://​www​.pvv​.nl​/visie​.html
Pels, Dick
2005 Een Zwak voor Nederland: Ideeën voor een Nieuwe Politiek. Amsterdam: Anthos.Google Scholar
Phillips, Janet
2012 “The ‘Pacific Solution’ Revisited: A Statistical Guide to the Asylum Seeker Caseloads on Nauru and Manus Island.” Australian Department of Parliamentary Services Report.Google Scholar
Polakow-Suransky, Sasha
2017 “How Europe’s Far Right Fell in Love with Australia’s Immigration Policy.” The Guardian, October 12 2017 https://​www​.theguardian​.com​/world​/2017​/oct​/12​/how​-europes​-far​-right​-fell​-in​-love​-with​-australias​-immigration​-policy
Rassemblement National
(2017) “144 Engagements Présidentiels: Election Présidentielle.” Accessed May 2 2019. https://​www​.rassemblementnational​.fr​/pdf​/144​-engagements​.pdf
Reisigl, Martin, and Ruth Wodak
2001 Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rheindorf, Markus, and Ruth Wodak
2018 “Borders, Fences and Limits – Protecting Austria from Refugees: Metadiscursive Negotiation of Meaning in the Current Refugee Crisis.” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 16(1–2): 15–38. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal, Paul Taggart, Paulina Ochoa Espejo, and Pierre Ostiguy
2017 The Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rydgren, Jens
2017 “The Radical Right: An Introduction.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right, edited by Jens Rydgren, 1–14. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Talay, Louis
2019 “How Thierry Baudet Stole Geert Wilders’ Votes: A Discourse Historical Analysis of Baudet’s 2019 Provincial Elections Victory Speech.” Australian and New Zealand Journal of European Studies 11(2): 45–59.Google Scholar
Traufetter, Gerald
2008 “Islam Critic Wilders: A Missionary with Dark Visions.” Spiegel International, March 27 2008 https://​www​.spiegel​.de​/international​/europe​/islam​-critic​-wilders​-a​-missionary​-with​-dark​-visions​-a​-543627​.html
UNHCR
n.d. Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. The UN Refugee Agency.
Van Leeuwen, Theo
2007 “Legitimation in Discourse and Communication.” Discourse & Communication 1(1): 91–112. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Versteeg, Peter
2012 “The discovery of Dutch Identity: A Critical Exploration.” Dutch Reformed Theological Journal 53(2): 59–66.Google Scholar
Wodak, Ruth
2015 The Politics of Fear. London: Sage.Google Scholar
2020 “Analysing the Micropolitics of the Populist Far Right in the ‘Post Shame’ Era.” In Europe at the Crossroads: Confronting Populist, Nationalist, and Global Challenges, edited by Pieter Bevelander, and Ruth Wodak, 63–92. Nordic Academic Press.Google Scholar