Bordering and crisis narratives to illiberal ends
The politics of reassurance in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary
This paper draws lessons from security and populism studies to theorize how radical right-wing populism (RRWP)
utilizes borders as a symbolic resource in crisis narratives to clearly frame an “Us” and a threatening “Them”. By analyzing the
Hungarian Orbán regime’s evolving rhetoric on borders, the paper illustrates how populists employ crisis narratives not to
mitigate, but exacerbate ontological insecurities, and thereby facilitate de-democratization by (re)shaping voter attitudes (cf.
Homolar & Scholz 2019;
Steele & Homolar
2019). The paper suggests that populists-in-power rely on crisis and bordering narratives beyond voter mobilization:
such narratives are in fact designed to legitimize and affirm illiberal practices that undermine liberal democracy itself, and
contribute to regime building. Border crises, and crisis politics, hence become a template for the manipulation of individuals’
security-of-being, and thereby a tool in the politics of reassurance and control at the broader, societal level.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Navigating the dual paradox: Vertical othering and the scalar expansion of borders
- 2.1Rhetorical consistency through the mega-narrative “The end of the modern West”
- 2.2Heroism, betrayal, and constant struggle
- 3.Legitimizing illiberalism: Rule of law conditionality as political attack
- 3.1Setting the stage: Problem and culprit identification
- 3.2“European Empire”
- 3.3Normalizing illiberal politics through Banal Security
- 4.Concluding remarks
- Notes
-
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