Article published In:
Journal of Language and PoliticsVol. 7:1 (2008) ► pp.31–52
(Small) Enterpreneurs first!
Analysis of the economic discourse of the Vlaams Belang
A large body of research on political parties is devoted to the family of extreme right parties. Yet, systematic analyses of extreme right parties discourse remain scarce. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by providing a discourse analysis of the Vlaams Belang, one of the most successful extreme right-wing parties in Europe. Moreover, by focusing on this partys economic discourse, the study also sheds new light on the ongoing debate about the economic viewpoints of the new extreme right parties. We conclude that the Vlaams Belangs economic rhetoric is in line with its ethno-linguistic, nationalist standpoints and pleas for a Flemish economic policy. The partys economic programme is built on liberal points of view and seems particularly aimed at attracting (dissatisfied) liberal voters. Importantly, as economic issues remain subordinated to the partys ideological core, it appears that the Vlaams Belang has largely instrumentalised its programme to expand its electorate.
Keywords: discourse, extreme right parties, economic party manifesto, Flanders
References
Bauböck, Rainer
2002 Constructing the boundaries of the Volk: Nation-building and national populism in Austrian politics. In: Ruth Wodak and Anton Pelinka (eds). The Haider Phenomenon in Austria. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 231—253.
Betz, Hans-Georg
1996 Book review: The radical right in Western Europe. A comparative analysis. Political Science Quarterly 1111, 716—717. 
2002 The divergent paths of the FPÖ and the Lega Nord. In: Martin Schain, Aristide Zolberg, & Patrick Hossay (eds). Shadows over Europe: The Development and Impact of the Extreme Right in Western Europe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 61—81.
Blommaert, Jan
2001 Ik stel vast. Politiek taalgebruik, politieke vernieuwing en verrechtsing. Berchem: Epo.
2005 Discourse. Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Coffé, Hilde
2005 Do individual factors explain the different success of the two Belgian extreme right parties? Acta Politica 401, 74—93.
Depickere, Astrid & Swyngedouw, Marc
2002 Verklaringen voor het succes van extreemrechts getoetst. In Marc Swyngedouw & Jaak Billiet (eds). De kiezer heeft zijn redenen. 13 juni 1999 en de politieke opvattingen van Vlamingen. Leuven: Acco, 1—25.
Duranti, Allessandro & Goodwin, Charles
(eds) 1992 Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fairclough, Norman
1992 Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
2000 New Labour, New Language? London: Routledge.
2003 Analysing Discourse. Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.
Fairclough, Norman & Wodak, Ruth
1997 Critical Discourse Analysis. In: Teun A. van Dijk (Ed.). Discourse as Structure and Process. Discourse Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction. London: Sage, 258—284.
Heywood, Andrew
2003 Political Ideologies. An Introduction. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ignazi, Pierro
1996 The crisis of parties and the rise of new political parties. Party Politics 21, 549—566.
2002 The extreme right: Defining the object and assessing the causes. In Martin Schain, Aristide Zolberg, & Patrick Hossay (eds). Shadows over Europe: The Development and Impact of the Extreme Right in Western Europe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 21—37.
Jacobs, Dirk
1998 Nieuwkomers in de politiek. Het parlementaire debat omtrent kiesrecht voor vreemdelingen in Nederland en Belgivreemdelingen in Nederland en 1970—1997. Ghent: Academia Press.
Kitschelt, Herbert
1995 The Radical Right in Western Europe. A Comparative Analysis. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Lubbers, Marcel
2001 Exlusionistic Electorates: Extreme Right-Wing Voting in Western Europe. Amsterdam: Thela Thesis.
McGann, Anthony J. & Kitschelt, Herbert
2005 The radical right in the Alps. Evolution of support for the Swiss SVP and Austrian FPÖ. Party Politics 111, 147—171.
Michels, Robert
1962 Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracies. New York: The Free Press.
Mudde, Cas
1999 The single issue party thesis: Extreme right parties and the immigration issue. West European Politics 221, 182—197.
2000 The Ideology of the Extreme Right. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
2007 Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mughan, Anothony, Bean, Clive & McAllister, Ian
2003 Economic globalization, job insecurity and the populist reaction. Electoral Studies 221, 617—633.
Norris, Pippa
2005 Radical Right: Parties and Electoral Competition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Papadopoulos, Yannis
2002 Populism, the democratic question, and contemporary governance. In: Yves Mény, & Yves Surel (eds). Democracies and the Populist Challenge. New York: Palgrave, 45—61.
Rydgren, Jens
2002 Radical right populism in Sweden: Still a failure, but for how long? Scandinavian Political Studies 251, 27—56.
Schain, Martin
1997 Book review: The radical right in Western Europe. Comparative Political Studies 301, 375—380.
Schmidt, Vivien & Radaelli, Claudio M
2004 Policy change and discourse in Europe: Conceptual and methodological issues. West European Politics 27(2), 183—210.
Spruyt, Marc
2000 Wat het Vlaams Blok verzwijgt. Leuven: Van Halewyck.
Taggart, Paul
2000 Populism. Buckingham/Philadelphia: Open University Press.
van den Brink, Rinke
2005 In de greep van de angst. De Europese sociaal-democratie en het rechtspopulisme. Antwerp/Amsterdam: Houtekiet.
van Dijk, Teun A
1993 Elite Discourse and Racism. Newbury Newbury: Sage Publications.
Van Eemeren, Frans, Grootendorst, Rob, Jackson, Sally, & Jacobs, Scott
1997 Argumentation. In: Teun A. van Dijk (Ed.). Discourse as Structure and Process. Discourse Studies: A Multi-disciplinary Introduction. London: Sage, 208—229.
Verhofstadt, Guy
1991 Burgermanifest. Brussels: PVV.
1992 De weg naar politieke vernieuwing. Het tweede burgermanifest. Antwerp/Baarn: Uitgeverij Hadewijch.
Wodak, Ruth
2002 Discourse and politics: The rhetoric of exclusion. In: Ruth Wodak & Anton Pelinka (eds). The Haider Phenomenon in Austria. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 33—60.
Cited by
Cited by 5 other publications
Coffé, Hilde & Job van den Berg
2017. Understanding shifts in voting behaviour away from and towards radical right populist parties: The case of the PVV between 2007 and 2012. Comparative European Politics 15:6 ► pp. 872 ff. 
Geys, Benny
2012. Success and failure in electoral competition: Selective issue emphasis under incomplete issue ownership. Electoral Studies 31:2 ► pp. 406 ff.
Sijstermans, Judith
2021. The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century. Politics and Governance 9:4 ► pp. 275 ff.
van den Berg, Job C & Hilde Coffé
2012. Educational and class cleavages in voting behaviour in Belgium: The effect of income, EGP class and education on party choice in Flanders and Wallonia. Acta Politica 47:2 ► pp. 151 ff.
Wauters, Bram
2012. Blue collars striking the Red Flag: formal and descriptive representation of the working class in the Belgian House of Representatives 1946–2007. Labor History 53:2 ► pp. 225 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 march 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.