The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these a... more The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these actions can be challenging to understand. As a riposte, we use The Populist Divide as a framework for understanding the patchwork of populist responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our approach brings nuance to how crises are framed dependent on the trust levels between actors, thus presenting populist relationships as determined by selective trust allocation and not necessarily one of fixed ideological paradigms. Additionally, we introduce activities as the response to a measure, whether accepting or even protesting, but ultimately consenting to the legitimate powers of the leaders imposing these measures. On the other hand, counterstrategies emerging as challenges to the legitimacy of the leaders themselves.
The authors analyze how pro-federative representatives of the European Commission exploit the tem... more The authors analyze how pro-federative representatives of the European Commission exploit the temporal dimension of identity construction within the EU. The paper shows, through the analysis of speeches and statements of Commission members, how efforts are made to ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these a... more The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these actions can be challenging to understand. As a riposte, we use The Populist Divide as a framework for understanding the patchwork of populist responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our approach brings nuance to how crises are framed dependent on the trust levels between actors, thus presenting populist relationships as determined by selective trust allocation and not necessarily one of fixed ideological paradigms. Additionally, we introduce activities as the response to a measure, whether accepting or even protesting, but ultimately consenting to the legitimate powers of the leaders imposing these measures. On the other hand, counterstrategies emerging as challenges to the legitimacy of the leaders themselves.
Imer Idag Aktuella Perspektiv Pa Internationell Migration Och Etniska Relationer, 2013
Kapitlet behandlar dels begreppet populism i relation till demokrati och dels hur ”populistiska” ... more Kapitlet behandlar dels begreppet populism i relation till demokrati och dels hur ”populistiska” partier vaxer sig starkare. Populism kan ta sig uttryck i en frustration bland befolkningen over att samhallets kulturella eliter moraliserar over hur ”vanligt folk” lever sina liv eller att dess politiska eliter forbiser folkets onskemal. Populism kan ocksa handla om framlingsfientlig politik. Men det behover inte gora det. Till syvende och sist handlar det om vilket folk som mobiliseras mot vem. Sverigedemokraterna (SD) anklagas for att gora politik av framlingsfientliga stamningar. Partiet sjalvt sager sig foretrada mannen pa gatan gentemot samhallets eliter. Mahanda ar det latt att avfarda populism som kanslomassigt utspel. Men det ar viktigt att komma ihag att ocksa motstandare spelar pa kanslor i sitt avstandstagande mot denna retorik. Hari ligger populismens dubbla ansikte.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these a... more The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these actions can be challenging to understand. As a riposte, we use The Populist Divide as a framework for understanding the patchwork of populist responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our approach brings nuance to how crises are framed dependent on the trust levels between actors, thus presenting populist relationships as determined by selective trust allocation and not necessarily one of fixed ideological paradigms. Additionally, we introduce activities as the response to a measure, whether accepting or even protesting, but ultimately consenting to the legitimate powers of the leaders imposing these measures. On the other hand, counterstrategies emerging as challenges to the legitimacy of the leaders themselves.
The authors analyze how pro-federative representatives of the European Commission exploit the tem... more The authors analyze how pro-federative representatives of the European Commission exploit the temporal dimension of identity construction within the EU. The paper shows, through the analysis of speeches and statements of Commission members, how efforts are made to ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these a... more The COVID-19 pandemic has created an impetus for action for governments and citizens, but these actions can be challenging to understand. As a riposte, we use The Populist Divide as a framework for understanding the patchwork of populist responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our approach brings nuance to how crises are framed dependent on the trust levels between actors, thus presenting populist relationships as determined by selective trust allocation and not necessarily one of fixed ideological paradigms. Additionally, we introduce activities as the response to a measure, whether accepting or even protesting, but ultimately consenting to the legitimate powers of the leaders imposing these measures. On the other hand, counterstrategies emerging as challenges to the legitimacy of the leaders themselves.
Imer Idag Aktuella Perspektiv Pa Internationell Migration Och Etniska Relationer, 2013
Kapitlet behandlar dels begreppet populism i relation till demokrati och dels hur ”populistiska” ... more Kapitlet behandlar dels begreppet populism i relation till demokrati och dels hur ”populistiska” partier vaxer sig starkare. Populism kan ta sig uttryck i en frustration bland befolkningen over att samhallets kulturella eliter moraliserar over hur ”vanligt folk” lever sina liv eller att dess politiska eliter forbiser folkets onskemal. Populism kan ocksa handla om framlingsfientlig politik. Men det behover inte gora det. Till syvende och sist handlar det om vilket folk som mobiliseras mot vem. Sverigedemokraterna (SD) anklagas for att gora politik av framlingsfientliga stamningar. Partiet sjalvt sager sig foretrada mannen pa gatan gentemot samhallets eliter. Mahanda ar det latt att avfarda populism som kanslomassigt utspel. Men det ar viktigt att komma ihag att ocksa motstandare spelar pa kanslor i sitt avstandstagande mot denna retorik. Hari ligger populismens dubbla ansikte.
This chapter examines differences in the discourses on migration from two socio-economically simi... more This chapter examines differences in the discourses on migration from two socio-economically similar countries—Denmark and Sweden. It employs the notion of conventional discourse to show how cultural identity and welfare politics intersect in the policy debates and blogospheres of the two countries. It also shows that a discursive shift had already occurred in the mainstream political discourse in Denmark before the 2015 refugee crisis—a discourse in which the dominant view is that cultural diversity is incompatible with social cohesion and thus a perceived threat to the welfare system. The same line of thinking is prevalent in Denmark’s blogosphere. In contrast, Sweden’s cultural issues have been consistently associated with redistributive policies in the mainstream political discourse, and these vary along the Left versus Right ideological cleavage. However, in Sweden’s blogosphere, welfare chauvinism and opposition to multiculturalism appear to be equally as strong as in Denmark.
After the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, a certain sense of optimism swept ... more After the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, a certain sense of optimism swept across Europe. Some 25 years later, everything seems radically different. With the considerable inroads made into mainstream politics by right-wing populist parties across the continent, there is no shortage of gloom and worry. Nevertheless, despite numerous examples of retrogressive forms of mobilization, there are also many cases of progressive mobilization. To capture this dynamic complexity, we posit politics as a site of struggle that constitutes an arena for the conflicting demands of the two master frames of nostalgia and hope. Following this logic of a polarized political terrain, the volume is divided into three parts that address both right-wing populist politics across Europe (Part I) and politics beyond party politics through either retrogressive mobilization (Part II) or emancipatory initiatives (Part III).
The Sweden Democrats (SD) is portrayed in a negative light in the mainstream public debate. Simul... more The Sweden Democrats (SD) is portrayed in a negative light in the mainstream public debate. Simultaneously, voter support for the party has grown significantly. In the 2014 national elections they achieved 12, 9 per cent of the national votes in Sweden. Although, they have not changed the policy in their desired direction, they were close to cause a re-election. This ostensible contradiction is the starting point for our study. We aim to understand how an SD vote can appear as logical choice for many voters. We use narrative analysis to examine one possible site for alternative narratives; i.e., the article series ’From the seven-parties-clover to the SD’ at the website Avpixlat. Our material consists of 33 personal letters by individuals who have reflected on and motivated their decision to leave the established parties and vote for the SD instead. Our analysis shows that the party political preferences of the narrators are interwoven with their life stories. A deliberate choice to vote for a party outside the political mainstream signifies the politicisation of self-identity construction and world-making processes. The narrators do not reject mainstream norms generally, but instead demonstrate their belonging to ordinary society. In the narratives, sympathizing with the SD is associated with feelings of shame and a fear of being ostracized by friends and colleagues if one´s views became known. Feelings of shame constitute a powerful mobilisation tool for the SD to gain a foothold in the public debate, of representing an alternative voice in a multiple public sphere of combining elements of both Culture and Welfare.
[Co-authored with Anders Hellström, Malmö University.] BOOK PRESENTATION (in Swedish): I Fronesis... more [Co-authored with Anders Hellström, Malmö University.] BOOK PRESENTATION (in Swedish): I Fronesis nr 34 diskuteras folkets betydelse för demokratin. Vilket är det »folk« som ständigt åberopas för att genomdriva samhälls-förändringar eller upprätthålla status quo? Vi undersöker folkbegreppets historia, samtida uttryck för populism och diskuterar folkmaktens betydelse i en värld där den politiska och ekonomiska makten allt mindre sammanfaller med nationalstatens gränser.
With his book, murky shadows are dispersed by a critical light. The
party’s history is comparativ... more With his book, murky shadows are dispersed by a critical light. The party’s history is comparatively short. The same party members who in their teens wore bomber jackets, Thor’s Hammer necklaces, and shaved their heads are now prudent middle-aged men. Not surprisingly, their musical tastes have changed as well, as they have grown older. It becomes evident when reading through Lions of the North that the trajectory of the Sweden Democrats is equivalent to the development of the nationalist music scene. Both have moved from the extreme fringe to the political mainstream. Nationalist music has shifted from brutish, hard sounds inspired by the skinhead movement (via folk music) into freedom pop, and even reggae and hip-hop, with a much softer sound. Music incites passion. But perhaps the changing political scene has made the music obsolete, and even dangerous, as passion risks turning into pathology.
This open access book shows how the politics of migration affect community building in the
21st c... more This open access book shows how the politics of migration affect community building in the 21st century, drawing on both retrogressive and progressive forms of mobilization. It elaborates theoretically and shows empirically how the two master frames of nostalgia and hope are used in local, national and transnational settings, in and outside conventional forms of doing politics. It expands on polarized societal processes and external events relevant for the transformation of European welfare systems and the reproduction of national identities today. It evidences the importance of gender in the narrative use of the master frames of nostalgia and hope, either as an ideological tool for right-wing populist and extreme right retrogressive mobilization or as an essential element of progressive intersectional politics of hope.
The current anthology investigates the extent to which populist radical-right parties are challen... more The current anthology investigates the extent to which populist radical-right parties are challenging the dominant ideological paradigm of Nordic politics. This chapter examines how four Nordic populist parties use national myths in their political rhetoric to justify their politics. More specifically, it explores how common memories from a golden age – when the nation was still ethnically homogeneous – are constructed and used in the party programmes of the four parties to appeal to presumptive voters. ‘The analysis, informed by discursive research on national rhetoric, shows how the selective use and construction of national myths is a feature which unites Nordic radical-right parties, with the Norwegian Progress Party standing out as the exception’. As such, the Sweden Democrats and the Finns Party utilize national myths in their party programmes most frequently, whereas the Danish People’s Party’s use of national myths resembles that employed by Danish mainstream parties, and the Norwegian Progress Party stands out with no use of national myths in its party programmes. The chapter discusses the main points of convergence and difference between the parties and concludes that the differences reflect the varying backgrounds of these parties and the different historical and social contexts in which they operate.
2015 - till asylrättens försvar (reds. Kamal El Salim & MAria Padron Hernandez), 2022
De flesta politiska partier och flera experter hävdar att vi aldrig ska återvända till 2015 igen.... more De flesta politiska partier och flera experter hävdar att vi aldrig ska återvända till 2015 igen. Detta meddelande upprepas, både i media och i politiken. Vad vi väljer att minnas färgas av och färgar vår historiebeskrivning av 2015.
Nostalgia and Hope: Intersections between Politics of Culture, Welfare, and Migration in Europe, 2020
After the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, a certain sense of optimism swept ... more After the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, a certain sense of optimism swept across Europe. Some 25 years later, everything seems radically different. With the considerable inroads made into mainstream politics by right-wing populist parties across the continent, there is no shortage of gloom and worry. Nevertheless, despite numerous examples of retrogressive forms of mobilization, there are also many cases of progressive mobilization. To capture this dynamic complexity, we posit politics as a site of struggle that constitutes an arena for the conflicting demands of the two master frames of nostalgia and hope. Following this logic of a polarized political terrain, the volume is divided into three parts that address both right-wing populist politics across Europe (Part I) and politics beyond party politics through either retrogressive mobilization (Part II) or emancipatory initiatives (Part III).
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Papers by Anders Hellström
party’s history is comparatively short. The same party members who in
their teens wore bomber jackets, Thor’s Hammer necklaces, and shaved
their heads are now prudent middle-aged
men. Not surprisingly, their
musical tastes have changed as well, as they have grown older. It becomes
evident when reading through Lions of the North that the trajectory of
the Sweden Democrats is equivalent to the development of the nationalist
music scene. Both have moved from the extreme fringe to the political
mainstream. Nationalist music has shifted from brutish, hard sounds
inspired by the skinhead movement (via folk music) into freedom pop,
and even reggae and hip-hop,
with a much softer sound. Music incites
passion. But perhaps the changing political scene has made the music
obsolete, and even dangerous, as passion risks turning into pathology.
21st century, drawing on both retrogressive and progressive forms of mobilization. It elaborates theoretically and shows empirically how the two master frames of nostalgia and hope are used in local, national and transnational settings, in and outside conventional forms
of doing politics. It expands on polarized societal processes and external events relevant for the transformation of European welfare systems and the reproduction of national identities today. It evidences the importance of gender in the narrative use of the master frames of nostalgia and hope, either as an ideological tool for right-wing populist and extreme right
retrogressive mobilization or as an essential element of progressive intersectional politics of hope.