The construction of the migration discourse of European parties of the radical right
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15257/ehquidad.2025.0019Keywords:
Radical right-wing parties, Critical discourse analysis, migration, discursive strategies, hostile discourseAbstract
In the last decade, european parties of the radical right have increased their political influence, promoting a hostile discourse towards people belonging to certain groups, such as migrants or muslims. Against this background, we propose to study the construction and discursive logic of such hostile references in the electoral programmes of ten european radical right parties. The period of study runs from 2017 to 2019. Regarding the methodological process, we apply a critical discourse analysis, combining Wodak's findings on discursive strategies and Van Dijk's findings on linguistic resources. Among the discursive strategies used, we found a nomination of migrants and people of migrant origin in problematic or invisibilising terms, an attribution of negative traits to these groups related to their disqualification, criminalisation or questioning, and a justification of their rejection based on the need to protect the native population. This research can serve as a basis for the detection of hostile discourse and the design of effective public policies and counter-narratives.
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