Abstract
To reflect the changeable landscape of politics, Ruth Wodak has recently published a new edition of The Politics of Fear. In contrast to the first edition (Wodak, 2015), this edition, The Politics of Fear: The Shameless Normalization of Far-Right Discourse (2021), covers some of the important social changes triggered by far-right populism such as Brexit and the presidency of Donald Trump. In addition, Chapter 8 is revised and Chapter 9 is added to discuss how far-right populism has become ‘shamelessly’ normalized in western countries. Two editions emphasize different aspects, the first focus on explaining ‘what right-wing populist discourses mean’ while the new edition emphasizes ‘the shameless normalization of far-right discourse’, which reflects the fact that far-right populism is moving toward the center of politics and the necessity of disclosing discursive strategies employed by far-right populists and true intention elaborated in far-right discourse.
This book consists of nine chapters. Chapter 1 is a brief introduction of ‘politics of fear’. To perpetuate ‘fear’, far-right populists create an identity crisis among the public while portraying themselves as the saviors of the people. Wodak presents the discursive tactics employed by far-right populists and points out how they transgress norms and taboos, thereby legitimizing their political ends. She defines ‘the politics of fear’ in Chapter 2 by four key elements: nationalism, anti-elitism, authoritarianism, and historical mythologization, which are mainly illustrated through the politics of identity. People are divided into two distinct categories, namely ‘us’ and ‘others’ according to religion, race, and language etc. A sense of national identity is overemphasized, thus leads to the ‘politics of exclusion’, as detailed in Chapter 3. In this chapter, the framework of the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) is discussed in detail. Wodak presents how the far-right populists propagandize their xenophobic ideologies (e.g. EU-skepticism, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, etc.) through summarizing a series of discursive strategies.
Chapter 4 discusses the politics of nationalism, that is, how far-right populists take mother tongue as an instrument to legitimize nationalistic discourse. More and more European countries are conducting language tests on immigrants, which suggest that language and identity are strategically combined together. People’s psychological attachment to their nation is used as a political tool to exclude ‘others’. Moreover, nationalism is closely related to the politics of denial in discourses of anti-Semitism, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 5. In this chapter, Wodak argues that Jews are often selected as scapegoats with stereotypes and anti-Semitism is deliberately maneuvered by far-right populists.
Chapter 6 focuses on politics of charisma. Mass media has been used as a platform for far-right politicians to perform and construct various identities. Such performances have been integrated into people’s everyday life, which is similar with the politics of patriarchy discussed in Chapter 7. In this chapter, Wodak shows how gender prejudice is integrated into the far-right ideology. Elite women are often ostracized or repressed as part of what far-right populists call ‘anti-elitist politics’. At the same time, they tend to choose popular women as leaders, and use body politics to express their respect for gender equality and to attract more female supporters.
Chapter 8 discusses the normalization of far-right populism. Wodak argues that far-right populists’ ‘shameless’ political performances have almost become a normal in western politics. While it is hard to give a right term to define the present-day far-right populist politics, Wodak claims, that the far-right populism has brought about a tendency toward ‘illiberal democracy’. She further concludes (in Chapter 9) that the far-right populism is creating a new type of nativism and authoritarianism, suggesting that western countries should take innovative reformatory measures to avoid ‘falling into the trap’ set by the far-right populism (p. 262).
To sum up, Wodak presents a comprehensive picture of far-right populism and its politics in European countries and the United States. Although the book is a rare classic treatise on the phenomenon of far-right populism, there remain some shortcomings. The first issue concerns the objectivity of analysis and interpretation. In fact, Wodak clearly expressed her negative attitude toward far-right populism. Although the examples and analyses in the book amply prove her views, this preconceived positioning of far-right populist politics will undoubtedly bring about doubts from readers on her objectivity in the study, leading them to question her arguments and interpretations. The second concerns the complexity of the discussion. Although the author has made clear the topic of each chapter with concise keywords in the chapter titles, we find the discussion is intricately intertwined with repetitive ideas and case studies. For example, the analysis of denial strategies appears not only in Chapter 1, but also in Chapters 3 and 8. The case of Heinz-Christian Strache is also repeated in Chapters 1, 3, and 5. While each has its own focus, they inevitably overlap to some extent. This may be related to the complexity of the research framework (e.g. DHA). However, if the topics of each chapter were examined with clear-cut analysis and explanation, readers would have a better understanding of the author’s arguments.
Despite these shortcomings, we are impressed by Wodak’s innovative ideas and comprehensive analysis. As early as 2000, Wodak (2000) pointed out that racism is emerging not only in Austria but also around the world, which shows that far-right populism has been thriving for quite a decade, instead of disappearing from us. As Wodak in this book soundly argues, far-right populism has moved to the center of politics in Western countries. This book is undoubtedly a strong support for this view. What is more, it is full of thought-provoking ideas, analysis, and perspectives, hence being an important reference in field of critical discourse studies and political science.