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Immigrant, Nationalist and Proud: a Twitter Analysis of Indian Diaspora Supporters for Brexit and Trump

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Immigrant, Nationalist and Proud: a Twitter Analysis of Indian Diaspora Supporters for Brexit and Trump Media and Communication (ISSN: 2183–2439) 2019, Volume 7, Issue 1, Pages 77–89 DOI: 10.17645/mac.v7i1.1629 Article Immigrant, Nationalist and Proud: A Twitter Analysis of Indian Diaspora Supporters for Brexit and Trump Eviane Cheng Leidig Center for Research on Extremism, University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway; E-Mail: [email protected] Submitted: 15 June 2018 | Accepted: 24 August 2018 | Published: 5 February 2019 Abstract The Brexit referendum to leave the EU and Trump’s success in the US general election in 2016 sparked new waves of dis- cussion on nativism, nationalism, and the far right. Within these analyses, however, very little attention has been devoted towards exploring the transnational ideological circulation of Islamophobia and anti-establishment sentiment, especially amongst diaspora and migrant networks. This article thus explores the role of the Indian diaspora as mediators in pop- ulist radical right discourse in the West. During the Brexit referendum and Trump’s election and presidency, a number of Indian diaspora voices took to Twitter to express pro-Brexit and pro-Trump views. This article presents a year-long qual- itative study of these users. It highlights how these diasporic Indians interact and engage on Twitter in order to signal belonging on multiple levels: as individuals, as an imaginary collective non-Muslim diaspora, and as members of (populist radical right) Twitter society. By analysing these users’ social media performativity, we obtain insight into how social me- dia spaces may help construct ethnic and (trans)national identities according to boundaries of inclusion/exclusion. This article demonstrates how some Indian diaspora individuals are embedded into exclusivist national political agendas of the populist radical right in Western societies. Keywords Brexit; diaspora; Indian; integration; multiculturalism; populism; radical right; Trump; Twitter Issue This article is part of the issue “Communicating on/with Minorities”, edited by Leen d’Haenens and Willem Joris (KU Leuven, Belgium). © 2019 by the author; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu- tion 4.0 International License (CC BY). 1. Introduction One legacy of Indian diaspora political mobilisation in the West is largely based on Hindutva (or Hindu national- This article explores the role of British and American- ism), an ideology that promotes the superiority of Hindu based Indian diaspora supporters for Brexit and Trump. civilisation from the threat of Islam and Muslim ‘invasion’. It begins by introducing how the Brexit referendum to Hindutva resonates amongst a diaspora keen to preserve leave the European Union and Trump’s campaign and their Hindu identity by cultivating a long-distance nation- presidency in the US (both which at times deliberately alism that foregrounds belonging ‘back home’ whilst still targeted the Indian diaspora) utilised populist radical creating a sense of collective identity amongst diaspora right rhetoric to galvanise support on social media. In communities in the West. Sikh and Christian Indian dias- response, the emergence of pro-Brexit and pro-Trump pora groups have likewise successfully mobilised in com- social media movements based on identitarian member- munity building efforts that aim to highlight their reli- ship, such as ‘Sikhs for Britain’ and ‘Hindus for Trump’, as gious identities in Western multicultural societies. Con- well as the establishment of advocacy organisations such sequently, non-Muslim Indian diaspora activism has at- as the Republican Hindu Coalition in the US which openly tempted to distinguish a boundary against the Muslim supported Trump’s candidacy, reveals some diasporic In- ‘other’, building on Islamophobic anxiety prevalent in a dians as proponents of populist radical right ideas. post-9/11 era. This article thus posits that anti-Muslim Media and Communication, 2019, Volume 7, Issue 1, Pages 77–89 77 anxiety, and anti-establishment sentiment (who are held the role of mass media is also key in disseminating pop- accountable for pro-Muslim policies), are core issues that ulist radical right discourses and agendas towards a wider motivate such Indian diaspora communities to support audience (Kallis, 2013; Rydgren, 2005). The transnational populist radical right agendas. diffusion of ideas and practices made possible through Following a year-long qualitative study of Indian di- media and communication technologies reflects a piv- aspora Twitter users who express pro-Brexit and pro- otal shift in populist radical right platforms. The effect is Trump views, this article highlights their engagement in a growing global wave that has taken root across numer- political discourse within the Brexit and Trump Twitter- ous locales: sphere(s). Their interactions help (re)produce key issues and rhetoric within the populist radical right online mi- [S]trong points of ideological and political conver- lieu. Importantly, these users incorporate an ‘integration’ gence have started to crystallize, turning the radical narrative to justify their positioning as ‘good immigrants’ right into a truly transnational European and occasion- in Western societies (as opposed to non-‘integration’ ten- ally trans-Atlantic force...The topicality of a new range dencies of Muslims). By doing so, these diasporic Indi- of issues, such as immigration, international terror- ans provide insight into how online spaces may help con- ism, national sovereignty, globalization…have created struct meanings of ethnic and (trans)national identities a political milieu that has allowed the radical right not according to boundaries of inclusion/exclusion.1 only to thrive but also to unite its otherwise disparate This article highlights online Indian diaspora support- and fragmented forces. (Kallis, 2015, p. 28) ers for Brexit and Trump by situating their expressions of Islamophobia and anti-establishment sentiment in or- This noteworthy phenomenon describes the appeal, and der to embed themselves within the populist radical right at times, success, of populist radical right movements agenda of exclusionary nationalism in Western societies. and parties. In the case of the UK Independence Party By illuminating what may be assumed as paradoxical (UKIP)-backed Brexit campaign and Trump’s election and political views of an ethnic minority demographic, this presidency, both presented issues that resonated with article contributes towards understanding and explain- similar demographics, but delivered them according to ing their support for populist radical right ideology in local narratives. the West. During the 2016 referendum campaign for Britain’s membership in the EU, UKIP seized the opportunity 2. “The Most Imminent and Urgent Threat and to combine its Eurosceptic platform with disdain for Problem That Faces This Country, Namely Open-Door Westminster. UKIP took a tactical approach by attack- Immigration, and the Security and Social Implications ing the establishment for failing to address issues of im- of It”—Nigel Farage1 migration and integration—escalated by sensational me- dia coverage of the refugee crisis. Indeed, then UKIP Ideologically, the populist radical right promotes a com- leader Nigel Farage “blamed state multiculturalism for bination of ethno-nationalism, xenophobia expressed the rise of home-grown terrorism in Europe” (Kallis, as cultural racism, and anti-establishment populism 2015, pp. 34–35), citing the metropolitan elite for en- (Rydgren, 2005, 2017). National identity is conflated acting policies that created ‘parallel lives’ and hence, Is- with a distinct cultural identity rooted in an ethnic lamist extremism within communities. In doing so, UKIP past; the populist radical right seeks to ‘preserve’ na- portrayed Muslims as a ‘fifth column’ within British soci- tional culture by keeping separate different cultures, ety who were a threat to national security, but more im- i.e., ethno-pluralism. The contemporary threat of ethno- portantly, national culture. By linking potential extrem- pluralism is the apprehension that Islam—and conse- ist activity of future refugees to past integration pol- quently, Muslims—is the fundamental ‘other’ in West- icy failures, UKIP promoted a discourse of fear in the ern societies. Therefore, the populist radical right holds present. Given UKIP’s stance as the party which claimed “a visceral opposition to, and demonization of Islam” issue ownership on immigration (see Goodwin & Milazzo, and consequently, “immigrants from Muslim countries”, 2017), its referendum rhetoric built on pre-existing anxi- whom are viewed as threatening to national values eties surrounding uncontrolled borders. (Kallis, 2015, p. 28; Rydgren, 2007, p. 244) in the post- During the campaign, UKIP employed an extensive 9/11 era. The populist radical right criticises the ‘elite’ social media strategy for Vote Leave. The party signifi- political and media establishment for failing to ade- cantly used Twitter’s infrastructure as an avenue to gar- quately resolve issues such as immigration, integration, ner support for Brexit, including the ability to broad- and (ethno-)national identity, using Islam as a place- cast the party’s platform to users instead of the main- holder to articulate these grievances. stream media; setting the discursive framing of the Whilst demand and supply factors help explain the Leave camp; building on previous Eurosceptic move- emergence and success of the populist radical right, in- ments to create a broader coalition;
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