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Wing Populist Politicians Towards the Withdrawal from the European Union: Discourse Analysis of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage’S Speeches

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Wing Populist Politicians Towards the Withdrawal from the European Union: Discourse Analysis of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage’S Speeches FACULTY OF SOCIAL STUDIES Comparison of stances of right- wing populist politicians towards the withdrawal from the European Union: discourse analysis of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage’s speeches Master's Thesis BC. ANNA LAŠTOVIČKOVÁ Supervisor: Mgr. Monika Brusenbauch Meislová, Ph.D. Department of International Relations and European Studies International Relations Brno 2021 COMPARISON OF STANCES OF RIGHT-WING POPULIST POLITICIANS TOWARDS THE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOMIO OKAMURA AND NIGEL FARAGE’S SPEECHES Bibliographic Record Author: Bc. Anna Laštovičková Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University Department of International Relations and European Studies Title of Thesis: Comparison of stances of right-wing populist politicians towards the withdrawal from the European Union: discourse analysis of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage’s speeches Degree Programme: International Relations Supervisor: Mgr. Monika Brusenbauch Meislová, Ph.D. Academic Year: 2021 Number of Pages: 74 Keywords: right-wing populism, European Union, withdrawal from the European Union, Tomio Okamura, Nigel Farage, critical discourse analysis, discourse-historical approach COMPARISON OF STANCES OF RIGHT-WING POPULIST POLITICIANS TOWARDS THE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOMIO OKAMURA AND NIGEL FARAGE’S SPEECHES Abstract This diploma thesis aims to analyse and compare the discourses of selected Czech and British right-wing populist politicians, focusing on their stances towards the withdrawal of their countries from the European Union. To do so, it utilizes discourse analysis of speeches of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage, two prominent figures of right-wing populism and, in the examined period, chairmen of the right-wing populist parties Dawn of Direct Democracy, Freedom and Direct Democracy, and UK Independence Party. The thesis employs Ruth Wodak’s approach to critical discourse analysis, through which it examines the main discourse topics of selected speeches, as well as specific discursive strategies and linguistic means and realizations. COMPARISON OF STANCES OF RIGHT-WING POPULIST POLITICIANS TOWARDS THE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOMIO OKAMURA AND NIGEL FARAGE’S SPEECHES Statutory Declaration I hereby declare that I have written the submitted Master's Thesis concerning the topic of Comparison of stances of right-wing populist politicians towards the withdrawal from the European Union: discourse analysis of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage’s speeches independently. All the sources used for the purpose of finishing this thesis have been adequately referenced and are listed in the Bibliography. In Brno, 9 May 2021 ....................................... Bc. Anna Laštovičková COMPARISON OF STANCES OF RIGHT-WING POPULIST POLITICIANS TOWARDS THE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOMIO OKAMURA AND NIGEL FARAGE’S SPEECHES Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. Monika Brusenbauch Meislová, Ph.D., for her continuous encouragement and valuable advice. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents List of Tables 7 List of Terms and Acronyms 8 1 Introduction 9 2 Literature Review 11 3 Theoretical Framework 13 3.1 Social Constructivism ............................................................................... 13 3.2 Right-wing Populism ................................................................................ 14 4 Methodology 18 4.1 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) ....................................................... 18 4.2 Case Selection .............................................................................................. 21 4.3 Sample Selection ........................................................................................ 25 5 Analysis 30 5.1 Discourse-Historical Analysis of Tomio Okamura’s Selected Speeches ................................................................................................... 30 5.2 Discourse-Historical Analysis of Nigel Farage’s Selected Speeches ................................................................................................... 45 6 Conclusion and Discussion 60 Bibliography 63 Appendix A Selected list of discursive strategies in right-wing populist discourse 73 Appendix B Selected list of content-related topoi in right-wing populist discourse 74 6 LIST OF TABLES List of Tables Table 1. Analysed speeches of Tomio Okamura. By author. Table 2. Analysed speeches of Nigel Farage. By author. 7 LIST OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS List of Terms and Acronyms BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation CDA – critical discourse analysis CL – critical linguistics DHA – discourse-historical approach EP – European Parliament EU – European Union GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation MEP – Member of the European Parliament NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization ODS – Občanská demokratická strana (Civic Democratic Party) SPD – Svoboda a přímá demokracie (Freedom and Direct Democracy) UK – United Kingdom UKIP – UK Independence Party ÚPD – Úsvit přímé demokracie (Dawn of Direct Democracy) US; USA – United States of America USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 8 INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction This thesis analyses the discourses of two right-wing populist politicians, Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage, focusing on their stances towards the withdrawal of their countries, that is, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, from the European Union. There are several reasons as to why these specific countries and these specific politicians were selected for the analysis; these reasons are elaborated on below as well as further on in the thesis. On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, becoming the first member state of the EU to do so, and thus sending shockwaves through the world. The country’s decision to withdraw from the EU immediately became a focal point of numerous analyses assessing the future of both the UK and the EU, as well as the reasons behind the vote. Among the most important factors which had contributed to the way the British voted was the strength of the nation’s Eurosceptic sentiments, as in the years and decades preceding the 2016 referendum, Euroscepticism had “defined the public and media debate” regarding the UK’s membership in the EU (Oliver 2018, chap. 2; Clarke, Goodwin and Whiteley 2017, 160). Gradually, Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing populist UK Independence Party, had become one of the most visible faces of the British Eurosceptic scene and, in the months leading up to the British plebiscite, an important figure in the Leave campaign as well (Clarke, Goodwin and Whiteley 2017, 28–32). Given the fact that the Czech Republic, too, belongs to the most Eurosceptic member states of the EU (European Parliament 2018, Stone 2019), the British decision renewed a debate at the time about the future of the Czech membership in the Union. It was especially Tomio Okamura and his right-wing populist party Svoboda a přímá demokracie (Freedom and Direct Democracy, SPD), vocal critics of the Czech Republic’s membership in the EU, who welcomed the UK’s decision and have since continued to frequently request that such a referendum be held in the Czech Republic as well (Kaniok and Hloušek 2018, 520). Even though the scenario of “Czexit” still seems rather unlikely at the moment (Stone 2019), it is important to bear in mind that this can change depending on the current political situation in the country. Furthermore, another motivation for choosing this particular topic is the fact that in recent years, “right-wing populist parties have moved 9 INTRODUCTION away from the margins” and “have become mainstream parties and movements” (Wodak 2015, x). The parties’ leaders and their rhetoric have played a substantial role in this process. Therefore, to understand the messages and the electoral success of right-wing populists, it is essential to take their discourse into account (Wodak 2015, xi). Against this background, the objective of this thesis is to analyse and compare the discourses of the two mentioned right-wing populist politicians, Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage, focusing on their stances towards the withdrawal of their countries from the European Union. The research question that the thesis seeks to answer is: To what extent do the discourses of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage regarding the EU withdrawal of the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, respectively, resemble and differ from each other? In order to answer the question, the thesis employs Ruth Wodak’s (2001, 2009, 2015) discourse-historical approach to critical discourse analysis through which it examines selected speeches of Okamura and Farage. This method will enable the main discourse topics to be determined, along with specific discursive strategies and linguistic means and realizations utilized by both politicians to convey their respective messages. The thesis is organized in the following manner. Chapter 2 provides a brief overview of the published literature covering the topics of the right-wing populist discourse on the EU, and the EU-related discourses of Tomio Okamura and Nigel Farage. Furthermore, it explains how this thesis connects to the pre-existing research. Chapter 3 presents the theoretical basis of the thesis, i.e., the social constructivism theory as well as the ideology of right-wing populism. In the methodology-focused Chapter 4, critical discourse analysis and discourse-historical approach are introduced, accompanied by sections dedicated to
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