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Racism, nationalism and right-wing extremism online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook Fuchs, Christian

This is the published version of Fuchs, Christian (2016) Racism, nationalism and right- wing extremism online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook, Momentum Quarterly 5 (3) 172-196 2226-5538

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Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook

Christian Fuchs*

Abstract Te 2016 Austrian presidential election saw a run-of between the Green party candidate and the ’s (FPÖ) far-right candidate Norbert Hofer. Tis paper asks: How did voters of Hofer express their support on Facebook? It presents the results of a qualitative ideology analysis of 6755 comments about the presidential election posted on the Facebook pages of FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache and FPÖ candidate Hofer. Te results reveal insights into the contemporary political role of the online leadership ideology, online nationalism, new racism online, the friend/enemy-scheme online, and online militancy. Right- wing extremism 2.0 is a complex problem that stands in the context of contemporary crises and demagoguery.

Keywords: Facebook, social media, new racism online, online nationalism, right-wing extremism online, Austrian presidential election 2016, Freedom Party of Austria, FPÖ, Alexander Van der Bellen, Nor- bert Hofer, Heinz-Christian Strache, ideology

Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook

Zusammenfassung Bei der österreichischen Bundespräsidentschafswahl 2016 kam es zu einer Stichwahl zwischen dem grünen Kandidaten Alexander Van der Bellen und dem FPÖ-Kandidaten Norbert Hofer. Dieser Artikel fragt: Wie haben die Wähler/innen Hofers ihre Unterstützung auf Facebook ausgedrückt? Der Aufsatz präsentiert die Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Ideologieanalyse von 6755 Kommentaren, die auf den Facebookseiten von FPÖ- Chef Heinz-Christian Strache und FPÖ-Kandidat Hofer gepostet wurden. Die Forschungsergebnisse verdeutli- chen, welche politische Rolle die Führerideologie, Nationalismus, neuer Rassismus, das Freund/Feind-Schema und Militanz im Onlinebereich spielen. Rechtsextremismus 2.0 ist ein komplexes Problem, das im Kontext von heutigen Krisen und Demagogie zu betrachten ist.

Schlagwörter: Facebook, soziale Medien, Neuer Rassismus Online, Online-Nationalismus, Recht- sextremismus Online, Österreichische Bundespräsidentschafswahl 2016, Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ, Alexander Van der Bellen, Norbert Hofer, Heinz-Christian Strache, Ideologie

* Christian Fuchs, University of Westminster, Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies. E-Mail: [email protected] Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook

1. Introduction Whereas Gramsci’s approach can be characterised as ideology theory, the one by Lukács can be seen as Norbert Hofer was the Freedom Party of Austria’s ideology critique (Fuchs 2015: chapter 3). Gramsci (FPÖ) candidate in the 2016 Austrian presidential elec- understands ideology as worldviews, the “superstruc- tion. In the frst round, he achieved 35.05 % of the cast ture of a particular structure” (Gramsci 1988: 199) and a votes and became the strongest candidate. Te second “conception of the world” (Gramsci 1988: 343). Lukács round took place on May 23 and saw a run-of between based on Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism sees Hofer and Alexander Van der Bellen. Hofer’s share of ideology as reifed thought emerging in reifed socie- the vote was 49.64 %. Van der Bellen, who was the Aus- ties. He therefore argues that the “emergence and difu- trian Green Party’s leader from 1997 until 2008, won sion of ideologies appears as the general characteristic with a voting share of 50.35 % in the second round and of class societies” (Lukács 1986: 405). a lead of just a bit more than 30,000 votes. Te Aust- Terry Eagleton (1991: chapter 1) discerns various rian presidential election received lots of international understandings of ideology by identifying six theore- interest and people were asking themselves how it was tical approaches: possible that a far-right candidate achieved almost half 1) Ideology as the “production of ideas, beliefs and of the vote. Te FPÖ fled a complaint to the Constitu- values in social life” (28) (= ideology as culture) (28); tional Court of Austria that resulted in a re-run of the 2) Ideas and beliefs of “a specifc, socially signif- run-of. cant group or class” (29) (= ideology as worldview); Tis paper asks: How did voters of Hofer express 3) Te “promotion and legitimation of the interests” their support on Facebook? It applies critical discourse of a group “in the face of opposing interests” (29); analysis to data collected from postings on two public 4) Te “promotion and legitimation of sectoral Facebook pages (Norbert Hofer, Heinz-Christian Stra- interests” in the “activities of a dominant social power” che). Te analysis situates Hofer supporters’ ideological (29) (= ideology as dominant worldviews); discourse in Austria’s political context and history. 5) “[I]deas and beliefs which help to legitimate the Section 2 engages with theoretical foundations by interests of a ruling group or class specifcally by distor- discussing the notion of ideology. Section 3 focuses on tion and dissimulation” (30); the theoretical clarifcation of nationalist and new racist 6) “[F]alse or deceptive beliefs […] arising not ideology. Section 4 provides an overview of the Free- from the interests of a dominant class but from the dom Party’s ideology. Section 5 explains the methodo- material structure of society as a whole” (30). logy. Section 6 presents the analysis and interpretation. Especially Marx, Lukács and the Frankfurt School Section 7 draws some conclusions. have infuenced the theoretical concept of ideology used in this paper and the Marxian theory approach that 2. Theoretical Foundations: What is Ideology? underlies it (Fuchs 2015, 2016b, c). Te notion of ideology employed relates to Eagleton’s ffh and sixth meanings of Tis work studies online nationalism and online ideology. By ideology, I understand thoughts, practices, xenophobia. It is a contribution to empirical ideology ideas, words, concepts, phrases, sentences, texts, belief critique. An underlying theoretical question that arises systems, meanings, representations, artefacts, institu- in this context is how one should best understand the tions, systems or combinations thereof that represent notion of ideology. Tere are diferent traditions of and justify one group’s or individual’s power, domination how to defne and study ideology. Approaches include or exploitation of other groups or individuals by misre- for example Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism, presenting, one-dimensionally presenting or distorting Lukács’s theory of reifcation, Gramsci’s theory of reality in symbolic representations (Fuchs 2015). Ideology hegemony, the Frankfurt School, Hallian Cultural Stu- is not simply an abstract structure, but has a concrete, dies, various forms and schools of Critical Discourse lived reality: Ideological workers produce and reproduce Analysis, Foucauldian discourse analysis, Althusserian ideologies (Fuchs 2015: chapter 3). Marx characterises ideology theory, etc. (Eagleton 1991; Rehmann 2013; the producers of ideology as “the thinkers of the [ruling] Žižek 1994). Tese theories do not have a consensus class”, its “active, conceptive ideologists”, who based on a on what ideology is and how it should be defned. Two division of labour within the ruling class “make the for- major schools in the critical study of ideology go back mation of the illusions of the class about itself their chief to Antonio Gramsci and Georg Lukács. source of livelihood” (Marx/Engels 1845: 68).

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173 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook

Te defnition taken in the theory approach under- linguistic elements, of rules, codes, linguistic systems, lying this work implies moral realism and socialist classifcatory systems, matrixes, and sets of elements. praxis: Humans can analyse and understand the world’s Missing is the insight that ideology is an active com- reality and complex problems’ real causes. Ideology cri- municative process and a social relation, in which tique is the deconstruction of falsehood, of knowledge humans, groups and classes produce and reproduce that is presented as truth, but is deceptive. Socialist power relations. Production and reproduction of power moral realism implies that dominative and exploitative entails the possibilities to undo, perturb, challenge, and societies negate humans’ general interests. Tey there- oppose existing power relations just like it entails possi- fore should from a political point of view be abolished bilities to take over, justify, sustain, and legitimate such and replaced by a societal formation that benefts all relations. economically, socially, politically and culturally. Such a Te second problem is associated with the f rst: society of the commons is a socialist society. Eagleton’s Social struggle becomes in a structuralist approach a ffh and sixth meanings of ideology are based on a dia- struggle between ideologies. It is not seen as a power lectical contradiction of class societies and socialism. relation between humans, in which they actively Tese are critical-political understandings that imply produce and reproduce discourses and ideologies. political praxis and the transcendence of class, capita- Not ideologies struggle with each other, but humans, lism and domination. human groups and classes struggle against each other Not everyone agrees with such a defnition of with various means, including the means of communi- ideology. Teories of ideology generally disagree. For cation, and with specifc capacities to mobilise power. Louis Althusser (2005), ideology is an “organic part of Such resources in ideological and other struggles have every social totality” (232). “Ideology is a system (with specifc distributions that enable various degrees of its own logic and rigour) of representations (images, power. Hall’s approach is a relativistic determinism, myths, ideas or concepts, depending on the case) endo- in which ideological struggles and alternative inter- wed with a historical existence and role within a given pretations emerge with necessity. He therefore speaks society” (231). Althusserian ideology theory has been of ideology as a “site of struggle” (between competing infuential. defnitions) (70) and of signifcations as “controversial Stuart Hall (1986/1996: 26) defnes ideology as “the and conficting” (70). Tere is certainly always the pos- mental frameworks – the languages, the concepts, cate- sibility for contestation, but no necessity for it. Asym- gories, imagery of thought, and the systems of repre- metric power relations can equip humans, groups and sentations – which diferent classes and social groups classes to diferent degrees with capacities to speak, deploy in order to make sense of, defne, fgure out and communicate, be heard, visible and listened to, and to render intelligible the way society works”. Hall (1982) get information across to others. identifes the critical paradigm in media studies with General understandings of ideology represent the study of ideology. Te origin would have been the the frst and second meanings identifed by Eagleton. Frankfurt School’s challenge of behaviourist media Te problem is that such a generalist understanding is efects research. Hall’s notion of ideology is grounded morally and politically relativist. If the views that “Jews in structural linguistics and the works of Gramsci, Alt- are inferior beings, that women are less rational than husser and Laclau. men, that fornicators will be condemned to perpetual Te problems of Hall’s understanding are twofold. torment” are “not instances of false consciousness, then First, humans are denied subject positions. Discourse it is difcult to know what is; and those who dismiss the and ideological structures are turned into a subject. whole notion of false consciousness must be careful not Such structuralism becomes evident when structures to appear cavalier about the ofensiveness of these opi- are presented as actively doing something and humans nions” (Eagleton 1991: 15). If democratic socialism and are seen as structures’ objects. Hall for example writes anti-fascism are the dominant paradigms in a society, that humans are positioned and languaged (80), ideo- then in such a societal context, fascism, racism and capi- logical discourses win their way (80), discourse speaks talism are in a general understanding of ideology forms itself through him/her (88). It is then not humans who of ideology critique. Such a generality is a disservice for communicate ideology and discourse through lan- a critical theory of society. Max Horkheimer (1972: 28) guage, but ideology that languages, speaks, communi- remarks in this respect about Karl Mannheim’s general cates, etc. Ideology is in this approach an articulation of theory of ideology that such general approaches “tho-

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174 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook roughly purge from the ideology concept the remains dings overlook the wealth of Adorno’s ideology critique of its accusatory meaning”. According to Adorno (1981: that includes also for example studies of the ideology 38), generalising theories of ideology employ “the ter- of anti-Semitism (Horkheimer/Adorno 2002: 137-172), minology of social criticism while removing its sting”. fascist and authoritarian ideology (Adorno 1955: 1973), Whereas the critique of ideology is “determinate nega- ideologies in everyday life (Adorno 1951), astrology, tion in the Hegelian sense, the confrontation of the ide- superstition and occultism (Adorno 1955: 1962), ideo- ational with its realization” (Adorno 1972: 466), general logy and its critique in education (Adorno 1971), etc. theories of ideology replace the determinate negation Adorno understands ideology in a Lukácsian sense as by the analysis of “general worldviews” (Adorno 1972: “a consciousness which is objectively necessary and 472). yet at the same time false, as the intertwining of truth Eagleton’s ffh and sixth defnition do not imply, as and falsehood” (Adorno 1954: 189). For Adorno (1954: claimed by Stuart Hall (1986/1996: 30), “economic and 190), the need for ideology critique follows from the class reductionism”. In the theory of false consciousness existence of ideology. Te understanding of ideology and false society, class background and position do not underlying this paper stands in the tradition of Marx, determine, but condition consciousness. A dominant Lukács and the Frankfurt School. Jürgen Ritsert (1972) class is ofen organised in competing class factions that has based on the Frankfurt School tradition defned also have competing ideologies. Te example of Marx empirical ideology critique as a method of critical and Engels, who came from quite bourgeois families, social research. shows that individuals are not trapped in certain ideo- logies because of their background. Consciousness is 3. Nationalism and New Racism dynamic and refects in complex non-linear ways the total of an individual’s experiences, social positions and Trough ideologies, humans, groups and classes social relations in society. try to persuade, infuence, reify, hide, distort, promote, Also in the tradition of Critical Discourse Analysis legitimate, deceive, misrepresent, or justify dominative (CDA), there are diferent understandings of ideology. interests. Karl Marx (1867: section 1.4) saw capitalism’s Norman Fairclough (2010: 73) distinguishes between structure as inherently fetishistic: Te commodity form critical and descriptive concepts of ideology. Teun van hides the social character of capitalism behind things. Dijk (1998: 8) has a more descriptive approach and def- Fetishism is not just an economic phenomenon, but can nes ideology as a mental framework that is “the basis of in class societies be found in peculiar ways in the realms the social representations shared by members of a group” of politics and ideology. Ideology tries to naturalise that allows the organisation of the group members’ domination by hiding its social and historical character social beliefs and practices. In contrast to van Dijk, and dissimulating attention from the power relations Fairclough defnes ideology as “representations which underlying heteronomous societies. An example is the contribute to the constitution, reproduction, and trans- construction of an ideology that claims that “we” nati- formation of social relations of power and domination” onal citizens are all together facing society’s problems (Fairclough 2010: 73). His understanding is close to the (unemployment, poverty, crime, precariousness, crises, fourth, ffh and sixth meanings of ideology identifed lack of adequate housing, welfare, education, health by Eagleton. Reisigl and Wodak (2009: 88) understand care, etc.), that “we” have these problems because of ideology as a “one-sided perspective or world view” of a foreign infuences, and can as a nation fght these dark particular social group that is a means for “establishing forces. Te ideological trick in such arguments is to dis- and maintaining unequal power relations through dis- guise that “we” are not a unitary subject in a class soci- course”. Wodak explicitly acknowledges the infuence ety, but have diferent positions and capacities in power of Frankfurt School critical theory on the discourse- relations. Nationalism is a particular form of ideology. historical approach of CDA (Wodak 2009: 34-35; Rei- It was Rosa Luxemburg (1976) who frst used sigl/Wodak 2001: 32). Marx’s notion of fetishism as a political concept to Teodor W. Adorno’s works show ideology critique question the fetishistic character of the nation and nati- in action. Te dominant tendency is to reduce Adorno onalism. She argues that nationalist ideology “ignores to the critique of the culture industry (Horkheimer/ completely the fundamental theory of modern socia- Adorno 2002: 94-136; for a discussion and critique of lism – the theory of social classes” (135). Nationalism this tendency, see: Fuchs 2016b, chapter 3). Such rea- is a “misty veil” that “conceals in every case a defnite

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175 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook historical content” (135). “In a class society, ‘the nation’ • Militarism: Nationalism is associated with as a homogeneous socio-political entity does not exist. internal militarism (repression and law-and-order Rather, there exist within each nation, classes with ant- politics directed against immigrants and minorities) agonistic interests and ‘rights’” (135). Nationalism is an and external militarism (imperialist warfare). ideology that in a particular manner veils and distracts Whereas nationalism constitutes an inward-orien- attention from society’s class relations and the role they ted ideology constructing the identity of an invented play in society’s problems. political and cultural collective, racism and xenophobia Some common elements of Marxist theories and defne the outside of this collective, those who are consi- understandings of nationalism are the following ones 1 dered not to be part of the nation, the nation’s outsiders, (compare: Balibar/Wallerstein 1991; Hall 1993 ; Hobs- foreign elements, or enemies. Racism is “a supplement bawm 1992; Luxemburg 1976; Özkirimli 2010): internal to nationalism” (Balibar/Wallerstein 1991: 54). • Ideology: Nationalism is an ideology that con- “Racism is constantly emerging out of nationalism. structs an Us/Tem diference, in which the in-group is […] And nationalism emerges out of racism” (Balibar/ conceived as a unitary, homogeneous collective defned Wallerstein 1991: 53). Classical nationalism ofen const- either by common claims to biology, genealogy, kinship ructed the outsider in biological terms as a “race”, whe- and family (“race”) or by claims to a common culture reas today it has become more common to defne the (commonality of language, communication, upbring- outsider in cultural and political terms. Whereas some ing, moral values, traditions, customs, law, religion, observers therefore like to distinguish between racism emotions, experiences, identity, means of communica- and xenophobia, Étienne Balibar has coined the notion tion), a common state/political system/constitution or of the new racism to describe ideological continuities a common economy. Nationalism as ideology makes and parallels: claims to territorial power for organising a national Te new racism is a racism of the era of ‘decoloniza- economic and a national political system. National- tion’ […] [It] fts into the framework of ‘racism without ism constructs/invents/fabricates the nation and fctive races’ […] It is a racism whose dominant theme is not national identity. Nationalist identity stresses fxity biological heredity but the insurmountability of cultural and homogeneity, whereas in reality all societies are diferences, a racism which, at frst sight, does not postu- complex, hybrid and diverse. late the superiority of certain groups or peoples in relation • Dialectic of racism/xenophobia and nationalism: to others but ‘only’ the harmfulness of abolishing frontiers, Racism/xenophobia and nationalism are inherently the incompatibility of life-styles and traditions; in short, linked. Xenophobia is an ideological construction of it is what P. A. Taguief has rightly called a diferentialist the out-group that is not part of the illusionary national racism (Balibar/Wallerstein 1991: 21). collective. Pierre-André Taguief, to whom Balibar refers, • Political fetishism: Nationalism, xenophobia argues that racism is ideologically naturalising dife- and racism are a form of political fetishism that ideo- rences, “either by scientistic biologization or by eth- logically distracts from how society’s class antagonisms nicization or ‘culturalist’ fxing“ (Taguief 2001: 200). bring about social problems. Te distraction from and He distinguishes between two basic types of racism. veiling of class are ofen achieved by the construction of Racism type 1 biologises diferences and argues that scapegoats and by steering hatred against them. one postulated “race” is superior to another and that • Forms of nationalism: Nationalism, xenophobia such diferences are natural and eternal. Racism type 2 and racism can be directed against an inner enemy culturalises and celebrates diferences. It concludes that (migrants, minorities) or an outer enemy (other nations, specifc cultures should therefore not mix. “Naturaliza- foreign groups). One can draw a distinction between tion is therefore either biologizing or culturalist” (207). sociological and institutional racism/nationalism and Both versions draw comparable political conclusions between inclusive (exploitative) and exclusive (exter- that include the erection and defence closure of borders, minatory) racism/nationalism. Furthermore there are ending migration, and the opposition to multicultura- biological and cultural forms of racism/nationalism. lism: “Irreducible, incomparable, and unassimilable, the human types that difer (the reasons for diference are infnite), moreover, may not communicate with 1 Te following list was frst elaborated and presen- each other, neither de facto nor de jure. Te impossibi- ted in Fuchs (forthcoming [2]), from where it is reproduced. lity of a human community beyond the enclosures is the

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176 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook ultimate conclusion of the thesis of incommunicability. just reproduced labour-power, but is also an “indirect Hence the violent denunciations of ‘cosmopolitanism’ subsidy to the employers of the wage labourers in these or ‘globalism’, processes and ideals that are supposed to households” (34). Te connection of sexism and (new) destroy singular and closed communities, and, more racism in capitalism is that they are both anti-universa- profoundly and less distinctly, their ‘identity’.” (204). list ideologies that legitimate low- and no-wage labour Taguief’s key insight, on which Balibar builds, is that and discrimination. there are biologistic and culturalist versions of racism. Given the concepts of ideology and nationalist Banks and Gingrich (2006: 2 ) use the term neo- ideology, we can next have a short look at how the Free- nationalism for the “re-emergence of nationalism dom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has made and advanced a under diferent global and transnational conditions”. particular form of Austrian nationalism that has turned Parliamentary neo-nationalists in Europe tend to be it measured in election results into Europe’s most suc- opposed to immigration and the EU and to argue for cessful far-right parliamentary party. diferentialist racism. Tey embrace strong leadership and cultural populism. Much “neo-nationalist rhetoric 4. The Freedom Party of Austria’s History and is sufciently pragmatic to accept that blood-based Ideology homogeneity can never defne the boundaries of the national, let alone the state, and seeks instead to gene- Te Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei rate an argument based upon historical association. Österreichs, FPÖ) emerged in 1955 from the Associa- […] ‘cultural fundamentalism’ […] has ofen come tion of the Independents (Verband der Unabhängigen) to replace race in the discourse of neo-nationalists. that was founded in 1949 and was the home of many […] [Neo-nationalism is] an essentialist and seclusive former Austrian members of the Nazi Party. Until 1986, reaction against the current phase of globalisation […] the FPÖ had both a liberal and a German-nationalist [that] primarily relates to ‘culture’” (Banks/Gingrich wing. In 1983, the FPÖ under the liberal leadership of 2006: 9, 15, 17). Norbert Steger entered a coalition government with Ajanovic, Mayer and Sauer (2015, 2016)’s analysis of the Social Democrats. In 1986, Jörg Haider became right-wing extremist discourses in Austria confrms the the FPÖ’s new leader. Te Social Democrats ended existence of a neo-racism that takes on a cultural form. the coalition government because they saw the rise Such ideological discourses tend in Austria to have a of Haider as a shif of the FPÖ towards the far-right. strong anti-Muslim orientation. A negative diference In 1991, Haider praised Hitler’s employment policy by between Austrians and Muslims is proclaimed. Mus- saying: “In the Tird Reich, they carried out an orderly lims and immigrants are said to cause social problems employment policy, which is not even accomplished and cultural decline. Te authors document ideological by your government in Vienna” 2. Haider ignored that arguments for keeping social spaces (schools, religious Hitler’s employment ofensive was part of Germany’s space, public space, kindergartens, transportation, armament and his plan of starting the Second World work places, local spaces, etc.) free from what is per- War. “Tis respectable occupation of people, which is ceived as foreign infuences. Political ethno-pluralism described here in such positive terms, served, as we all is the political conclusion drawn from such discourses: know, to prepare for a war of extermination” (Wodak Te implication of this ideology is Austria should close 2002: 40). Brigitte Bailer-Galanda and Wolfgang Neu- its borders for migrants, oppose a multicultural society, gebauer (1997: 102) write that the “FPÖ represents a and that, if at all, only assimilated migrants are accep- successful new adaptation of old right-wing extremism”. table. Under Haider’s right-wing populist leadership, the Immanuel Wallerstein argues that racism and FPÖ continuously extended its voting share in national sexism are necessary elements of capitalism. Racism elections. Haider used election slogans such as „Stop and xenophobia are in capitalism strategies to “mini- der Überfremdung!” (Stop the overforeignisation!). mize the costs of production” and to “minimize the In 1993, he started the anti-immigration-referendum costs of political disruption (hence minimize – not eli- minate, because one cannot eliminate – the protests of 2 „Im Dritten Reich haben sie ordentliche Beschäf- the labour force)” (Balibar/Wallerstein 1991: 33). Sexism tigungspolitik gemacht, was nicht einmal Ihre Regierung in would invent houseworkers and assert they are “not Wien zusammenbringt” (Protokoll der Sitzung des Kärntner ‘working’, merely ‘keeping house’” (35). Housework not Landtags, June 13, 1991).

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177 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook

„Österreich zuerst!” (Austria frst!). 7.35 % of the elec- crucial whether citizens fnd meaningful alternatives to torate signed the referendum that called for completely right-wing populism. It is an important factor in such stopping immigration and creating the constitutional situations, to which degree right-wing populists try to provision that “Austria is not an immigration country”. create chauvinist, xenophobic, racist and anti-Semitic In 1999, the FPÖ reached 26.91 % in the federal elec- fear so that citizens are encouraged to project their tions, became the second strongest party, and formed aggressions into surrogate objects. a coalition government together with the Conservative Norbert Hofer was a co-author of the 2011 FPÖ’s Party ÖVP. Tis right-wing coalition was in power party programme that defnes Austria as being cultu- from February 2000 until April 2005. It was isolated in rally German: the . Te FPÖ split into two parties, “We are committed to our homeland of Austria which weakened both temporarily. as part of the German-speaking linguistic and cultural In 2008, Jörg Haider died in a car accident. Heinz- community, to the groups of people native to our country Christian Strache became the Austrian far-right’s and to a Europe of free peoples and fatherlands. […] Te new leader. He has been the FPÖ’s leader since 2005. language, history and culture of Austria are German. Te Strache used campaign slogans such as “Daham statt vast majority of Austrians are part of the German peoples’, Islam. WIR für EUCH” (“Homeland instead of Islam: linguistic and cultural community. […] Austria is not a WE are for YOU“), “Wien darf nicht Istanbul werden” country of immigration” (FPÖ 2011). (“Vienna must not turn into Istanbul”), “Mehr Mut für Te FPÖ defnes the nation based on language, his- unser ‘Wiener Blut’: Zu viel Fremdes tut niemandem tory and culture. It claims that Austrians are part of the gut” (“More courage for our ‘Viennese Blood’: Too German cultural nation and that nations must be kept much foreignness is not good for anyone” ). In the separate, which is why it opposes multiculturalism. It Austrian federal elections 2013, the FPÖ reached 20.51 misses that Austria has since the time of the Austrian % of the votes. In national opinion polls on electoral empire been a multicultural society. To defne Austria preference, the FPÖ has since 2014 continuously achie- as exclusively German has been the project of the Nazis ved the highest share of potential votes (up to 35 %) and during the time of Hitler. has signifcantly stayed ahead of the Social Democra- Te Austrian president has a symbolic role. Te tic Party of Austria (SPÖ) (data source: neuwal.com). major power lies with the government. Hofer in his Michał Krzyżanowski (2013) argues that the FPÖ has electoral campaign announced that he would as Aust- undergone an ideological transition from a focus on rian president change this division of power and act not general opposition to immigration under Jörg Haider just act symbolically, but would dismiss the government in the years 1986-2005 towards Islamophobia since if it does not accord to his prospects, for example in res- 2005. pect to refugee and immigration policies. “I have said Austria is one of the European countries hit much that I dismiss the government if it breaks laws, breaks less by the 2008 economic crisis than others. So for the constitution or again and again takes measures that example its unemployment rate stayed relatively con- harm the country. And then, the last step, the ultimo stantly around 5 % in the years 2008-2015, whereas in ratio, in order to avert damage from the country, can Greece it increased from 7.8 % in 2008 to 24.9 % in 2015 be the government’s dissolution” 3 (ATV, May 15, 2016). (data source: Eurostat). In Spain, the increase was from Green Party candidate Van der Bellen commented: 11.3 % to 22.1 % (data source: Eurostat). But nonetheless “Tis would mean that the government acts by order one can observe a very signifcant increase of the far- of the President. But it is exactly the other way round: right’s support in Austria, which shows that we cannot Te President has to respect the government’s suggesti- simply assume that supporters of the far-right are the ons. If you are elected and you really pursue this style, losers of modernisation, crisis and globalisation, but project their fears of potential future social decline into foreigners and minorities. Neo-nationalist and new racist campaigns ofen “address and instrumentalise 3 Original: “Ich habe gesagt, dass ich die Regierung concerns and fears about downward social mobility” entlasse, wenn die Regierung Gesetze bricht, die Verfassung bricht oder immer wieder Maßnahmen setzt, die dem Land (Gingrich 2006: 47). Heribert Schiedel (2007: 49-50, schaden. Dass dann, um Schaden abzuwenden vom Land, der 59) argues in this context that crises can condition letzte Schritt, die Ultimo Ratio, sein kann, die Regierung zu fears of social downfall and that in such situations it is entlassen”.

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178 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook then we are on the way into an authoritarian republic” 4 Hofer and Heinz-Christian Strache’s Facebook pages (ATV, May 15, 2016). on May 30, 2016, and used Netvizz for extracting Who votes for the FPÖ? In the Austrian federal comments to postings made between May 25 and 30. elections 2013, where the FPÖ achieved 20.5 % of the Given that the collected comments were posted in the vote, it was the strongest party among men (28 %), days afer the presidential election’s second round, it blue-collar workers (33 %), those aged 16-29 (22 %), is likely that the dataset contains data that refers to and those whose highest educational attainment is a the political diferences between Hofer and Van der polytechnic school (35 %, = a one-year practical edu- Bellen. I selected postings by Hofer and Strache that cation that prepares pupils at the age of 14 for starting were particularly polarising. Tis selection resulted in an apprenticeship) (SORA 2013). Te typical FPÖ a total of 15 postings: 10 by Strache, 5 by Hofer. Tere voter is a young, male blue-collar worker with a low were a total of 6755 comments posted as responses to level of education (Pelinka 2002). In 2014, the EU- these 15 Facebook postings. So the analysed dataset wide average share of those who were aged 25 or above consisted of 6755 items. and held at least a bachelor’s degree, was 22.3 % (data I conducted a critical discourse analysis of the source: UNESCO Statistics). Austria had with 12.25 % dataset. First, I identifed discourse topics. Discourses the lowest share of all 22 EU countries, for which data are semantic structures that consist of certain topics. is available (data source: UNESCO Statistics). A discourse topic is a semantic macro-propositions Also in the 2016 presidential election, such divi- (van Dijk 1987: 48-50) or an interpretative repertoire sions of the social structure of voters became evident: that is a bounded linguistic building block for actions In the second round, 60 % of the male voters cast their and their representations (Potter/Wetherell 1988: 172). ballot for Hofer, but only 40 % of the women did the Second, I searched for typical examples of these dis- same. 86 % of the blue-collar workers supported Hofer, course topics that were included in further analysis. whereas 60 % of the white-collar workers voted for the Tird, I looked at how the comments constructed an Green party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen. 55 % Us/Tem-distinction. Tis included an analysis of of those who only completed compulsory education how “We” and “Tey” were characterised. In critical cast their vote for Hofer. Te same can be said about 67 discourse analysis such characterisations are called % of those who completed apprenticeships and about nominations and predications. Tese are discursive 58 % of those whose highest educational attainment is strategies for characterising persons or phenomena the completion of a vocational school (berufsbildende in specifc ways (Reisigl/Wodak 2001: 44-56). Predi- mittlere Schule, BMS). In contrast, 73 % of those who cation is the “discursive qualifcation of social actors, have passed school leaving examinations (Matura) objects, phenomena, events/processes and actions” as and 81 % of the university-educated voters opted for “more or less positively or negatively” (Reisigl/Wodak Van der Bellen (source of all data: SORA 2016). Class 2009: 94). I tried to identify ideological strategies of and education are key infuencing factors on voting positive self-presentation and negative other-presen- behaviour in Austria. tation that were used for constructing a collective We will next discuss the methodology of the identity. empirical research conducted for this paper. Teun van Dijk’s (2011) ideological square-model is based on the assumption that there are four common 5. Methodology ideological argumentation strategies: • To emphasize positive things about Us (= the Netvizz is a sofware tool that allows extracting in-group). data from Facebook groups and pages. I used Netvizz • To emphasize negative things about Tem (= the in order to collect comments on postings related to out-group). Hofer’s presidential candidacy. I accessed Norbert • To de-emphasize negative things about Us. • To de-emphasize positive things about Tem. 4 Original: “Das würde ja heißen, die Bundesregie- “Te complex meta-strategy of the ideological square rung handelt auf Anordnung des Bundespräsidenten. Es ist tells us that group members will tend to speak or write aber genau umgekehrt: Der Bundespräsident hat auf Vor- schläge der Bundesregierung zu achten. Falls Sie diesen Stil positively about their own group, and negatively about tatsächlich, falls Sie gewählt werden sollten, […] einschlagen those out-groups they defne as opponents, competitors or sollten, sind wir auf dem Weg in eine autoritäre Republik.” enemies” (van Dijk 2011: 397).

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179 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook

When conducting social media analysis, questions vation should only take place when and where users of research ethics should be considered. It therefore is “reasonably expect to be observed by strangers” (BPS feasible to review such questions as far as they are rele- 2009: 13). Te BPS (2013) in its Ethics Guidelines for vant for the study presented in this work. Boellstorf, Internet-Mediated Research stresses the blurring bet- Nardi, Pearce and Taylor (2012) in their textbook Eth- ween public and private space on the Internet, which nography and Virtual World: A Handbook of Methods complicates research ethics. “Where it is reasonable to argue for an ethics of care position in virtual world argue that there is likely no perception and/or expecta- research that focuses on obtaining informed consent, tion of privacy (or where scientifc/social value and/or avoiding harm, providing benefts to study partici- research validity considerations are deemed to justify pants, etc. Te online world has moved on from virtual undisclosed observation), use of research data without worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraf to gaining valid consent may be justifable” (BPS 2013: 7). social media such as Facebook and Twitter that are Te Facebook pages of Norbert Hofer and Heinz- now far more popular. So we today need an Internet Christian Strache are public pages. All postings and ethics focusing on social media that takes the complex comments on them are visible to everyone visiting relation between public and private on these sites into them, not just to those who like them. One does not account. have to have a Facebook profle to access the two Janet Salmons (2016) in her textbook Doing Qua- pages. Tey can also be viewed without logging into litative Research Online distinguishes extant, elicited Facebook. All postings and all comments are visible and enacted online research methods. Extant methods in public. Furthermore, politicians are public fgures. study existing online materials created independently of Citizens expect them to stand in and be present in the the researcher’s infuence. Elicited methods study date public. Tis includes that they on social media post in that participants elicit in response to the researcher’s public and ofer possibilities for public communication questions. Enacted methods study data that researchers on their profles. Given the public character of Strache generate with participants in a study. Each type would and Hofer’s Facebook pages, it is reasonable to assume have specifc ethical requirements. Tere are diferent that someone posting a comment on such a page can ethical traditions and theories. Tey have diferent reasonably expect to be observed by strangers. In such a implications for online research (59-68): Deontology case, one does not have to obtain informed consent for focuses on ethical rules and guidelines (such as the analysing and quoting such comments. Given that the guidelines of the Association for Internet Researchers). users are not public fgures themselves, but only make Consequentialism focuses on research outcomes. public comments when posting on a politician’s public Virtue ethics focuses on the researcher’s self-defned Facebook page, I do not mention the usernames in the moral principles. Te ethics of care give attention to analysis. Netvizz does not save the usernames so that participants’ preferences. Salmons argues for fnding the collected dataset does not contain any identifers. a synthesis between such positions in online research. Te original comments were posted in German. In this Online platforms are to varying degrees public or pri- paper, I only provide English translations of quotes, not vate. Salmons identifes a continuum that ranges from the German originals. public online environments that are openly accessible without barriers to private online environments that 6. Analysis and Interpretation only provide access by permission. Salmons argues that many ethical guidelines do not require informed con- Figures 1-15 in the annex show the postings by sent for collecting data from public online platforms Strache and Hofer that were selected as data sources for when the researcher does not infuence the creation of the empirical analysis. It also presents translations of the data (85-86). Hewson, Vogel and Laurent (2016: 111) these postings’ text. In their Facebook postings, Stra- in their textbook Internet Research Methods argue that che and Hofer try to present the FPÖ as a reliable and public online data is “perhaps the least contentious in responsible centre party that represents, takes care of terms of being clearly in the public domain, and thus and defends Austrian interests. Tey emotionalise the arguably available for the use as research data” without relationship of Hofer and the Austrians by calling him obtaining informed consent. the “President of Hearts”. Tis formulation implies that Te British Psychological Society (BPS) argues Hofer is a true patriot who loves Austria. Te impli- in its Code of Ethics and Conduct that online obser- cation is that Alexander Van der Bellen is unpatriotic.

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180 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook

Te FPÖ’s patriotic love to Austria is also expressed by presentation, but also by negative other-presentation: formulations such as “our homeland Austria and its It works by saying that others have insulted the FPÖ people!” (“We are committed to our homeland Austria and have characterised the party as far-right, that and its people!”) or “our Austria” (“We will in any case they divide the country and play with fre, that there continue to take care of our Austria”). So one of the were abnormalities, malpractices and illegalities in the rhetoric strategies is the emotionalisation of Austrian counting of the votes in the presidential election, that nationalism. Austria is presented as a homogeneous foreigners try to lecture Austrians, and that there is the national collective that is under threat. Strache and destruction of Austria and the centralisation of power. Hofer identify a negative outside for constructing a Te net efect is the attempt to create the impression nationalistic identity. that Austria is under attack by a union of foreign Many of these postings contain links to online powers and lef-leaning politicians. articles published in newspapers (oe24.at, krone.at, diepresse.com) and blogs (unzensuriert.at). Tis fact 6.1 The First Discourse Topic: Charismatic Lea- is a manifestation of the intertextuality of online dis- dership course: Discourses are not contained in themselves, but take networked forms. In the online world, this In the dataset, a frst discourse strategy focused on means that news media refer to the comments and constructing an in-group of Hofer and Strache suppor- social media profles of politicians, whereas politicians ters by mentioning positive aspects of both politicians link to articles that mention them favourably or attack and presenting the two politicians as charismatic lea- those that are critical of them. Te media have played ders. Here are some examples: a particular role in the making of Jörg Haider, HC “7 of 9 federal states have voted for Norbert Hofer. He Strache and Norbert Hofer. By engaging in helping to is the President of Hearts” (#1098). perform the right-wing populist spectacle, they hope “I fnd Mr Hofer and Mr Strache very sympathetic to gain a larger number of users, readers, viewers and and highly competent” (#2514). listeners. unzensuriert.at is a blog that has gained par- “An extraordinarily sympathetic person. […] His ticular interest among supporters of Austria’s far-right. statements are communicated in a very comprehensive Te media company 1848 Medienvielfalt (1848 Media manner to people who have not studied” (#5948) Plurality) published it. Its managing director Walter “Dear Mr Hofer, You can express yourself very ele- Asperl worked for FPÖ MP , while the gantly and you are a comforting person” (#5988) latter was deputy speaker in the . “You [Norbert Hofer] are a man of character and it Chief Editor is to wish that you become our real President of Hearts” Alexander Höferl was Graf’s press ofcer. Unzen- (#5196) suriert understands itself as being “committed to the “Mr Hofer is a very impressive personality. Tank you truth” and as fostering media plurality. It also operates that you stood as candidate for Austria” (#5493) a YouTube channel that in August 2016 had around “I am proud of politicians like you and it makes hope 11,000 subscribers, a Facebook page (around 47,000 that not-yet everything is lost in our country as long as we likes in August 2016), and a Twitter account. It makes have such great, charismatic, honest politicians” (#5879) use of a multitude of popular social media formats, in Tese comments have in common that they emo- which the FPÖ, Strache and Hofer are very frequently tionalise and personalise Hofer and Strache. Te com- the main topics. Far-right social media presences, the menters do not assess politicians based on their ideas, sensationalist press and the FPÖ stand in a mutually but on subjective impressions of their personality and benefcial relationship. the way they present themselves. Te attributes of Tis perceived threat to Austria is characterised as being sympathetic, competent, comforting, charisma- consisting of social democrats, the Green Party’s presi- tic, honest, and having a good character create positive dential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, the Minis- emotional attachments. Hofer presents himself in public try of the Interior, the European Union (in the form as calm, sympathetic and as for a politician relatively of the President of the European Parliament Martin young. Personalisation and emotionalisation was part Schulz and the President of the European Commission of his electoral campaign. Te comments indicate that Jean-Claude Juncker), and the Austrian government. such emotional politics seem to work among the follo- Nationalism is not just constructed by positive self- wers of the FPÖ. Te image of Hofer as the President

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181 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook of Hearts goes one step further: It tries to politically populist politics in Austria. He appeared as “fashio- utilise feelings of love. Both Strache and Hofer used nable, trendy, and entertaining” (Gingrich 2002: 68 ). these politics of love in Facebook postings (see fgures 2 Tis included informality, events, jokes, music; visits and 12). Users positively reacted to this discourse topic of discos, clubs, beer tents and Sunday morning pints and called Hofer their President of Hearts. Tis image (the so-called Frühschoppen); the staging of Haider as not just expresses voters’ admiration for Hofer, but also sportsman; or the use of diferent traditional, fashiona- has a nationalist subtext: It expresses that Hofer loves ble, stylish or casual fashion outfts for the right occa- Austria because of his scepticism of immigration and sions. “Almost everyone fnds popular entertainment, refugees. fun, leisure time, sports, relaxation, and dancing to be Te idealisation of Strache and Hofer is also based normal and sympathetic, and a politician who conspi- on the longing for strong leadership fgures. Te justif- cuously and efectively emphasizes such activities looks cation of the leadership ideology “is charismatic: it rests more like a normal family man than do those others on the assertion that the Leader is endowed with quali- who constantly talk about complicated political, econo- ties lacking in ordinary mortals. Superhuman qualities mic, and social matters. Emphasizing the average, the emanate from him and pervade the state, party, and normal, and the popular thus is Haider’s access route people” (Neumann 2009: 85). FPÖ supporters in the through mass culture to mainstream voters” (Gingrich analysed comments tended to construct Strache and 2002: 74). Haider as superhuman leaders. Right-wing populists tend to make use of celebrity A somatisation is “the linguistic construction of culture and the personalisation and commodifcation social actors by synecdochisingly picking out a part or of politics: Tey “oscillate between self-presentations as characteristic of their body” (Reisigl/Wodak 2001: 53). Robin Hood (i.e. saviour of ‘the man and woman in the On the one hand, users in the dataset used gerontonyms street’) and self-presentations as ‘rich, famous and/or for characterising Hofer: Tey argued that it is refres- attractive’ (i.e. an ‘idol’), frequently leading to a ‘sofer’ hing that he for a politician looks relatively young. On image” (Wodak 2013: 28). Strache and Hofer in many the other hand they also used general positive somati- respects copy Haider’s strategies of the personalisation sations, characterising Hofer as good looking: and commodifcation of politics. Tey continue the “One enjoys listening to him and he moreover looks so Haiderisation of politics (Wodak 2013). well-groomed” (#5948). Other comments personalised politics by arguing “Oh yes, and when someone looks good, then this that Hofer and Strache were symbols of Austrian nati- is even better… Beautiful people have it easier than ugly onal unity: ones… ;-)) See Van der Bellen for example “Mr Strache, Mr Hofer. You two are Austria’s ;-((“ (#5867). guardian angels” (#94) “You two [Strache and Hofer] not just have a great “Yes to Austria and yes to our protector Norbert party, but also look damn good” (#5124). Hofer. Tat’s the only way it can work” (#203) Te second example shows that somatisations tend “Hofer is at least a real Austrian name. :-)” (#1804) to be used ideologically for defning a bodily diference “Our president [Hofer] who stands for us Austrians” between the in-group and the out-group. Te cha- (#6083). racterisation of beauty comes along with a repressive “Norbert Hofer!!!! Austria again and again” (#6144) defnition of an outsider as ugly. In this case, Hofer is “Dear HC Strache. To be totally honest!!! You from characterised as beautiful and Van der Bellen as ugly. the FPÖ are the only hope for our beloved homeland Tis is a personalisation that implies that one should Austria!! Please continue this way and keep a very very vote for those characterised as beautiful and not for strict eye on these traitors to the country and the people!!! those who are presented as being ugly. Personalisation I wish you all the best on your way forward!!! Comradely reduces politics to simple bodily, psychological, emo- greetings from a convinced Austrian patriot!!! ;-)” (#3422) tional and other subjective features of individuals. It Tese users argue that Hofer has a German name, empties out political issues from politics and results represents Austria and that the FPÖ stands for the love in superfcial discourses focused on lifestyles, gossips, of the homeland and patriotism. Te use of linguonyms scandals, sensationalism, and celebrifcation. (German family name) and nationyms (nation, home- Jörg Haider strongly advanced emotionalisation, land, etc.) serves the purpose of describing Austria personalisation and subjectifcation as strategies of as a German-speaking cultural nation that should be

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182 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook kept free from immigrants and refugees. Hofer and humans appear not “as direct social relations between Strache are seen as the symbols of Austrian nationa- persons in their work, but rather as material relations lism. Te reference to Hofer as a “real Austrian name” between persons and social relations between things” is an indirect reference to the fact that Van der Bellen (166). “Grotesque ideas” (163) that naturalise forms of is a Dutch name and that Alexander Van der Bellen’s domination and exploitation are the result. Fetishistic ancestors lived in Russia and Estonia. His parents emi- thought is not limited to the economy, where the com- grated from Estonia to Austria. Te implication of such modity, class, money, capital, etc. appear as natural, but arguments is that a presidential candidate who was not also extends to the political world. born in Austria cannot represent Austrian interests Nationalism is a form of political fetishism that and is likely to be immigration-friendly. It is the call presents a constructed national community as unitary, that Austrians should prefer xenophobic, racist and naturally grown, necessary, superior, and mythological nationalist politicians. “Austria again and again” is a by focusing on stressing a common culture, history, reference to a popular chant of Austrian football fans at language, ethnicity, territory, etc. It tries to defect atten- matches of the Austrian national team. 5 “Immer wieder tion from how class relations and power inequalities Österreich” (Austria all over again) is also the title an shape society. Nationalism tries “through a mythology election song that the FPÖ used in the 2015 Vienna of unity and identity, to project a ‘common instinctual local elections 6. Te description of Strache and Hofer fate’ (uniform social status) between bourgeois and as Austria’s guardian angels, of Hofer as protector and proletarianized groups, eliding the reality of social as representing “us Austrians” is an expression of the distinction in diferentiated class societies” (Woodley ideological belief in a strong leader who protects the 2010: 17). Nationalism is an ideology that a) “divides Austrian nation from immigrants and other perceived the world into ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘friends’ and ‘foes’, posit- enemies. ing a homogeneous and fxed identity on either side and stressing the characteristics that diferentiate ‘us’ 6.2 The Second Discourse Topic: Austrian Nati- from ‘them’” (Özkirimli 2010: 208), b) makes temporal onalism claims to an authentic connection of national citizens and their common past as well as c) spatial claims to A second discourse topic was Austrian nationalism. territory in the form of “the quest for a ‘home’” (Özki- It varies from the frst in that it did not identify indi- rimli 2010: 209). vidual leaders as symbols of Austrian nationalism, but In 1993, the FPÖ conducted an anti-immigration spoke about the importance of unifying the Austrian referendum that was signed by 7.35 % of Austria’s eligi- nation in more general terms. ble voters. Te referendum’s title was “Austria frst”. One “But also we are compelled to advocate our homeland of its demands was to add a clause to the Austrian cons- and care for a better future” (#20) titution stating that “Austria is not a country of immig- “Austria must be preserved for us as Austrians” ration”. In 2009, HC Strache published a rap song titled (#3526) “Austria frst” (Österreich zuerst). In 2011, the FPÖ titled “Austria frst” (#4010) its ofcial party programme “Austria First” (FPÖ 2011). “Love for the home country is not a crime!!! But to Many comments in the analysed dataset propa- watch how Austria is becoming destroyed is one …” (#5318) gate Austrian nationalism. Tey argue that Austria Karl Marx (1867) introduced the concept of com- as a homeland should come frst and that it faces the modity fetishism. He describes the commodity as threat to be destroyed by immigrants and refugees. Te “strange” (163), “metaphysical” (163), “mystical” (164), implication is that Austria must be defended against and “mysterious” (164) entity that “transcends sen- foreign infuences and should be a unitary cultural suousness” (163). Te commodity “stands on its head” nation. Austrian nationalism constructs the Austrian so that odd ideas about the nature of the commodity can nation as a homogeneous unit of Austrian-born Ger- emerge. As a consequence, the social relations between man-speaking individuals who form a national bond by history, language, traditions, and culture. It sees this unity under attack by immigration, refugees and trans- 5 See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSg6Okp Iacs&feature=youtu.be, accessed on July 5, 2016. national institutions such as the EU. Te consequence 6 See:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzyUuRXRQfo, of this ideology is a call to defend the Austrian nation. accessed on July 5, 2016. Austrian national unity is just like all nationalism a

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183 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook pure ideological construction. Te dialects spoken in in German. Linguistic animalisation and biologisation and Vorarlberg, the easternmost and wes- is a typical semiotic strategy in far-right ideology. Te ternmost Austrian federal states, are so diferent that aim is to dehumanise the enemy and to present him/ citizens living in the two regions ofen have to resort her as a lower type of being. to standard German in order to understand each other. Van der Bellen was also presented as being a com- Burgenland was part of Hungary from 1648 to 1921 munist and dictator: and only became part of Austria in 1921. So the joint “But let us now be glad and happy that Mr VdB saves history of contemporary Austria is historically fairly us as communist – because communism has of course only recent. Gruber is the most common German family always done the best for the people” (#564) 7 name in Austria . In 2016, there were 915 entries for this “VdB is de-facto the 2nd [Austrian] republic’s frst 8 surname in Vienna’s telephone book . Nowak is a very dictator, a fawless anti-democrat!!!” (#1147) common Czech name. In 2016, there were 301 entries “Also Stalin ignored the people – Isn’t Bello also a 9 for it in Vienna’s phone directory . Te prevalence of communist, right?” (#1623) both German and non-German family names shows “A dictator, but one would not have expected anything Austria’s multicultural nature: Many Austrian families else from this green liar” (#1742) have immigrant roots that date back to an earlier gene- “Te Austrian Stalin” (#2237) ration. “Joseph Stalin and Tito look down to us. You have found a worthy successor in the People’s Republic of 6.3 The Third Discourse Topic: The Friend- Austria under the leader VdB” (#1846) Enemy Scheme A common comment of FPÖ supporters on Face- book was that they described Van der Bellen as a dic- In ideologies, positive self-presentation of the tator comparable to Stalin and Tito. By calling Van der in-group is ofen accompanied by negative other- Bellen a communist, such users alluded to the fact that presentation of the out-group. In far-right ideology, the Van der Bellen at the age of twenty had once voted for out-group is ofen presented as the enemy who threa- the Austrian Communist Party KPÖ. Te use of stron- tens the in-group and should therefore be controlled, gly emotionally connoted politonyms such as “commu- excluded or removed. Te “friend-enemy distinction nist” and “dictator” aims at communicating political implied by Manichean demonization […] plays a fun- danger and presenting the enemy as dangerous. damental role in codifying enmity” (Woodley 2010: Most of these postings refer to Alexander Van 9). Manichaeism is a highly polarising worldview that der Bellen’s declaration that as Austrian President he sees the world as constituted by opposing good and evil would not provide a mandate to the FPÖ to form a forces. A third discourse topic found in the analysed government if the party were the relatively strongest comments was a Manichean worldview that used the force afer elections. On May 24, the German public friend-enemy scheme for constructing a hostile out- service broadcasting channel ARD interviewed Van group. Van der Bellen was presented as the leader of der Bellen, who said in the news programme Tagesthe- the out-group and as its most despicable representative. men: “My concerns are not of a personal nature. I have Some referred to Van der Bellen as “Woof-Woof” always stressed this fact. Tey are a matter of European (Wau-Wau): politics because the FPÖ so to speak plays in various “We want Norbert Hofer as president and not the suggestions with fre. It firts with the re-nationalisation 10 Woof-Woof” (#338). of the European Union” . In another interview, Van “Now the Woof-Woof is the leader of the red-green der Bellen also commented on this issue: “We are not 11 mafa” (#333). in favour of the world’s Le Pens governing us” . In Van Such statements are a vilifcation of Van der Bellen’s name, playing with the fact that “bellen” means to bark 10 „Meine Bedenken sind nicht persönlicher Art, das habe ich immer betont, sondern europapolitischer Art vor 7 http://www.telefonabc.at/haeufigste-nachnamen. allem, weil die FPÖ in verschiedenen Andeutungen sozu- aspx, accessed on June 8, 2016. sagen mit dem Feuer spielt, mit der Renationalisierung der 8 http://www.herold.at/telefonbuch, accessed on Europäischen Union liebäugelt“ (ARD Tagesthemen, May 24, June 8, 2016. 2016). 9 http://www.herold.at/telefonbuch, accessed on 11 „Wir sind doch nicht dafür, dass die Le Pens dieser June 8, 2016. Welt uns regieren“ (Die Presse, May 18, 2016).

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184 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook der Bellen’s view, the FPÖ spreads nationalism and casting Corporation, social democrats, Greens, mig- xenophobia. His fear is that it has an anti-democratic rants, and Islam: agenda. Tis is the reason why he argues against a FPÖ [EU Commission President] Juncker must go!!! Te mandate to form the Austrian government. Strache in Brussels terrorists (#3640) one of his Facebook postings (see fgure 5) inverted this Hopefully this pigsty EU decays soon! (#3659) logic and asked: “Who splits the country and plays with Te lying press says the FPÖ is the problem and not fre?” He thereby implied that not the FPÖ, but Van der mass immigration, criminality, Islamisation, the EU, the Bellen advanced a dangerous form of politics. ECB [European Central Bank], bureaucratisation, the Article 70 of the Austrian Federal Constitution loss of prosperity, etc. Tat’s also how the GDR [German regulates that the “Chancellor and on his/her recom- Democratic Republic] ended, and the red-green-black [= mendation the other members of the federal govern- alliance of Social Democrats-Greens-Conservatives] dicta- 12 ment are appointed by the President” . It does not torship will end exactly the same way! (#4145) provide regulations, to which party leader the Presi- Te aggressive ORF moderator [Lou Lorenz-Dittlba- dent gives the mandate to form a government. Tat cher, who conducted a critical TV interview with Strache] the Austrian President chooses not to provide such a is annoying – just like the whole contaminated ORF! mandate to the strongest party afer election because s/ [Austrian Broadcasting Corporation = Austria’s public he is afraid there are anti-democratic tendencies in this service broadcaster] Somehow understandable, they all party is within the democratic merit of the Austrian fear for their jobs. If the FPÖ had to decide on that: No constitution. It is by no means anti-democratic or dic- compulsory licence fees any longer No ORF any longer. tatorial. To argue that Van der Bellen is anti-democratic Sometime it will happen (#4279). ideologically inverts and distorts political reality. Jean-Claude Juncker congratulated Van der Other commenters used the somatisation of Van Bellen on his (preliminary) victory. Te President of der Bellen as dirty and ill for characterising him: the European Parliament Martin Schulz said that this 13 Who splits the country and plays with fre? A good preliminary win was a “defeat of Eurosceptics” . In question that can be answered quickly: Te grotty and ger- the analysed dataset, FPÖ supporters reacted in a very iatric ’68 generation (#1886). Manichean and defensive manner to any criticism of Te old, dishevelled man (#1991). Hofer, Strache, or the FPÖ. Tey presented themsel- Tis train station vagabond should go and shit ves as victims of a conspiracy instigated by a union of himself (#2188). green, social democratic and conservative politicians, Unshaved, shabby trench tramp (#2189). the media, the EU, immigrants and refugees, commu- Allegedly the old one has cancer from smoking nists, Freemasonry, etc. Tey perceive themselves and (#6356). the FPÖ to be under constant attack and construct In 2016, Van der Bellen was 72 years old and Norbert themselves as victims, which disregards that it is the Hofer 45. Descriptions of Van der Bellen as old, shabby, FPÖ and its followers who tend to construct scapegoats, unshaved, ill, dishevelled or grotty aim at setting up a especially migrants, refugees and Islam. Te perceived dichotomy that aims at delegitimising Van der Bellen association of enemies is verbally attacked by the use of and legitimising Hofer by references to bodily appea- on the one hand strong political categories (terrorism, rance and health. Right-wing ideology ofen codes the dictatorship, etc.) and on the other hand biologistic Us/Tem distinction inherent in the friend-enemy language (pigsty, contamination, etc.). scheme as a series of dualisms: On the one side we fnd It is not a surprise that one of the identifed enemies something on the inside that is presented as modern, is the EU. Te FPÖ already under Jörg Haider turned popular, entertaining, colourful, young, attractive, into a Eurosceptic party. Haider for example wrote in ordinary, good-looking, or healthy. On the other side, 1993: “If this Europe is not to be a cultural and linguistic the opposition is presented as outdated, timid, boring, pabulum coming from the Brussels bureaucrats’ meat unappealing, old, unattractive, withdrawn, dirty, or ill. chopper, then the development into a Europe of peop- Other enemies mentioned in comments were the les and ethnic groups must be enabled” (cited in: Bailer- European Union, mass media like the Austrian Broad- Galanda/Neugebauer 1997: 192). In 1996, he said: “But

12 Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz: German version, 13 Schulz-Kern-Trefen: Hofurg-Ergebnis „Nieder- accessed on https://www.ris.bka.gv.at (July 6, 2016). lage für Euro-Skeptiker“. Kronen Zeitung, May 27, 2016.

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185 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook our idea of Europe is not a pabulum in Brussels, but our year, are you still normal at all? Who wants that, not me idea is a Europe of home countries” (cited in: Bailer- and also not 50 %!” (#2585) Galanda/Neugebauer 1997: 193). Te FPÖ’s (2011) Party “I feel sorry for people who for example live in Trais- Programme is committed to a “Europe of free peoples kirchen [Austrian town with the country’s largest refugee and fatherlands”. It spells out that the EU is questioned camp] or parents in Vienna, Salzburg or Linz, whose because it is seen as a danger to nationalism. “We are children commute to school per train, subway or bus day committed to a Europe of peoples and autochthonous by day. Tey live in the daily fear whether their children groups of people which have developed through his- get home safely. […] For me, our own country is impor- tory, and frmly reject any artifcial synchronisation of tant, the future as well as safeguards for my children […] the diverse European languages and cultures by means I am a realist and patriot who loves his country and its of forced multiculturalism, globalisation and mass population!!!” (#5307). immigration. Europe shall not be reduced to a political “Te country needs other politicians. Austrians frst. project of the European Union” (FPÖ 2011). Austrian Tese politics suck. Foreigners receive more than we tax- nationalism that puts “Austria frst” was also evident payers” (#64) in the analysed comments. Euroscepticism was very “We do not need even more asylum seekers in our present. Hofer argues for an Austrian referendum on beautiful Austria because we have enough of our own leaving the EU (Öxit, Auxit) in case of “Turkey joining people who are in need of help. In my opinion one frst and 14 – but also if the EU becomes more centralistic” . foremost has to do something for us Austrians before we always throw money at others” (#5916). 6.4 The Fourth Discourse Topic: New Racism Whereas nationalism defnes an illusionary inside of a national community, new racism is a repressive A fourth discourse topic found in the dataset was politics that defnes and struggles against the perceived new racism and xenophobia. It is closely related to the outside and makes use of racialising ideological practi- friend-enemy-scheme. Immigrants and refugees were ces for defending the inside/outside diferentiation seen as the main threat to the Austrian nation. with violent means. Te defence of boundaries takes “For the FPÖ, the Austrian to whom this country not just place outside, but also inside a nation state. belongs frst, also when refugees are on the way the “Racism is constantly emerging out of nationalism, Austrian MUST come frst!” (#3964) not only towards the exterior but towards the interior” “Te SPÖ and its friends have destroyed, estranged (Balibar/Wallerstein 1991: 53). New racism operates and islamised our country!” (#4144) “by constructing impassable symbolic boundaries bet- “Please do something before Islam swamps us !!!!!!!!” ween racially constituted categories, and its typically (#119) binary system of representation constantly marks and “Tey [those not born in Austria] do not have our attempts to fx and naturalize the diference between roots, not our religion” (#205) belongingness and otherness” (Hall 1989/1996: 445 ). “Austria must frst look for its own citizens, in respect Te out-group is ofen presented in the form of stereo- to jobs, that they are motivated and have a meaningful types that reduce, essentialise, naturalise, and fx the life. Only then can we think of asylum seekers!!” (#6457) power diferences between the in- and the out-group “What are the SPÖ [Social Democratic Party of (Hall 1997: 258). New racism justifes the exploitation, Austria] and the Greens? In my view they are hostile exclusion, domination, or annihilation of an out-group. towards native citizens [inländerfeindlich]…. Because One can draw a “distinction between a racism of exter- they allow the mass immigration of criminals…. Rapists, mination or elimination (an ‘exclusive’ racism) and a killers etc… Where will this end?” (#584) racism of oppression or exploitation (an ‘inclusive’ “I do not want that we in Austria give shelter to even racism)” (Balibar/Wallerstein 1991: 39). more ‘refugees’ that are none, on a mandatory basis every Te new racism present in the cited comments makes use of a number of classical stereotypes that can be summarised in the following statements (see Reisigl/ Wodak 2001: 55): 14 http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/ OTS_20160702_OTS0027/hofer-in-oesterreich-eu-austritts- • Cultural stereotypes: “Tere are already too referendum-wenn-eu-zentralistischer-wird, accessed on July many foreigners here and more immigrants and 6, 2016. refugees in the country overforeignise our culture and

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186 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook society. Foreigners have a diferent culture, religion and “Tey all together belong into an internment camp lifestyle that does not belong into our country” because they are a danger to all citizens” (#742) • Economic stereotypes: “Foreigners take away “For this statement, he deserves to have his face Austrians’ jobs and dump wages” smashed in” (#571) • Criminal stereotypes: “Foreigners are criminals, “Aha, this pinko should be blown away” (#1426) violent and aggressive” [About Alexander Van der Bellen]: • Welfare stereotypes: “Foreigners cost lots of “If the FPÖ would indeed achieve the majority of the money that we need for our own people. Tey are votes and Bello carries out this threat, then he should be socio-parasites who get more out of the welfare and tax chased out of ofce with a wet shred” (#1913) system than they pay in” “My partner is already a bit afraid that I throw the • Gender stereotypes: “Foreigners are sexists and next thing into the direction of the TV when I see VdB! rapists. Tey have an inherently repressive patriarchal I must really restrain myself because this morning I attitude towards women”. answered to the greetings of a Romanian who lives in my Te new racism immanent in the discussed house by saying ‘Go and shit yourself’…” (#3880) statements constructs Austrians as an in-group who “And then people wonder if the cold lust to kill comes are under attack by foreigners as an out-group who up in a decent Hofer-voter…” (#1945) come to Austria as immigrants and refugees. It aims [About the journalist Lou Lorenz-Dittlbacher, who at defending a pure Austrian nation from foreign conducted a critical interview with Strache]: infuences and implicitly argues that only Austrian- “I would have landed the OBNOXIOUS Dittlbacher born, white, German-speaking Roman-Catholics one in the face. She is even more disgusting than Turnher should be allowed to live in the country. Foreigners [= another ORF television journalist]” (#4571) are presented as an alien social and cultural out-group Some of the comments demanded demonstra- that threatens Austria’s culture (language, customs, tions, a rebellion and uprisings in the light of Van der habits, religion, lifestyle), economy (jobs, wages) and Bellen’s preliminary victory in the May 2016-Austrian the social system (crime and violence, welfare, gender presidential election. Civil society protests are mostly relations). Te statements imply an exclusive new peaceful and it is politically dangerous to frame them racism, i.e. that foreigners should have to leave the in the context of violence. Tere were, however, also country. comments that explicitly demanded demonstrations with “outbursts of violence”. Far-right ideology tends 6.5 The Fifth Discourse Topic: Violence to argue for a strong state that enforces law-and-order politics. Some commenters demanded a totalitarian Te ffh discourse topic present in the dataset is a state that limits freedom of speech by imprisoning, radicalisation of the friend/enemy- scheme: the threat interning and stripping citizenship rights from poli- or wish to use violence against the perceived enemies. tical opponents of the FPÖ. Tere were calls to chase “Only a rebellion of patriots would now help and Van der Bellen out of ofce and to kill him. Tere were EVERYONE JOINS IN!” (#3163) calls for physical violence against politicians, writers “If the EU violently imposes penalties on dife- and journalists. Acts of violence mentioned as means ring opinions, then this is clearly dictatorship and that’s that should be directed at identifed enemies included something the majority will not accept. Tere will then be hitting, shooting, and general killing. uprisings and demonstrations with more or less outbursts Such comments display the inherent violent poten- of violence” (#167). tials of far-right ideology. Te ideological defnition of “Te time will come where they all fall into the pit.. a unitary nation as in-group and enemy out-groups AND WE WILL THEN FILL UP THE PIT!!!!!” (#5862) polarises political relations. Stereotypes aim at ideolo- [Users about the Austrian writer Robert Menasse’s gically dehumanising the out-groups and at fostering voiced opinion that Strache is a Nazi and a local SPÖ- the in-group’s aggression and hatred towards the cons- politician’s support for Menasse’s statement]: tructed enemies. Right-wing extremism tends to use a “Such people should be immediately imprisoned” “violent linguistic rhetoric”, advance the “damaging of (#894)“I would immediately revoke the Austrian citizen- the political opponent”, and has an inherent “linguistic ship of SPÖ-local party secretary Reinhard Kadlec and Mr latency of aggression and defamation” (Holzer 1993: Robert Menasse” (#656) 65). Constant far-right demagoguery against huma-

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187 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook nists, immigrants, refugees, socialists, etc. can lower • Exclusion of the foreign; Social Darwinism; eth- the inhibition threshold of citizens who are prone to nocentrism; ethnic separatism; such ideology and can condition that they voice violent • Authoritarianism, anti-pluralism, opposition to threats against perceived enemies or engage in physical democracy; attacks, anonymous online or ofine threats, etc. • Anti-socialism, focus on competition and per- Te German legal theorist Carl Schmitt, who was formance; associated with Nazism, introduced the friend/enemy • Authoritarian state; scheme in his book Te Concept of the Political. “Te • Scapegoating; specifc political distinction to which political actions • Orientation on traditions; apologetic concept of and motives can be reduced is that between friend history; and enemy” (Schmitt 1932/1996: 26). War and physical • A political style that features demagogy and killing are for Schmitt inherent aspects of the very con- acceptance of violence. cept of the enemy: “For to the enemy concept belongs Te core of right-wing extremism can be summa- the ever present possibility of combat. […] Te friend, rised as consisting in the principles of 1) authoritarian enemy, and combat concepts receive their real meaning populism guided by the leadership principle, 2) natio- precisely because they refer to the real possibility of nalism, 3) the friend/enemy scheme, and 4) militarism physical killing. War follows from enmity. War is the (Fuchs forthcoming). Tis paper analysed how voters existential negation of the enemy. It is the most extreme of Norbert Hofer expressed their support on Facebook. consequence of enmity” (32-33). Te analysis showed that all key elements of right-wing Te friend/enemy scheme was also at the heart of extremism could be found in online comments. Nazi fascism. It conceived Germans as a superior race Te leadership principle online was expressed as that needs to form a nation and rid itself of what it admiration for Hofer and Strache. Both were seen as considered to be its enemies, especially Jews, socialists, charismatic leaders, to whom voters have an emotio- the working class movements and communists. Hitler nal relationship. Supporters projected Austrian nati- called for the annihilation of Nazism’s enemies. “If the onalism into the image of superhuman leaders. Hofer international Jewish fnanciers in and outside Europe was described as sympathetic, young, good-looking, should succeed in plunging the nations once more into which reduced politics to personalisation. Austrian a world war, then the result will not be the bolsheviza- nationalism online was expressed by arguments that tion of the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the claimed that a unitary Austrian nation consisting of annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe, for the time a homogeneous Austrian-born linguistic and cultural when the non-Jewish nations had no propaganda is at community exists that is under threat by immigration, an end” (Hitler 1939). A fascist society based on mass refugees, socialists, communists, Greens, critical media extermination is the most devastating potential conse- and transnational institutions such as the EU. quence of nationalism and fascism. Far-right ideology Te friend/enemy scheme online could be found in does not see social problems as the result of structural the analysed dataset in the form of Manichean views of power inequalities and contradictions of society, but and hatred spread against the Green party presidential it personalises them and inscribes them biologically candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, journalists, the or/and culturally into individuals and groups. It uses European Union, the Austrian Broadcasting Corpora- specifc naturalised and essentialised characteristics tion ORF, migrants, refugees, Islam, social democrats that are assigned to belong to what is conceived of as and the Green party. Van der Bellen was characterised enemy groups. Fetishistic thought can lead to violence as dictator, communist, animal, dirty, ill, ugly, old, and in the fnal instance to fascism, Nazism and politics dishevelled and grotty. Immigrants and refugees were of mass annihilation. seen as the main threat to the Austrian nation. Users made use of cultural, economic, criminal and gender 7. Conclusion stereotypes. Elements of online militarism and mili- tancy were present in the form of violent threats to and Te historian Willibald Holzer (1993) lists the fol- death wishes for politicians such as Alexander Van der lowing characteristics of right-wing extremism: Bellen, writers and journalists. • Stress of the existence and importance of a Te overall result of the analysis is that right-wing national community; extremist ideology was very signifcantly observable

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188 Fuchs: Rassismus, Nationalismus und Rechtsextremismus online: Die österreichische Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 auf Facebook

Figure 16: Examples of online violence in the context of the 2016 Austrian presidential election

Source: http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Mord-Drohung-gegen-Van-der-Bellen/237125974 (published on May 25, 2016; accessed on September 19, 2016). in the comments made on the Facebook pages of the Answers to the question of how to react to right- leading FPÖ politicians Heinz-Christian Strache and wing extremism online are not straightforward. Calls Norbert Hofer. Online leadership ideology, online nati- for violence should of course always be reported to the onalism, new racism online and online xenophobia, the police. At the same time, the Internet will always pro- friend/enemy-scheme online, and online militarism vide possibilities for anonymity, so there will always be constitute important elements of right-wing extremism loopholes for militant online fascism. A small number online. On the one hand, demagogues exercise far-right of Van der Bellen supporters posted criticism of far- ideology “from above”. On the other hand such ideo- right ideology on Strache and Hofer’s Facebook pages. logy can only persists through hegemony “from below”. Two example comments: Social media are an important medium that fosters Te FPÖ is a “nationalist, xenophobic party under right-wing extremist responses from below to far-right the disguise of love for the homeland” (#5619). ideology from above. As a result of violence propa- “How violent are you actually? Tis is simply just gated online, Alexander Van der Bellen was afer the brutal! […] And express your opinions without death May 2016 presidential election put under special police threats. I have heard that now even the Cobra [special protection. One Facebook posting had published his police unit] must protect Van der Bellen because someone private address and called for terrorist attacks against made death threats. You create fear. How do you think him. Figure 16 shows some examples of online violence that he now feels? Nobody deserves this” (#5847) in the context of the Austrian presidential election. Hofer and Strache supporters largely ignored such 1) Vienna will fall frst. And then we’ll see further appeals and arguments. Tey did not react to them. In 2) Te chancellery and the Hofurg [ofce of the some cases, they voiced threats against Van der Bellen Austrian president] ought to be stormed, and the parli- supporters: ament be burnt down “What if once something happens to you, when you 3) Tose who voted for van der Belln ought to be are the centre of an act of violence, will you then wake burnt on the stake up?” (#4060) 4) Te Glock 17 [a type of pistol] is loaded and Te crisis of capitalism has resulted in an intensi- ready to fre fcation and extension of right-wing extremism that 5) It will surely be a bombastic atmosphere promises simple xenophobic and new racist solutions to 6) Te weapon is unpacked ! social problems. Te intensifcation of online right-wing 7) Onto the streets in order to run riot extremism is a manifestation of this tendency. Tere are 8) What a shame. One really should take to the no easy fxes to this unsettling reality. Only profound streets and bring everything to a halt social, political, socio-economic, educational and cultu-

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189 Fuchs: Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook ral responses can ground an efective form of contem- References porary anti-fascism. Slavoj Žižek (2016: 100) argues that Adorno, T. W. (1981): Prisms. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. what is needed is “a positive universal project shared by Adorno, T. W. (1973): Studien zum autoritären Charakter. all participants”, a project for the commons that makes Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. diferent sufering groups see that they “are parts of one Adorno, T. W. (1972): Soziologische Schrifen I. Frankfurt/M.: and the same universal struggle” (101). Such a project Suhrkamp. is commonly called “socialism”. Given the inherent Adorno, T. W. (1971): Erziehung zur Mündigkeit. Frankfurt/M.: connection of capitalism, nationalism and new racism, Suhrkamp. a fundamental change of power relations, the economy Adorno, T. W. (1962): Aberglaube aus zweiter Hand. 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Te Critical fascism in Europe and throughout the world. We are Study of Language. Harlow: Pearson Education. today again at the crossroads that Rosa Luxemburg, Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) (2011): Party Program- citing Friedrich Engels, identifed exactly 100 years me. English version. Online: https://www.fpoe.at/flead- ago: “Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either min/user_upload/www.fpoe.at/dokumente/2015/2011_ graz_parteiprogramm_englisch_web.pdf [05.06.2016] transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.” (Luxemburg 1916: 388)

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Appendix: Hofer and Strache’s Postings on Facebook

Figure 1: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 1 Figure 2: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 2

We are committed to our homeland Austria and its people! We Norbert Hofer is and remains the President of Hearts! [Image continue reliably and consequently on our path! Tank you for text: President of Hearts] your huge support!

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Figure 3: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 3 Figure 5: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 5

Tat’s just primitive and shabby! [Link to an online article titled Who splits the country and plays with fre? [Link to an online “SPÖ local party secretary derails completely: Voters of Hofer article titled “Alexander Van der Bellen plays with fre”] are ‘Nazis, fascists, idiots’”]

Figure 4: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 4

Such rants are simply primitive, disgraceful and outrageous! Our FPÖ vice-mayor Michael Schnedlitz (image) has unco- vered of a high SPÖ-functionary in Wiener Neustadt [Link to an online article titled “SPÖ politician designates Hofer as a Nazi”]

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Figure 6: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 6 Figure 7: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 7

Te Austrians surely have waited for Mr Schulz’s “good” advice to [the Austrian Chancellor] Kern [Link to the online article Miraculous augmentation of the postal voting cards by 60.000! “Hofurg election result is ‘a defeat of the Euro-sceptics’”] Chief election administrator MA Stein (from the Federal Minis- try of the Interior) comes under signifcant pressure! Besides the 5 districts, in which the votes were counted illegally Figure 8: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 8 without election assessors (the of the Interior fled charges), there was a fabulous turnout of 146 % in Waidhofen/ Ybbs, one double vote thanks to an postal voting card (unco- vered by a video-blogger), and many other hints and inconsis- tencies! Furthermore there was the questionable projection by the Federal Ministry of the Interior that showed 56.5 % for Norbert Hofer with 65 % of ballots counted. Computers usually do not err! Te Federal Ministry of the Interior had published the result of the postal votes online at the evening of election Sunday before the postal votes were counted on Monday afer 9 o’clock. Te information was later deleted and dismissed as error and mal- function! Computers usually do not make mistakes, only the people who control and operate them do!!! Mr Stein spoke in a ZIB2-interview [evening news programme on the public service broadcasting channel ORF 2] of 740,000 postal votes (a projectionist from his ministry spoke of exactly 738,055) that then miraculously and inexplicably further incre- ased signifcantly (even by about 60,000!). Tere was an internationally completely unique, questionably high amount of invalid ballots among the postal voting cards! And much more! Full transparency, control and elucidation are now the order of the day! It is now a question of democracy and the rule of law! And a question of citizens’ trust in this rule of law and its basic democratic rules! Junker is happy to be able to construct a centralistic EU-federal state together with Van der Bellen. Te truth is that this is about Austria’s abolition. We will in any case continue to take care of our Austria! [Link to posting titled “Juncker painted a heart on the letter of congratulation to Van der Bellen”]

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Figure 9: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 9 Figure 11: Norbert Hofer’s Facebook posting no. 11

Every day we hear about the allegedly deep divide in the popu- lation! Te cause is not the division of the country and of the people, but the population’s loss of confdence in those up there in the government! Tis is what infuriates the Austrian population. Te FPÖ is not the problem (but rather the solution). Te pro- blems are the SPÖ/ÖVP-government’s dramatic errors and the politics of sustainable harm caused to the country.

[Hofer’s reposting of Strache’s posting no. 1] Figure 10: Heinz Christian Strache’s Facebook posting no. 10 Figure 12: Norbert Hofer’s Facebook posting no. 2

My interview in yesterday’s ZIB 2:

Here is the current issue of the “New Free Newspaper”, featuring images of and articles on the presidential election [Image text: Norbert Hofer remains the “President of Hearts”]

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Figure 13: Norbert Hofer’s Facebook posting no. 3 Figure 15: Norbert Hofer’s Facebook posting no. 5

My interview with the ORF [Austrian Broadcasting Corpora- tion] from yesterday Te FPÖ is not a right-wing extremist party. If a right-wing extremist party had run in Austria, it would have received an election result of maybe two percent. Te share of fools in Aus- tria is defnitely not larger. We are a highly responsible centre- right party. [Link to online article titled “Hofer: ‘Share of fools in Austria is at the most two percent”]

Figure 14: Norbert Hofer’s Facebook posting no. 4

Here are my statements from yesterday’s joint press conference with HC Strache

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