The Political Elites’ Discourse of Right-Wing Populist Parties in Denmark and Sweden Written by Mia Lund Bekke Denise Helt Persson Development & International Relations Dissertation Supervisor: Wolfgang Zank Aalborg University, 2015 Page 1 of 99 Preface The dissertation finishes our master degree in Development and International Relations with the headline “The Political Elites’ Discourse of Right-Wing Populist Parties in Denmark and Sweden”. The dissertation has been carried out as a comparative study of Denmark and Sweden, focusing on the mainstream parties' acceptance of right-wing populist parties in each country. It is examined by a discourse analysis based on Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory supplemented by Fairclough's concept ‘order of discourse’. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our supervisor Wolfgang Zank for his educational inputs and dedication. Page 2 of 99 Table of Content Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Problem Area ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Problem statement and modification .......................................................................................................... 7 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Project specifications .................................................................................................................................... 9 Case study: Comparative ........................................................................................................................... 10 Choice of discourse analysis as theoretical approach ............................................................................. 11 Choice of empirical material ..................................................................................................................... 12 Choice of Analysis Strategy ....................................................................................................................... 13 Scientific stance ................................................................................................................................ 14 Discourse in a theoretical scientific perspective ...................................................................................... 14 Structuralism and post-structuralism ....................................................................................................... 15 Initial on Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory ..................................................................................... 16 Epistemological implications ................................................................................................................... 17 The field of discourse ....................................................................................................................... 19 Unfolding the concept of discourse ........................................................................................................... 19 Two approaches to discourse analysis ..................................................................................................... 19 The individual discourse and its notions .................................................................................................. 20 Political precedence and the weighted importance of actors ................................................................. 23 Hegemony and political sedimentation .................................................................................................... 24 Antagonism and agonism ........................................................................................................................... 25 Discourse and order of discourse .............................................................................................................. 27 Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 28 Our conceptualisation of the field of discourse ....................................................................................... 29 Empirical Overview ......................................................................................................................... 32 Denmark ...................................................................................................................................................... 32 The Right-Wing Populist Danish People’s Party .................................................................................... 32 Discursive development in mainstream parties ....................................................................................... 35 The Context .............................................................................................................................................. 45 Sweden ......................................................................................................................................................... 45 The Sweden Democrats ........................................................................................................................... 45 Page 3 of 99 Populism - hard to break through ............................................................................................................. 47 Political reactions - The mainstream political discourse ......................................................................... 50 Analysis Strategy .............................................................................................................................. 54 Hypotheses .................................................................................................................................................. 54 Using the discourse theory ......................................................................................................................... 55 Physical Objects and Institutions .............................................................................................................. 56 Discursive field and order of discourse .................................................................................................... 56 Conceptualisations ..................................................................................................................................... 57 Right-wing populist parties ...................................................................................................................... 57 Multiculturalism ....................................................................................................................................... 58 Nationalism .............................................................................................................................................. 59 Open debate ............................................................................................................................................. 60 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 61 Multiculturalism vs. Nationalism .............................................................................................................. 61 Sweden ..................................................................................................................................................... 61 Denmark ................................................................................................................................................... 64 Comparing Denmark and Sweden ........................................................................................................... 66 Political correctness vs. Open debate ....................................................................................................... 67 Denmark ................................................................................................................................................... 67 Sweden ..................................................................................................................................................... 71 Comparing Denmark and Sweden ........................................................................................................... 73 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 74 Societal and historical context ................................................................................................................... 77 Emergence of new discourses .................................................................................................................. 77 The issue of immigration ......................................................................................................................... 79 Democratic consequences ........................................................................................................................ 80 Critical reflections on theory appliance