The form of populism, discursivity and rhetoric
An analysis of Finns Party Soinism
Keywords:
hegemony, laclau, populism, discourse, meaning-makingAbstract
This article studies Finns Party populism and offers a rhetoric-performative discourse theoretical perspective to the study of populism. The emergence of populism is precisely centred on politics as a debate on meaning-making. Populism challenges and rearticulates current cleavages by linking together disparate phenomena and meanings, and offers new surfaces for the identification of the political “us”. At its core it is however empty, yet connected to affects and frontiers. Introducing the vocabulary of the discourse theoretical perspective of Ernesto Laclau, the article shows how this phenomenon of empty performance can be studied. It offers a new approach both to the method and to the theory of populism. The article discusses the Finns Party’s orators’ diverse sets of political demands and discursive transformation.
