Populism and Nationalism Discourse Analysis
Summary
Discourse analysis of populism and nationalism examines how political actors construct “the people” and the nation through language, symbols and narratives. It reveals the rhetorical strategies that mobilise emotions, frame identities and legitimise authority. Central concerns include the binary opposition between “the pure people” and “the corrupt elite,” the invocation of national myths or memories, and the deployment of valence issues—non-ideological themes such as national interest—to broaden appeal. By tracing patterns of metaphor, repetition and narrative structure, scholars map how populist and nationalist discourses shift in response to economic crises, pandemics or digital amplification. This field combines insights from linguistics, sociology and political science to assess both the global diffusion of nationalist-populist themes and their local adaptations. Empirical studies span speeches, social media content and museum exhibitions to capture both top-down messaging and grassroots reception. The ultimate aim is to understand how discursive practices shape group boundaries, fuel social conflict and influence policy debates in democracies worldwide.
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Populism and Nationalism Discourse Analysis publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in populism and nationalism discourse analysis across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Discourse analysis: A method for studying written or spoken texts to understand how language constructs social realities and power relations.
Populism: A political logic that pits a virtuous “people” against a corrupt “elite” and claims to represent the general will.
Nationalism: An ideology centred on the primacy of a shared national identity, often emphasising cultural or ethnic homogeneity and sovereignty.
Nostalgia: The selective invocation of an idealised past in political discourse to evoke emotional attachment to a perceived former unity or greatness.
References
- The nation of the people: An analysis of Podemos and Five Star Movement's discourse on the nation. Nations and Nationalism (2022).
- Beyond “Making Poland Great Again.” Nostalgia in Polish Populist and Non‐populist Discourses1. Sociological Forum (2022).
- What is old is new again: The deep roots of ethnic nationalism in the digital age. Nations and Nationalism (2024).
- Populism and nationalism revisited: A comparative study of the Spanish and Portuguese New Left. Nations and Nationalism (2022).
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