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Democracy Disconnect: The hegemonic struggle between radical right and mainstream parties in the EU

European Union
Policy Analysis
Populism
Internet
Post-Structuralism
Samuel Cipers
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Samuel Cipers
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Abstract

Online disinformation has often been studied as a threat to democracy posed by malicious actors or through the architecture of online social media platforms. While this literature has contributed to our understanding of the phenomenon, it does not take the economic and political context into account, which leads to the framing of certain citizens with populist passions as exhibiting low levels of media literacy, being "misled," or being anti-democratic. This paper proposes a more holistic approach to studying online disinformation in the context of a hegemonic struggle between neoliberal mainstream parties and the radical right. Inspired by the writings of Bennett & Livingston and underpinned by poststructuralist theory and discourse analysis, this article identifies the context of a European shift towards an increasingly technocratic form of governance and a perceived distance between constituents and government. The populist-inspired discourse of elites not considering the "will of the people" resonates strongly with disgruntled citizens who perceive this distance and are motivated to connect with like-minded individuals, seeking confirmation for their passions and convictions in online spaces. Online disinformation plays a significant role here by further deepening existing antagonisms and, in the logic of a hegemonic struggle, convincing these citizens that it is the radical right groups, not the mainstream centre parties in the EU, who have their best interests at heart. In Gramscian terms, it is an instrument of dominio. The discourse analysis encompasses texts on online disinformation and freedom of expression published between 2019 and 2024 from the following sources: the plenary booklets of the ID party, initiatives on online disinformation introduced by the European Commission, and plenary discussions taking place in the European Parliament. This three-pronged approach offers the possibility of studying the discourse used by radical right parties, the discourse of the EU Commission (representing mainstream parties), and texts where these discourses coexist in a parliamentary setting. The studied period covers one full election cycle in the EU, during which most radical right parties were united in the ID Party and includes events such as the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russo-Ukrainian war, and the introduction of several EU initiatives on social media and online disinformation. This work concludes by discussing the reconstruction of floating signifiers such as "democracy" and "freedom of expression," as well as the rearticulation of antagonisms to frame the hegemonic struggle. Aside from its contributions to our understanding of European radical right movements and online disinformation, this article offers a discussion on the neo-Gramscian concept of hegemonic struggle by introducing "conditions for dominio," as identified through discourse analysis and drawing on Chantal Mouffe’s work on agonism and antagonism in liberal democracies.