About this Research Topic
The Research Topic will analyse the convergence between ‘post-truth’ political culture and the politics of right-wing populism. The premise is that there is an intrinsic link between ‘post-truth’ discourse (referring to mis/disinformation, ‘alternative facts’, conspiracy theories and the general distrust of expert knowledge and official sources of information) and the central narrative of populism, which opposes the ‘common sense’ wisdom of ordinary people to the ‘expert knowledge’ of technocratic elites. This has led to a rejection not only of traditional sources of information and news like the mainstream media but also a denial of scientific expertise around climate change and, more recently, the Covid pandemic, vaccines and related public health messaging and policies. Moreover, post-truth populism, we suggest, mobilizes its own alternative truth narrative intended to promote a socially conservative and authoritarian agenda around issues of gender, immigration, minority rights, and national identity. Given the importance of trust in public institutions, as well as the public sphere as a space of communication and deliberation amongst citizens, it is crucial to explore the specific ways in which these are being challenged by post-truth populism.
This Research Topic aims to understand - from theoretical and empirical perspectives - the parameters of what we regard an emerging political paradigm. The approach taken is to understand right-wing populism, and its convergence with postfactual politics, as a force of fragmentation and destabilization and thus a major threat to liberal democratic institutions and values, such as the rule of law, pluralism, the respect for individual and minority rights, and the independence of the media and the judiciary. The SI’s original contribution to the emerging field of study is to develop a strong, coherent and empirically informed theoretical framework for understanding the specific paradigm of post-truth populism. We will propose this as a way of interpreting different contemporary political phenomena, such as conspiracy theories, political destabilization, and debates around immigration, the role of journalists and the media, climate change, gender and sexuality, Islam, LGBTQ and minority rights.
This Research Topic aims to understand - from theoretical and empirical perspectives - the parameters of what we regard an emerging political paradigm. The approach taken is to understand right-wing populism, and its convergence with postfactual politics, as a force of fragmentation and destabilization and thus a major threat to liberal democratic institutions and values, such as the rule of law, pluralism, the respect for individual and minority rights, and the independence of the media and the judiciary. The SI’s original contribution to the emerging field of study is to develop a strong, coherent and empirically informed theoretical framework for understanding the specific paradigm of post-truth populism. We will propose this as a way of interpreting different contemporary political phenomena, such as conspiracy theories, political destabilization, and debates around immigration, the role of journalists and the media, climate change, gender and sexuality, Islam, LGBTQ and minority rights.
Keywords: Post-truth, populism, disinformation, fragmentation/polarization, liberal democracy, media, minority rights
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