Panic and the Perpetuum Mobile of Populist Right-Wing Propaganda: An Ontological Perspective of Political Security Communication

Abstract

Panic and the Perpetuum Mobile of Populist Right-Wing Propaganda: An Ontological Perspective of Political Security Communication July 2020 Glasgow Student Number: 2409522P Dublin City Student Number: 18114598 Charles Student Number: 50023595 Presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of International Master in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies Word Count: 24.195 Supervisor: Dr. James Fitzgerald Date of Submission: 30th July 2020 Abstract The rise of polarizing narratives being spread online, and the successes of various Right-Wing Populist Movements and parties illustrate a seemingly causational tie to the change in the media landscape. Capturing the ontological zeitgeist, Populist Right-Wing movements use fears and hesitations of groups to trigger anxiety, consequently bottling the political energy generated for their own political gain by populist framing. By combining the Ontological Security Theory (OST), framing populism as a style of political communication, and the technology-political communication nexus as highlighted in the Political Communication Cycle, the aforementioned developments are tested to see how ontological insecurities based on identity rhetoric are weaponized against the backdrop of a new technological communicative reality. Using historical...