TY - JOUR
T1 - Conspiracy Theories, Right-Wing Populism and Foreign Policy
T2 - The Case of the Alternative for Germany
AU - Wojczewski, Thorsten
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements I would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the editors for their very helpful and constructive feedback on earlier versions of this article. I would also like to thank the participants of the panel ‘Populism, the EU, and Crisis’ at the 2019 European International Studies Association annual conference in Sofia for their comments on an early draft of this article. This research was supported by research grant ECF-2018-656 from the Leverhulme Trust.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Springer Nature Limited.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/5/22
Y1 - 2021/5/22
N2 - This article analyses the relationship between conspiracy theories, populism and foreign policy by shedding light on the affective force of conspiracy theories in mobilising ‘the people’. Drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis, it conceptualises conspiracy theories as fantasies that promise to satisfy subjects’ desire for a complete identity by accusing ‘hidden’ forces of blocking this perceived-to-be-lost but ultimately unattainable sense of ontological wholeness. The article argues that conspiracy theories allow populists to appeal to voters through emotive narratives which offer a dualistic outlook on global politics and (1) blame the conspirators for such feelings of lack, (2) transgress the conventions of the mainstream discourse by appealing to the obscene, and (3) valorise the populist actor for uncovering the plot against popular sovereignty and thereby promising to make ‘the people’ whole again. While conspiracy theories have been studied in other disciplines, International Relations scholarship has paid very little attention to them and, if at all, discussed their role in the context of the United States. This article illustrates its arguments with the case of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany and examines the role of conspiracy theories and foreign policy in its attempt to stage itself as ‘true’ representative of the German people.
AB - This article analyses the relationship between conspiracy theories, populism and foreign policy by shedding light on the affective force of conspiracy theories in mobilising ‘the people’. Drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis, it conceptualises conspiracy theories as fantasies that promise to satisfy subjects’ desire for a complete identity by accusing ‘hidden’ forces of blocking this perceived-to-be-lost but ultimately unattainable sense of ontological wholeness. The article argues that conspiracy theories allow populists to appeal to voters through emotive narratives which offer a dualistic outlook on global politics and (1) blame the conspirators for such feelings of lack, (2) transgress the conventions of the mainstream discourse by appealing to the obscene, and (3) valorise the populist actor for uncovering the plot against popular sovereignty and thereby promising to make ‘the people’ whole again. While conspiracy theories have been studied in other disciplines, International Relations scholarship has paid very little attention to them and, if at all, discussed their role in the context of the United States. This article illustrates its arguments with the case of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany and examines the role of conspiracy theories and foreign policy in its attempt to stage itself as ‘true’ representative of the German people.
KW - Right-wing Populism
KW - Foreign Policy
KW - Conspiracy theories
KW - Lacanian Psychoanalysis
KW - identity
KW - Alternative for Germany (AfD)
KW - Affect
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106278253&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1057/s41268-021-00218-y
DO - 10.1057/s41268-021-00218-y
M3 - Article
SN - 1408-6980
JO - Journal Of International Relations And Development
JF - Journal Of International Relations And Development
ER -