One of the most concerning features of today鈥檚 world is the rise of far-right political populism. Not even the strongest democracies appear immune to this trend: not the Federal Republic of Germany with its deeply engrained sense of 鈥渘ever again鈥 and not even liberal Netherlands with its progressive cultural climate and consensus-orientated politics.
But what exactly is political populism? What are the rhetorical and visual strategies it uses? And why are so many voters attracted to it? Focusing on the Alternative f眉r Deutschland party, Prof. Henk de Berg addresses these questions in two lectures delivered at the University of Oxford:
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Geert Wilders
The populism of Dutch politician Geert Wilders is the expertise of Dr. Koen Vossen (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen). Vossens visited Sheffield on the invitation of the Centre of Dutch and Flemish Studies. Henk de Berg conducted a three-part interview with Koen Vossen on the populism of Geert Wilders, on Wilders' predecessors, and on the lessons the Netherlands holds for politics in the UK and beyond.
Prof. de Berg explores similar topics in our second-year module Arts of Persuasion, which deconstructs the manifold ways people employ persuasive strategies 鈥 in advertising and politics, but also on social media and in their personal lives.