Voices of Power, Faces of Privilege: Discourse, Maleness, Whiteness, Heteronormativity, and Far-Right Legitimacy in the US, UK, and EU (2016-2025)
Authors
Philipsen, Cecilie Vahlun ; Rugaard, Tania Vivisan
Term
4. term
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-05-30
Pages
139
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan politiske ledere i USA, Storbritannien og EU i perioden 2016–2025 konstruerer og kommunikerer diskurser om hvidhed, maskulinitet, heteronormativitet, kristen overhøjhed og vestlig dominans, og spørger, hvordan disse diskurser afspejler, reproducerer eller udfordrer far‑højre, autoritære og totalitære strukturer. Med udgangspunkt i socialkonstruktivisme og poststrukturalistisk feminisme, og informeret af intersektionalitet, postkolonialisme og neo‑imperialisme, gennemføres et multiple‑case studie af 13 politiske taler ved hjælp af Faircloughs tredimensionelle model for kritisk diskursanalyse. Analysen identificerer sproglige strategier og ideologiske narrativer, der former identitet, tilhørsforhold og politisk legitimitet. Den finder, at USA’s politiske diskurs oftere rummer åbenlyst nationalistisk og racialisering retorik; at Storbritannien tydeligt betoner etnicitet og anti‑immigrationsfortællinger; og at EU’s teknokratiske og enhedsorienterede sprogbrug mere subtilt kan understøtte diskriminerende forestillinger om vestlig overlegenhed. Disse mønstre afspejler regionale historiske, institutionelle og kulturelle forskelle. Overordnet peger specialet på, at politisk diskurs i alle tre regioner ikke kun afspejler skiftende ideologiske landskaber, men også aktivt kan bidrage til at normalisere systemisk ulighed og eksklusion.
This thesis examines how political leaders in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union from 2016 to 2025 construct and communicate discourses of whiteness, maleness, heteronormativity, Christian supremacy, and Western hegemony, asking how these discourses reflect, reproduce, or challenge far‑right, authoritarian, and totalitarian structures. Anchored in social constructivism and post‑structuralist feminism and informed by intersectionality, postcolonialism, and neo‑imperialism, the study conducts a multiple‑case analysis of 13 political speeches using Fairclough’s three‑dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis. The analysis identifies linguistic strategies and ideological narratives that shape identity, belonging, and political legitimacy. It finds that US political discourse more often centers overt nationalist and racialized rhetoric; that the UK exhibits a pronounced emphasis on ethnicity and anti‑immigration narratives; and that the EU’s technocratic and unity‑oriented language more subtly reinforces discriminatory notions of Western supremacy. These patterns reflect each region’s distinctive historical, institutional, and cultural dynamics. Overall, the thesis argues that political discourse across all three regions not only mirrors shifting ideological landscapes but also actively participates in the normalization of systemic inequality and exclusion.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
Keywords
Social Constructivism ; Post-Structuralist Feminism ; Intersectionality ; , Far-right Extremism ; Populism ; Postcolonialism ; Neo-Imperialism ; Authoritarianism ; Totalitarianism ; Critical Discourse Analysis ; Multiple-Case Study Research ; The United States ; The United Kingdom ; The European Union ; Cultural Dynamics ; Political Discourse ; Gender Studies
Documents