The Border as a Resource in Right-wing Populist Discourse: Viktor Orbán and the Diasporas in a Multi-scalar Europe

Abstract

Europe and now the United States are characterized by the growing presence of populist parties and leaders able to attract a significant share of the electorate. The successful strategy of right-wing populist politicians consists in proposing a series of discourses based on a differentiation between an endangered “Us” and a threatening “Them.” The protection of the “Us” community from the evil “Them” is often expressed through the necessity of closing the national border. This measure is a key discursive resource incorporated in their speeches. However, is the border only presented by right-wing populist leaders as a boundary which has to be controlled, securitized, and sealed? Based on the analysis of discourses produced by Viktor Orbán, the only long-standing European populist leader in power, the research shows that right-wing populist discourses can be based on opposed and complementary conceptions of the state border to entrench the opposition between “Us” and “Them.”.