The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

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The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) : Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images. / Doerr, Nicole.

I: Social Sciences, Bind 10, Nr. 1, 2021, s. 20.

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

Harvard

Doerr, N 2021, 'The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images', Social Sciences, bind 10, nr. 1, s. 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10010020

APA

Doerr, N. (2021). The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images. Social Sciences, 10(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10010020

Vancouver

Doerr N. The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images. Social Sciences. 2021;10(1):20. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10010020

Author

Doerr, Nicole. / The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) : Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images. I: Social Sciences. 2021 ; Bind 10, Nr. 1. s. 20.

Bibtex

@article{1812d6928c2943c28df9da40719a2ae8,
title = "The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images",
abstract = "This article is an empirical investigation into the visual mobilization strategies by far-right political parties for election campaigns constructing Muslim immigrants as a “threat” to the nation. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical approach of social movement studies and research on media and communication, I focus on the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has produced several widespread inflammatory series of visual election posters featuring anti-Islam rhetoric, combined with provocative images of gender and sexuality. By approaching visual politics through a perspective on actors constructing visual forms of political mobilization, I show how far-right populist “movement parties” are supported by professional graphic designers commercializing extremist ideologies by creating ambivalent images and text messages. My findings on the AfD{\textquoteright}s visual campaign politics document the instrumentalization and appropriation of the rhetoric of women{\textquoteright}s empowerment and LGBT rights discourse, helping the AfD to rebrand its image as a liberal democratic opposition party, while at the same time, maintaining its illiberal political agenda on gender and sexuality. Visual representations of gender and sexuality in professionally created election posters served to ridicule and shame Muslim minorities and denounce their “Otherness”—while also promoting a heroic self-image of the party as a savior of white women and Western civilization from the threat of male Muslim migrants. By documenting the visual politics of the AfD, as embedded in transnational cooperation between different actors, including visual professional graphic designers and far-right party activists, my multimodal analysis shows how far-right movement parties marketize and commercialize their image as “progressive” in order to reach out to new voters.",
keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, far-right, extremism, visual politics, multimodal analysis, far-right, extremism, visual politics, multimodal analysis",
author = "Nicole Doerr",
year = "2021",
doi = "10.3390/socsci10010020",
language = "English",
volume = "10",
pages = "20",
journal = "Social Sciences",
issn = "2076-0760",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD)

T2 - Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images

AU - Doerr, Nicole

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - This article is an empirical investigation into the visual mobilization strategies by far-right political parties for election campaigns constructing Muslim immigrants as a “threat” to the nation. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical approach of social movement studies and research on media and communication, I focus on the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has produced several widespread inflammatory series of visual election posters featuring anti-Islam rhetoric, combined with provocative images of gender and sexuality. By approaching visual politics through a perspective on actors constructing visual forms of political mobilization, I show how far-right populist “movement parties” are supported by professional graphic designers commercializing extremist ideologies by creating ambivalent images and text messages. My findings on the AfD’s visual campaign politics document the instrumentalization and appropriation of the rhetoric of women’s empowerment and LGBT rights discourse, helping the AfD to rebrand its image as a liberal democratic opposition party, while at the same time, maintaining its illiberal political agenda on gender and sexuality. Visual representations of gender and sexuality in professionally created election posters served to ridicule and shame Muslim minorities and denounce their “Otherness”—while also promoting a heroic self-image of the party as a savior of white women and Western civilization from the threat of male Muslim migrants. By documenting the visual politics of the AfD, as embedded in transnational cooperation between different actors, including visual professional graphic designers and far-right party activists, my multimodal analysis shows how far-right movement parties marketize and commercialize their image as “progressive” in order to reach out to new voters.

AB - This article is an empirical investigation into the visual mobilization strategies by far-right political parties for election campaigns constructing Muslim immigrants as a “threat” to the nation. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical approach of social movement studies and research on media and communication, I focus on the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has produced several widespread inflammatory series of visual election posters featuring anti-Islam rhetoric, combined with provocative images of gender and sexuality. By approaching visual politics through a perspective on actors constructing visual forms of political mobilization, I show how far-right populist “movement parties” are supported by professional graphic designers commercializing extremist ideologies by creating ambivalent images and text messages. My findings on the AfD’s visual campaign politics document the instrumentalization and appropriation of the rhetoric of women’s empowerment and LGBT rights discourse, helping the AfD to rebrand its image as a liberal democratic opposition party, while at the same time, maintaining its illiberal political agenda on gender and sexuality. Visual representations of gender and sexuality in professionally created election posters served to ridicule and shame Muslim minorities and denounce their “Otherness”—while also promoting a heroic self-image of the party as a savior of white women and Western civilization from the threat of male Muslim migrants. By documenting the visual politics of the AfD, as embedded in transnational cooperation between different actors, including visual professional graphic designers and far-right party activists, my multimodal analysis shows how far-right movement parties marketize and commercialize their image as “progressive” in order to reach out to new voters.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - far-right

KW - extremism

KW - visual politics

KW - multimodal analysis

KW - far-right

KW - extremism

KW - visual politics

KW - multimodal analysis

U2 - 10.3390/socsci10010020

DO - 10.3390/socsci10010020

M3 - Journal article

VL - 10

SP - 20

JO - Social Sciences

JF - Social Sciences

SN - 2076-0760

IS - 1

ER -

ID: 255396266