Authoritarian Populism and the New Portrait of the American Agitator: Nicholas J. Fuentes

Year 2019, Volume: 6 Issue: 1 - Populism and the Media, 9 - 37, 15.06.2019

Tuğba Taş

https://doi.org/10.17572/mj2019.1.937

Cited By: 3

Abstract

The Frankfurt School philosophers made research on authoritarianism in the 1930s and 1940s. However, there are parallels between the discourse of agitators and demagogues in the research and analyses of Theodor W. Adorno, Leo Lowenthal and Norbert Guterman, and the discourse of the informal spokesperson of the political leader in the US today. In this sense, the critical theory of authoritarianism advanced by Frankfurt School help us to critically analyze today’s authoritarian populist discourse. Thus in this paper firstly the concept of authoritarian populism will be discussed, then the discourse of the new media personality Nicholas J. Fuentes, who labeled the elites, all non-white people, immigrants, Muslims, Jews and communist as enemies, using white Christian America’s current prejudices will be analyzed, and early research on authoritarianism and anti-Semitism will be compared with “new” discourse of the “false prophets” in online news and social media.

Keywords

authoritarian populism, Frankfurt School, false prophets, agitator, USA

Otoritaryen Popülizm ve Amerikan Ajitatörünün Yeni Portresi: Nicholas J. Fuentes

Abstract

Frankfurt Okulu düşünürleri otoritaryenliğe ilişkin araştırmalarını 1930’lu ve 1940’lı yıllarda yapmışlardır. Theodor W. Adorno ile Leo Lowenthal ve Norbert Guterman’ın araştırmaları ve analizlerinde ortaya koydukları “otoritaryen kişilik”ler, ajitatörler ve demagogların söylemiyle günümüzde ABD’deki siyasi liderlerin resmi olmayan sözcülerinin yeni medyadaki söylemleri arasında paralellikler bulunmaktadır. Bu anlamda Frankfurt Okulu düşünürlerinin otoritaryenizm teorisinin günümüzün otoritaryen popülist söylemini eleştirel bir şekilde analiz etmemize yardımcı olacağı düşünülmektedir. Bunun için öncelikle otoritaryen popülizm kavramı tartışılacak, ardından elitleri, beyaz olmayan tüm insanları, göçmenleri, Müslümanları, Yahudileri ve komünistleri, beyaz Hıristiyan Amerika'nın mevcut önyargılarını kullanarak düşman olarak etiketleyen yeni medya kişiliği Nicholas J. Fuentes’in söylemi analiz edilecek; otoritaryenlik ve anti-Semitizm üzerine yapılan ilk dönem araştırmalar, çevrimiçi haberlerde ve sosyal medyada “sahte peygamberler”in yeni söylemiyle karşılaştırılacaktır.

Keywords

Otoriteryan popülizm, Frankfurt Okulu, sahte peygamberler, ajitatör, ABD

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