Normalizing the Radical Right's Discourse on Press Freedom in the European Parliament: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the EMFA Debates

Christian Lamour

doi:10.1017/gov.2025.7

Normalizing the Radical Right's Discourse on Press Freedom in the European Parliament: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the EMFA Debates

Christian Lamour

Urban Development & Mobility

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The radical right is now able to impose its personnel and its agenda as the 'new normal' for a different European Union (EU). Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research into how this normalization is circulated by radical-right members of the European Parliament (MEPs), eager to be part of the social world of the liberal democratic European parliamentarians. This process of normalization is investigated in this article by carrying out a critical discourse analysis of the argumentation used by radical-right MEPs to reject an EU regulation supposed to preserve press freedom, currently threatened by the radical right in many EU member states: the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The analysis shows that these MEPs have been keen to use a series of topoi to claim their embeddedness in liberal democracies, while mobilizing symbols and meanings revealing their autocratic roots and their willingness to redefine media freedom.

Original language	English
Journal	Government and Opposition
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2025.7
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 30 Jul 2025

Keywords

critical discourse analysis
European Parliament
media freedom
radical right normalization
symbolic interactionism

Access to Document

10.1017/gov.2025.7

Cite this

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title = "Normalizing the Radical Right's Discourse on Press Freedom in the European Parliament: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the EMFA Debates",

abstract = "The radical right is now able to impose its personnel and its agenda as the 'new normal' for a different European Union (EU). Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research into how this normalization is circulated by radical-right members of the European Parliament (MEPs), eager to be part of the social world of the liberal democratic European parliamentarians. This process of normalization is investigated in this article by carrying out a critical discourse analysis of the argumentation used by radical-right MEPs to reject an EU regulation supposed to preserve press freedom, currently threatened by the radical right in many EU member states: the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The analysis shows that these MEPs have been keen to use a series of topoi to claim their embeddedness in liberal democracies, while mobilizing symbols and meanings revealing their autocratic roots and their willingness to redefine media freedom.",

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N2 - The radical right is now able to impose its personnel and its agenda as the 'new normal' for a different European Union (EU). Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research into how this normalization is circulated by radical-right members of the European Parliament (MEPs), eager to be part of the social world of the liberal democratic European parliamentarians. This process of normalization is investigated in this article by carrying out a critical discourse analysis of the argumentation used by radical-right MEPs to reject an EU regulation supposed to preserve press freedom, currently threatened by the radical right in many EU member states: the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The analysis shows that these MEPs have been keen to use a series of topoi to claim their embeddedness in liberal democracies, while mobilizing symbols and meanings revealing their autocratic roots and their willingness to redefine media freedom.

AB - The radical right is now able to impose its personnel and its agenda as the 'new normal' for a different European Union (EU). Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research into how this normalization is circulated by radical-right members of the European Parliament (MEPs), eager to be part of the social world of the liberal democratic European parliamentarians. This process of normalization is investigated in this article by carrying out a critical discourse analysis of the argumentation used by radical-right MEPs to reject an EU regulation supposed to preserve press freedom, currently threatened by the radical right in many EU member states: the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The analysis shows that these MEPs have been keen to use a series of topoi to claim their embeddedness in liberal democracies, while mobilizing symbols and meanings revealing their autocratic roots and their willingness to redefine media freedom.

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Normalizing the Radical Right's Discourse on Press Freedom in the European Parliament: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the EMFA Debates

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

EuroMo2025: Euromedia Ownership Monitor

Cite this

Normalizing the Radical Right's Discourse on Press Freedom in the European Parliament: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the EMFA Debates

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Projects

EuroMo2025: Euromedia Ownership Monitor

Cite this