NU PEACE & WAR CENTER
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020 | 12 p.m. Eastern Time
Systemic Functional Linguistics Interest Group (SFL-IG) Webinar
Webinar delivered via Zoom: Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for Zoom access details.
YOU ARE INVITED: The Systemic Functional Linguistics Interest Group (SFL-IG) is delighted to invite you to attend its final Zoom webinar of the year.
‘Caretakers’ of Nature, ‘Stewards’ of the Land: an SFL-LCT Analysis of Eco-Fascist Propaganda
Presenter: Dr. Eszter Szenes | Chair: Dr. Jacqueline Nenchin
Harmony with nature, pristine countryside, organic farming, renewable energy, zero waste, sustainable development. This imagery tends to be associated with ‘green liberal’ environmentalist movements and more broadly, left-wing political ideologies. However, concern for the environment and warnings about the imminent climate crisis are gaining traction within far-right and white supremacist movements. This talk will focus on the re-birth of white supremacist environmentalism based on analyses of manifestos published by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in Hungary and the Nordic countries. Drawing on Appraisal from Systemic Functional Linguistics, I will show how an eco-fascist ideology is built up through couplings of judgements in far-right propaganda. Drawing on the concept of ‘axiological constellations’ from Legitimation Code Theory, I will then show how recurring couplings form clusters of meanings that reinforce far-right grievances. By showing how such clusters form axiological constellations, I will demonstrate how they become stabilized parts of a constellation that functions to legitimize far-right ideologies. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for democracy and peace, considering what the promotion of neo-fascist ‘solutions’ to the climate crisis could mean for climate justice and (trans)national security. – Dr. Eszter Szenes
This presentation is organized by SFL-IG, and is part of an ongoing project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 845643. Learn more.
If you wish to attend this webinar, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for Zoom access details.
Learn more about Dr. Eszter Szenes, linguist, Norwich University visiting researcher on extremism.
