The Role of Positive Emotions <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhile negative emotions remain central to radical-right populist communication, positive emotions can also be powerful, particularly for people who feel left out of politics, betrayed, or disenfranchised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would not say that positive emotions complicate our understanding of radical-right populism so much as broaden it. Populism is fundamentally people-centred. While radical-right parties often mobilise through, for instance, anger, contempt, and fear, they also need to present \u2018the people\u2019 as virtuous and \u2018worth\u2019 defending,\u201d says Eklund. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He points to Donald Trump’s slogan \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d as an example of how political messages can combine grievances with a hopeful vision of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
J\u00e4rviniemi suggests that positive emotions may even be essential to what makes communication distinctly populist, rather than simply an expression of political discontent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt could even be argued that without positive emotional appeals, this type of communication would be less distinctly populist and instead more closely resemble grievance politics. At the same time, positive emotions are not necessarily \u2018inclusive\u2019 in all regards, as we discuss, they can strengthen a sense of belonging among the in-group while also drawing a sharper line between \u2018us\u2019 and \u2018them\u2019, reinforcing who is seen as part of the community and who is not\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For J\u00e4rviniemi, emotions are not simply expressions of existing political identities. They also play an active role in shaping the boundaries between groups and influencing how people understand their place in society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emotions Across Social Media Platforms <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nEklund recalls the Sweden Democrats\u2019 election film My Europe Builds Walls<\/em> as an example that stayed with him, illustrating how positive and negative emotions can be combined to create a clear distinction between \u201cus\u201d and \u201cthem\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThat kind of political storytelling is particularly interesting on social media, where politicians can combine language, images, video, music, and other cues to evoke emotions\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But social media is not one uniform environment. One aspect the researchers were particularly interested in was how emotional appeals vary across platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe often talk about \u2018social media\u2019 as if it were one thing, but different platforms work in different ways, attract different publics, and offer different possibilities for political communication. That means politicians may also use them differently\u201d, Eklund explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked what they would like to explore further, Eklund points to the need for broader comparisons across social media platforms, involving more political actors and larger samples. J\u00e4rviniemi, meanwhile, is interested in how emotional communication on social media affects voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor example, do different emotional appeals resonate differently with audiences across platforms, and do they influence how voters identify with a party or perceive political opponents?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Nordic Perspective <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAlthough the study focuses on the Finns Party, the researchers see opportunities to explore similar questions in a broader Nordic context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is of course a single-case study, so we should be careful about generalising too far. But the Finns Party is a prominent and electorally successful example of the broader populist radical right, and it has also been one of the more consistent users of populist communication in Finland\u201d, J\u00e4rviniemi says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the Nordic countries share many political and media-system characteristics, their populist radical-right parties differ in their histories and political contexts. J\u00e4rviniemi therefore sees value in comparing how these parties use emotional appeals across countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eklund, meanwhile, points to the growing discussion around transnational populism and increasing cooperation between populist actors across national borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, despite differences in their national histories and contexts, these parties may also be more alike than we sometimes assume in their political communication\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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