Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American Politics
The rise of populism has been an uncontested global reality in recent years. However, it is unclear exactly how culturally distinct populist movements imitate or mirror each other, especially given the different rhetorical, political, ideological, and cultural contexts within which they operate. Thi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.780317/full |
| _version_ | 1798035220598882304 |
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| author | Sahar Khamis Randall Fowler |
| author_facet | Sahar Khamis Randall Fowler |
| author_sort | Sahar Khamis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The rise of populism has been an uncontested global reality in recent years. However, it is unclear exactly how culturally distinct populist movements imitate or mirror each other, especially given the different rhetorical, political, ideological, and cultural contexts within which they operate. This article addresses this issue by comparing recent manifestations of populism across contemporary Arab and American contexts, with a special focus on former United States President Donald Trump’s response to the George Floyd protests and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s handling of demonstrations in his country. We argue that each leader deployed common rhetorical tactics as a populist strategy to undermine the protestors’ attempts to articulate the people’s will. At the same time, our analysis shows how the different contexts in which Trump and Sisi operate also impact their ability to successfully translate their populism into political effectiveness. By conducting this analysis, our article shows how similar populist tactics across different cultural contexts may lead to divergent outcomes, revealing the importance of institutional as well as popular bases of support for would-be populist politicians. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:55:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fd1a15d993d74de38e71e97e293aff8c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-900X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:55:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-fd1a15d993d74de38e71e97e293aff8c2022-12-22T04:03:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2022-01-01610.3389/fcomm.2021.780317780317Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American PoliticsSahar Khamis0Randall Fowler1Department of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesDepartment of Humanities, Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, CA, United StatesThe rise of populism has been an uncontested global reality in recent years. However, it is unclear exactly how culturally distinct populist movements imitate or mirror each other, especially given the different rhetorical, political, ideological, and cultural contexts within which they operate. This article addresses this issue by comparing recent manifestations of populism across contemporary Arab and American contexts, with a special focus on former United States President Donald Trump’s response to the George Floyd protests and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s handling of demonstrations in his country. We argue that each leader deployed common rhetorical tactics as a populist strategy to undermine the protestors’ attempts to articulate the people’s will. At the same time, our analysis shows how the different contexts in which Trump and Sisi operate also impact their ability to successfully translate their populism into political effectiveness. By conducting this analysis, our article shows how similar populist tactics across different cultural contexts may lead to divergent outcomes, revealing the importance of institutional as well as popular bases of support for would-be populist politicians.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.780317/fullprotestEgyptUnited StatesArabrhetoricpopulism |
| spellingShingle | Sahar Khamis Randall Fowler Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American Politics Frontiers in Communication protest Egypt United States Arab rhetoric populism |
| title | Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American Politics |
| title_full | Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American Politics |
| title_fullStr | Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American Politics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American Politics |
| title_short | Taming the People: Comparing Protests and Populism in Arab and American Politics |
| title_sort | taming the people comparing protests and populism in arab and american politics |
| topic | protest Egypt United States Arab rhetoric populism |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.780317/full |
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