The anti-immigrant rhetoric we’re seeing in Europe and from President Trump is not only dehumanizing, it has a dangerous resonance in history. In April this year, Christian Schilcher, a local government leader for the radical right Austrian Freedom party, was forced to step down after publishing a poem titled ‘Die Stadtratte’ (‘The City Rat’). The poem compared… Continue reading “Pests, Invaders and Infestations: The Radical Right’s Dehumanization Of Immigrants”
In 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada won a resounding victory at the federal elections, claiming almost 40 per cent of the vote share. Its leader, now Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau stood on a platform of liberal principles. He publicly championed the plight of refugees and immigrants, supported a woman’s right to wear a niqab… Continue reading “‘A bastion of liberal values’? The rise of the radical right in Canada”
Such proposals and appeals have not been seen or heard in Vienna and Austria since Nazi times. Every day, we are confronted with new provocations by the Austrian government which would have been deemed unimaginable just a few years ago: For example, the suggestion by the Austrian minister of Interior Affairs, Herbert Kickl of the radical… Continue reading “Contesting liberal democracy using the racialisation of space”