Playing with fear: Analysing eco-fascist narratives and their normalisation in political and public discourse

This project speaks directly to the "Civil Society, Development, and
Democracy" pathway. One of the major challenges confronting liberal
democratic societies today is the rise of populist and far-right movements,
which have been using increasingly subtle messaging to advance
anti-democratic and xenophobic values. This project contributes to
understanding this pressing challenge by examining how seemingly
unproblematic concerns surrounding climate change and environmental
carrying capacity can be mobilized to advance anti-migration policies and
sentiments. The rise of eco-fascist movements therefore raises pressing
intellectual questions about the intersections of global environmental crisis
and democratic backsliding in the West, which have, as yet, gone largely
unanswered. Equally, this project can yield novel insights into shifting
discourses of anti-migrant groups, but also the ideational confines within
which they now operate.