Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.8939
Exports for your reference manager
Legitimacy First: Marine Le Pen's Visual De‐Demonisation Strategies on Instagram
[journal article]
Abstract Recent research on populist visual communication has found a predominance of positivity in the way the populist radical right (PRR) communicates on Instagram. This counters the understanding of PRR actors as "dark" communicators, relying on appeals to negative emotions and attacks against perceived ... view more
Recent research on populist visual communication has found a predominance of positivity in the way the populist radical right (PRR) communicates on Instagram. This counters the understanding of PRR actors as "dark" communicators, relying on appeals to negative emotions and attacks against perceived enemies and wider outgroups. This article tests the novel conceptual framework of "visual de-demonisation" that has been proposed to capture the interplay between populist strategic communication, radical right mainstreaming, and positive content on visual social media. This article uses Marine Le Pen's Instagram account (2015–2021) as a case in point, to illustrate the dynamics of visual de-demonisation and unpack how the three angles of the strategy (legitimacy, good character, and policy) are performed visually. The study offers two contributions to the literature on populism and leadership. First, it expands theory-building around visual de-demonisation by operationalising the framework, testing its empirical application, and producing further theoretical considerations to support concept development. Second, it contributes to debates on the mainstreaming of the radical right, by empirically unpacking its visual performance and evidencing the role of legitimacy-signalling as a prominent concern of populist leaders interested in de-demonising.... view less
Keywords
social media; populism; right-wing radicalism; political right; political communication; legitimacy; France; visual perception; communication
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Sociology of Communication, Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics
Free Keywords
Instagram; Le Pen; de‐demonisation; populist radical right; visual communication
Document language
English
Publication Year
2025
Journal
Politics and Governance, 13 (2025)
Issue topic
Legitimacy and Followership in National and International Political Leadership
ISSN
2183-2463
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed