TITLE:
(De)Stigmatization of Political Leadership: The Case of a Right-Wing Populist Presidential Candidate in the Finnish Media
AUTHORS:
Marke Kivijärvi, Tuomo Takala
KEYWORDS:
Right-Wing Populism, Media Discourse, Stigma, Charismatic Leadership, Political Leadership
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Political Science,
Vol.10 No.3,
July
9,
2020
ABSTRACT: In this article, we examine the discursive practices of (de)stigmatizing
right-wing populist party leaders. We draw on a recent example from Finland by
examining how the female presidential candidate of a right-wing populist party
was portrayed in the Finnish media during the 2018 presidential campaign
season. We examine the stigmatization by the press media and the
stigma-management tactics used by the presidential candidate to resist
stigmatization. The media representation of the right-wing party leader is
highly tensioned, and the media positions her political leadership within the
duality of charisma and stigma. In our analysis, we extend earlier literature
by unveiling the emotional tensions inherent in portraying and (de)stigmatizing
populist political leadership. The results highlight how religion, radical
nationalism, and inappropriate expression of emotions are intertwined as the
main sources for attributing stigma. In this case, the stigmatization of the
leader occurs via threatening and ridiculing imagery and erosion of the
leader’s authority. Resistance to stigma occurs through distancing, emotional
and moral argumentation, and attribution of strong leadership.