‘Outwit Wilders, for Democracy’s sake’

Green parties have good reasons to fight right-wing populism: it addresses people’s concerns in a way that goes directly against values like diversity and international solidarity. But they can also learn a lot from them, like cleverly playing the masses and the media.

Les partis verts ont de bonnes raisons de lutter contre le populisme de droite : il répond aux préoccupations des gens d’une manière qui va à l’encontre de valeurs comme la diversité et la solidarité internationale. Mais ils peuvent aussi apprendre beaucoup, comme s’adresser aux masses et approcher les médias de façon intelligente.

Suggested strategy: address non-intellectuals, be more present in society, simplify your message where possible. See end of article for full list.

Follow-up: Øyvind Strømmen, one of the Networks’ team members, contributes to the Green European Foundations’ upcoming publication on right-wing populism.

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The Supporters’ Network hasn’t only tabled this issue because populist leader Geert Wilders has completely changed the political landscape in the Netherlands, until recently a haven of tolerance, and his Party for Freedom (PVV) might very well become the countries’ biggest. It is also extremely interested in finding out how he did it, because the Network itself tries to bridge the gap between politics – EU-politics in particular – and the ‘masses’. The key questions it wanted an answer to during this panel:

• Is the rise of the PVV comparable that of other fight-wing populisms, or are we talking very different responses to incomparable problems?

• If they are comparable, can the European Greens tackle them under a unified frame?

Jörg Haider

There are definitely differences – as Øyvind Strømmen, a Norwegian journalist specialising on the extreme right – pointed out. Some parties are close to neoliberalism whereas the PVV defends elements of the welfare state. And whereas in Germany populists are strongest in ‘white’ parts of the country, their Dutch counterparts have conquered poorer neighbourhoods where many migrants live.

Strømmen, Den Hollander

But there also are similarities. Populists play upon people’s fear of what is different, said Birgit Weiss, a political scientist who moved from Vienna to Castellon. ‘Jörg Haider did just that. And he disappeared because he broke taboos himself: taboos of homosexuality and corruption. But his original party has found a new ‘demon’, Heinz-Christian Strache, who systematically calls people with a migrant background ‘foreigners. And although most people have a foreign background nowadays, such a negative framing works: during the local elections in Vienna in October he won 27 percent of the votes.’

The reason so many people see foreigners a threat, she said, is that they blame them for putting their social benefits, level of well-being, and jobs at risk, a fear that is increased by the current economic crisis.’

A third factor populists bank on is the feeling many have that the ruling political and intellectual elite doesn’t take their concerns seriously. ‘Populists target the lower incomes’, a Dutch Green said, ‘people who have been thrown out of their jobs or live on the countryside, far away from the centres of power.’

Cultural Wars

If right-wing populism feeds on such concerns, how should Green parties respond? They shouldn’t, some Greens believe, because fighting the rights’ cultural wars distracts us from our own issues, and tempts us to play the adversary’s game. ‘Today’s real problems are the economic crisis and the way governments address it’, said Filia den Hollander, a visual artist and democracy activist and one of the strongest advocates of this option. ‘Governments first paid billions to save the banks and then cut the budget for welfare services to compensate for the deficit, thus making the poor pay the bill. We shouldn’t pay attention to Wilders who doesn’t address this problem at all, but reform the economy.’

Pelt + Weiss

The diversity in yourself

Most participants, however, see good reasons to accept the challenge. Cultural wars ARE the Greens’ core business, Birgit Weiss said, because they are about people’s freedom to live their own lives. To defend that value, she said, ‘we should stick to our own concepts and make people understand that all human beings are diverse: in religion, in values, in education, sexual orientation, and physical characteristics, and that, if you want to connect with others, you have to recognise the diversity in yourself and then try to find common grounds.’

Focusing on diversity, she added, is what the Viennese Greens did during the local elections of October. They chose a Greek-born translator with a Greek passport as their head of list – and won more than 12 percent and their first seat ever in the local government.

Priests

For Strømmen fighting right wing populism is about addressing issues many people care about. ‘Greens shouldn’t fight it for electoral reasons’, he said. ‘On the contrary, all parties in Europe are losing votes to populists, with the exception of the Greens. Greens might even win where populists are strong, because they are particularly successful where our main competitors, the social democrats, used to be strong. We should ‘outwit’ Wilders for the sake of democracy – by attacking these parties on their core issues and proposing Green solutions for them.

If we don’t, that is because we are afraid to be playing into Wilders’ hands, because we are gripped by fear, as if the extreme right had a magic wand. If we don’t, we are like the priests who speaks Latin with their back to the congregation.’

Pels

Demons

So fight. But how? ‘Not by demonising right-wing populism’, said Dick Pels, director of the research unit of GroenLinks, which together with the Green European Foundation is preparing a study on populisms in Europe. ‘On the contrary, we must try to understand and learn from it and address the questions it raises. What is wrong with Islam if so many people fear it? And is our democratic system beyond criticism?’

‘Populism also puts us before a media challenge, because it is better at communicating with people than the Greens. And it makes us understand that there is a sociological gap between educated people and the rest of the population, which explains many fears and anxieties. It makes us understand that our democracy in fact is a ‘meritocracy’, and that, if we are true democrats, we also should have a story for the less educated.’

Family reunification

Not everyone agreed. ‘If our message isn’t understood’, said Wanda Pelt from the Colourful Platform of GroenLinks, ‘we should educate people. Fear and discontent indeed are important reasons for extreme voting behaviour. But do we have to become populists just because populism is popular? Many of its statements, like those about family reunification and migration, just are not true. By the way, many higher educated people, and even migrants, vote for Wilders too.’

Suggestions for strategies:

• Don’t be afraid to address ‘right-wing populist’ problems like violence and insecurity, because many Green parties who are in government address those problems successfully. Make those answers known.
• Establish left-wing coalitions to counter right-wing populism. Reach out to initiatives in society, to bridge the gap between people and politics. Try to understand and tackle people’s hate against the left. Have personal answers; live up to what you preach. Look for popular, not populist spokespersons.
• Develop a media strategy aimed at non-intellectuals, be more present in society, simplify your message where possible and educate your politicians in that sense.
• Deconstruct the far right’s message.

And on the EU-level

• Set up a pan-European structure or network of people who know how to deal with xenophobia at the grassroots level.
• Campaign for a change of electoral laws which enables you to put non-national candidates on your EU lists, and for pan-European lists, for example through a citizen’s initiative – to make people think European when they vote.
• Find ways to make people like Europe.