Cartoon Wars and Freedom of Religion

• Author: Paul B. Cliteur and Adam D. Duncan
• Pages: 241-313

241

5

Cartoon Wars and

Freedom of Religion

Paul B. Cliteur and Adam D. Duncan

Populism, Islamism, and Multiculturalism

Introduction

As we have seen already in this book, populism is on the rise.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines populism as “a politi-

cal approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who

feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite

groups.”1 Although we will modify this definition somewhat,

we have favored this definition above other more substantial

definitions because it is content-neutral. In almost all other

definitions of populism—and there are plenty!—the term is

loaded with negative, deprecatory meaning. British former sec-

retary of state Boris Johnson was characterized as “a child of

1. https://en.oxforddictionaries. com/definition/popu lism.

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Populist and Islamist Challenges for International Law

242

our times: a blond populist fornicator in the mold of Trump.”2

Populists mislead the people. Their motives are suspect. It is

supposed they are wrong. And not seldom, the word “popu-

lism” is used to imply racist politics.

The meaning of a word depends entirely on how it is

used.3 Everyone may define words in the manner that suits

him or her. If someone wants to use “populism” to describe

racist politics or to label certain politicians dishonest or mis-

leading, nobody can complain that this is “not true.” The only

objection that one may voice is that it is not necessary to call

it populism or populist. Nor is it very fruitful to use populism

in a wholly negative sense because the dictionary definition is

much more interesting. The Oxford English Dictionary defini-

tion draws our attention to an aspect of reality that is usually

not highlighted and yet sufficiently important to peruse. This

aspect is that there can be a rift between how politicians and

the people they claim to represent experience reality.

That brings us to another observation. In a wide sense,

populism is not connected to either left-wing politics or right-

wing politics.4 Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán, to name only

two politicians who are frequently accused of populism,5 are

generally regarded as right-wing populists, but Hugo Chavez

is also considered to be a populist and he is considered left-

wing.6 Although left-wing populism may be possible, in this

book we focus on right-wing populism because right-wing

2. Sylves ter, Rachel, “Ever ything ab out the Boris Joh nson Brand Is Fa ke,” in

The Times, September 10, 2018.

3. H ospers, Joh n, “Langua ge and Realit y,” in John Hospers, An Introduction

to Philosophical Analysis, Fourt h Edition, Routledge, N ew York and London 1997

(1956), pp. 1–21.

4. Both Jan-Werner Mü ller and Pierre -André Taguief f present left-w ing and

right-wing popu lists. See Müller, Jan-Werner, Was ist Populism us?, Suhrkamp, Ber-

lin 2016; and Taguieff, Pierre-André , L’Illusion pop uliste: essai sur l es démagogies

de l’âge démo cratique, Flamma rion, Paris 2007 (2002).

5. Graha m, David A., “T he Paradox of Trump’s Populism ,” in The Atlanti c,

June 29, 2018.

6. Sylvest er, Rachel, “Every thing about t he Boris John son Brand Is Fake ,” in

The Times, September 10, 2018.

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Cartoon Wars and Freedom of Religion 243

populism is on the rise in Europe and the United States at

present, not left-wing populism.

Reaction or Autonomous Development?

In this book, we try to understand populism as a reaction to

dissatisfaction with certain social and political developments

predominant in the Western world at present. Populist poli-

ticians and their followers are fueled by this dissatisfaction.

Usually commentators on populism criticize populist politics

as a politics of “fear”7 and that populist leaders are “exploit-

ing” this fear. We do not follow this approach. We recognize

that populist politics are motivated by concern about develop-

ments in contemporary society, but we do not trivialize this

concern as ordinary fear or indict people with legitimate con-

cerns about immigration, social cohesion, and terrorism as in

the grip of unsubstantiated “phobia.” Many things populists

fear are truly frightening. That does not mean that populist

politicians have the right solutions to these developments, but

their concerns are justified and they deserve an honest answer.

It is even necessary they get an answer because without one,

populism can morph into something far more unpleasant:

racism, fascism, or even extreme right-wing movements with

Nazi tendencies. We think the best way to prevent Nazi-like

parties from gaining traction, however, is to take the concerns

of some populist politicians seriously and provide answers for

some of the problems they emphasize.

In doing this, we go further than the dictionary definition

of populism already given. That definition is purely formal.

It only shows that there can be a chasm between the political

elite and the people at large. But it does not tell us why there is

7. B ourke, Joanna, Fear : A Cultural Histor y, Shoemaker & Hoard, Emery ville,

CA 2006 (20 05).

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