Abstract

Giving the ascent of right-wing populism around Europe, the study explores the discursive fabric of the Pegida movement in Germany. Following the work of Ernesto Laclau and the perspective of post-foundational discourse analysis, the study focuses on distinct hegemonic strategies which constitute the identity of the movement. First, we can observe the equation of the movement with the ‘unfulfilled’ will of the German people and a demand to overcome this ‘unfulfilled reality'. Second, the identity and raison d’être of Pegida are based on the antagonistic division of the discursive space and two respective chains of equivalence, constructing the ‘refugee crisis’ as manifold threat to the flourishing of the German people.