Los términos populismo(s) y populista(s) en debates parlamentarios españoles: contextos, usos y efectos en la argumentación

Laetitia Aulit; Barbara De Cock

doi:10.14198/dissoc.19.1.02

Authors

Laetitia Aulit Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1051-9127
Barbara De Cock Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6968-3880

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/dissoc.19.1.02

Keywords:

populism, parliamentary debate, argumentation, discursive analysis, Spanish politics

Abstract

This article investigates to what extent the reference to populism participates in the expression of position in context of political debate. To this end, we analyze 69 occurrences of populism(s) and populist(s) in reactive interventions to political proposals or appearances in Spanish parliamentary debates in 2019. Based on a methodology developed within the framework of the TrUMPo project, the analysis identifies in which contexts populism(s) and populist(s) appear, in which types of discursive fragments and which discursive actions are performed through their uses. The results show that references to populism appear mainly in unfavorable interventions regarding the proposals or policies under debate, in argumentative sequences concerned with the presentation of others, sometimes with an argumentative aim. That said, the results also point out some occurrences in the context of justifying the position defended in favorable interventions. In doing so, this research offers a new approach to the study of parliamentary debate, showing, through the combined analysis of the discursive action performed through the use of populism(s) and populist(s) and the interactional context, that references to populism not only serve as threatening strategies towards opponents’ face, but also as strategies that can play an argumentative role.

Funding

Esta investigación ha sido llevada a cabo en el marco del proyecto Discourse, populism and democracy – Tracking the uses of populism in media and political discourse (TrUMPo) https://discourseonpopulism.wixsite.com/uclouvain/, realizado con el apoyo económico del programa ‘Actions de recherche concertées’ de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

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