The weaponization of language: Discourses of rising right-wing authoritarianism

Abstract

The modus operandi of far-right political groups is crafted through strategic and systematic relationships between symbolic and material forms of violence. This article considers the discursive strategies currently deployed by rising far-right movements around the globe by examining the weaponization of language – the rapid acceleration of signifying practices that lay the essential cornerstones of material violence. Authoritarian governments weaponize language to amplify resentments, target scapegoats, and to legitimize injustice. The article provides an overview of the discursive strategies being used to expand and consolidate far-right politics. It focuses on four interlocking components of weaponized language: propaganda, disinformation, censorship, and mundane discourse. The article concludes by considering the unique intellectual space sociological studies of language offer for addressing the communicative and social chaos created by right-wing discursive tactics.