Nationalist Rhetoric in Southeast Asia: A Textual Analysis Approach

• In Event: The Conditional Political Consequences of Intergroup Cleavages in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Over the past decade, leaders across the world have been turning to more extreme forms of political rhetoric, such as populism and far-right nationalism. While political scientists have made significant developments toward the conceptualization and measurement of populism, a similar effort has eluded the study of nationalism. Employing new data using textual analysis of leaders' speeches between 2000-present, we explore the variation of nationalist rhetoric in Southeast Asia. Across the region, we observe leaders vary from no use of nationalist rhetoric (rare), to promotion of the in-group (most frequent), all the way to harmful denigration of out-groups. We explore the conditions under which leaders use such rhetoric to develop preliminary theory on the roots of far-right nationalism.

Authors

• Joel Sawat Selway, Brigham Young University

• Kirk A. Hawkins, Brigham Young University

• Adam Roberts, Columbia University