Comment: the tribal evolution of Vox and the recent protests in Spain
“Felipe the Doormat”, "Spain is Christian and not Muslim", Hail Marys at protests. Liberals ousted. Abascal: the nation "is in the cementeries where our forebears rest". Party drops to 11% in polls.
The worldview of Vox and the new global radical right in their own words
4 scenarios for Sánchez's amnesty deal with Catalan separatists
What does Sánchez's reappointment as PM mean for Spanish politics?
There was no political backstabbing, no other institution stopped it and the radical right managed to avoid doing anything really stupid. Sánchez is now PM until 2027. The amnesty deal is done. Puigdemont might even be packing his bags to come home already. The right held a big march in Madrid on Saturday, now pointless beyond tribal freedom of expression with Sánchez newly reinstalled in the PM’s office. Beyond all that, the evolution, or some might say the involution, of Vox has been noteworthy since the summer. Remember that Vox initially grew out of traditionalist discontent with Rajoy’s PP (abortion, ETA victims) and then on the back of Catalan separatism, before they started hammering the xenophobic anti-immigrant rhetoric.
By last year, looking at the words and frames and narratives that Vox and other far- or alt- or radical-right parties in the world were using to describe themselves, some key themes were emerging across the board: exclusion, tribal othering, us vs. them, national identity, Christianity and God, Christian traditions, populist historical references, etc., which made them very against African, Arab and Muslim immigration, global elites and the woke left. The global debate about “alt-right” vs. “far-right” vs. “fascist” or even “nazi” continues, but the themes were evident in the little show they put on in Madrid and in the speeches given and messages sent by Trump, Cruz, Meloni, Abascal, Orban, Morawiecki and the rest. All with national references but all very much in the same ideological ball park.
How have recent events held up in light of that ideological background? Do the new street protests corroborate the worldview or contrast with it?
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