Discursive Analysis of Authoritarian Islamist Populism: The Case of the Justice and Development Party (Morocco)

Abstract

This article analyzes the linguistic modalities constitutive of political populism, with particular attention to its contemporary authoritarian-leaning manifestations. Conceived as a discursive construction or a style of communication (Taguieff, 1997), populist discourse is organized around a charismatic figure who claims a direct relationship with an idealized people, set in opposition to an elite deemed illegitimate and inherently malevolent (Breton, 2009). The study advances the hypothesis that the staging of charismatic power, grounded primarily in conspiratorial logics that generate an atmosphere of insecurity and fear (Wodak, 2015), contributes to reinforcing mechanisms of symbolic and political domination while inhibiting critical reflexivity (Weber, 1971). Drawing on a multidisciplinary approach to discourse analysis (Charaudeau, 2005), broadly open to political science and political psychology, the study examines a corpus of speeches by Abdelillah Benkirane, Secretary-General of the Parti de la justice et du développement (PJD) in Morocco. It demonstrates that the strategic recourse to pathos, aimed at galvanizing the emotional dimension of the supportive masses, tends to weaken pluralism of ideas and to compromise the democratic ideal.