Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Numerous instances of appeals to common sense and normality can currently be observed, especially among far-right and nationalist-conservative politicians in Europe and beyond. In Austria, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, among other places, far-right politicians are emphasizing common-sense policies and solutions that entail imaginaries of a ›new normal‹ in a post-crisis society. The promised ›new normal‹ is allegedly better equipped to protect its citizens by returning to an imagined past. In this paper I claim that such appeals are necessarily fallacious because they presuppose an allegedly homogenous epistemic community. Accordingly, a novel political logic is being normalized, superseding rational discourse, deliberation, and expert-led policies.
Author: Ruth Wodak
Institutions: University of Vienna, Lancaster University
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Funder: Universität Wien
OpenAlex ID: W7165040736