The rights of the Right : How European far-right populist parties instrumentalise human rights rhetoric to mobilise supporters

Sammanfattning: There is a puzzling occurrence in Western Europe: Some far-right populist parties, traditionally seen as antithetical to liberalism, are appropriating liberal rights for their own illiberal ends. On the premise that the parties instrumentalise liberal elements to achieve more legitimacy in a climate of tolerance and respect for human rights in Western Europe, this thesis examines how far-right populist parties use human rights for mobilising purposes. Using Clifford Bob’s four conceptual elements of mobilising human rights rhetoric, in a qualitative content analysis the language of three Western European far-right populist parties is analysed. It is argued that, by drawing from a liberalism of fear, far-right populists frame human rights as a Western achievement, under threat by immigration from Islamic countries and the “corrupt elite” that allows for immigration to continue. By doing so, populists manage to incorporate human rights rhetoric in their mobilisation efforts, without challenging human rights per se.