Abstract
Populism emerges on the terrain of modern civil society, and yet it ultimately entails existential risks for civil society’s fundamentals: populism’s essentialist stance betrays a deep tension with the principle of plurality upon which civil society and liberal democracy are founded. This chapter focuses on the work of EU-Level CSOs, which have emerged as key actors in the anti-discrimination fight at the communitarian level over the last years. Their work involves campaigning tasks such as mapping discriminatory acts, re-framing of public discourse, and lobbying at the European level. Drawing on a document and text analysis, the chapter explores the work of EU-based NGOs and asks to what extent they build a counter-narrative, alternative to the exclusionary discourse implemented especially by right-wing politics. To this end, this chapter focuses on the main EU-Level CSOs working on gender, race, religion, and migration.
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Notes
- 1.
European Commission, Speech. Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations: Address at the Civil Society Forum on Southern Neighbourhood, 28 May 2015.
- 2.
CSOs’ Joint Press Release, January 2015.
- 3.
European Commission, Speech by Commissioner Jourová, 10 years of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency: A Call to Action in Defence of Fundamental Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law, 28 February 2017.
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Cossarini, P. (2021). Civil Society as Anti-Populism? Countering the Populist Threat and Campaigning for Change in the Discourse of EU-Level CSOs. In: Ruzza, C., Berti, C., Cossarini, P. (eds) The Impact of Populism on European Institutions and Civil Society. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73411-4_9
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