Populism, Right-Wing Movements
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Abstract
This paper examines how the Sweden Democrats (SD), a right-wing populist party, constructs moral boundaries within LGBTQ+ identities, challenging dominant homonationalist accounts of the populist radical right. Drawing on symbolic boundary-making and respectability theory, analysis of party manifestos and affiliated media reveals a logic of conditional recognition: rather than outright opposition, the SD differentiate within the category, incorporating discreet, biologically grounded identities while excluding more visible, activist ones. Five interlocking strategies—moralisation, moral panic, appropriation of moral language, moral deflection, and character delegitimation—naturalise this hierarchy by presenting biological essentialism as fact rather than a contestable norm. The paper argues that such intragroup boundary-making functions as a distinct political mechanism, whereby partial inclusion becomes a durable form of exclusion, fragmenting LGBTQ+ solidarity while enabling the party to present itself as a moral guardian rather than a discriminatory actor.
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@article{Vahter2026Drawing,
title = {Drawing moral boundaries: The ‘normal’ and the ‘deviant’ in the Sweden Democrats’ LGBTQ+ discourse},
author = {Marina Vahter},
journal = {Discourse & Society},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1177/09579265261456775},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265261456775}
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