Chernobrov, D. orcid.org/0000-0002-6598-0412 (2019) Who is the modern ‘traitor’? ‘Fifth column’ accusations in US and UK politics and media. Politics, 39 (3). pp. 347-362. ISSN 0263-3957
Abstract
Accusations of treason and disloyalty have been increasingly visible in both western and international politics in recent years, from Russia and Turkey, to Brexit and the 2016 US presidential election. This article explores “traitor” accusations in modern politics, with evidence from British and American newspapers for 2011-2016. Besides British and American politics, results reveal reported “fifth column” accusations in over 40 countries. I identify three dominant patterns: authoritarian states describing opposition movements as a “fifth column”; suspicion of western Muslim populations as potential terrorists; and the use of traitor language to denote party dissent in western politics. Employed across the political spectrum, and not only by right-wing or populist movements, accusations of treason and betrayal point at a deeper breakdown of social trust and communicate collective securitizing responses to perceived threats.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | Brexit; political opposition; exclusion; Muslims; securitization |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Journalism Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Feb 2018 16:05 |
Last Modified: | 07 Oct 2020 10:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0263395718776215 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:127766 |