Bulgarian populisms: normalization via migration crisis narratives

Abstract

This article argues that, since 2001, the normalization of populism in Bulgaria has turned populist ideas and practices into enduring features of the political system. Although the authors analyze this process from various angles in their broader research, this article focuses specifically on the construction and dissemination of narratives about the migration crisis. Whereas existing research on Eastern Europe typically emphasizes economic grievances, this article instead examines the mechanisms of normalisation, with particular attention to how migration narratives are used to justify exclusionary policies. One of the article’s main contributions is the introduction of a new typology along synchronic–diachronic axes (anti-elitism–nationalism; analog–digital). Within this framework, a “politics of fear” is shown to transform into “radical demophilia”—a process in which imagined “dangers” legitimize the defense of “the people” and serve as an excuse for the erosion of democratic norms. This approach helps to explain the rise of global authoritarian trends.