No to the ‘mad’ Green Deal, yes to ‘quality’ Czech food : how the far-right populist Freedom and Direct Democracy messages on environmental issues
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Contemporary European Studies |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | article - open access |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2025.2525145 |
| Keywords | Environmental issues and risks; Green Deal; far-right parties; climate scepticism |
| Attached files | |
| Description | This paper is on the discourse on environmental issues, in particular the Green Deal, of the main Czech far-right party, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD). An analysis of the SPD’s positions reveals a strongly negative attitude to transnational initiatives to combat climate change, although the party does not explicitly reject this change itself. The SPD questions the effectiveness of mitigation measures and prefers national solutions, combined with an eclectic and utilitarian emphasis on environmental topics, such as water and food quality. The party takes a Manichean view of the EU and national government, embraces nostalgia and autarky and opposes the Green Deal because of its impact on national sovereignty, industry and personal mobility. The party’s strategy aims to exploit structural opportunities and link arguments against the Green Deal with ideology, especially nativism and hard Euroscepticism. The result is a mix of various elements of environmental populism that are not entirely typical of far-right parties. The SPD thus represents a specific sub-type of a right-wing populist party and is distinguished from some of the smaller far-right groups in Hungary and Poland that seek environmental authenticity. |
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