Facebook populism: mediatized narratives of exclusionary nationalism in the Philippines

Abstract

Nationalism is presumed to promote individual and collective freedoms. Under contemporary populism, however, its inclusive vision is reformatted toward an ‘us-versus-them’ form. Against the backdrop of media populism, this article shows how exclusionary nationalism hinges on the communicative might of Facebook which forms part of the bigger project of mediatization of politics in Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines. Through a reading of Duterte pages and interviews with journalists, it examines the prominent themes and narratives that stitch the ‘pro-Duterte’ and ‘anti-critics’ divide. The former is characterized by pro-masses icon, mainstreaming of infrastructure programmes, and police military forces, and the latter by anti-indigenous hate, homogenization of opposition, and red-tagging. The implications of these narratives on media populism are presented.