Professor Rens Vliegenthart receives Vici grant

The €1.5 million grant will enable him to conduct further research and extend his research group. Vliegenthart plans to use this grant to explore how politicians and political parties use discontent and polarisation to achieve their goals. To what extent do they deploy the language of discontent, and how does this affect electoral support and trust? And does this kind of communication also influence political decision-making?

Here is what Vliegenthart has to say about it: ‘I’m incredibly happy with this grant. The application process took almost a year. I’m very much looking forward to doing this research. The subject matter is seamlessly attuned to our times. We live in an era of digitalisation and polarisation. In the Netherlands, we have this basic assumption that there are lots of angry citizens. My question is: How do politicians use this anger and discontent and deploy it in what I call 'discontent framing'? How common is this kind of framing, and in what area is it used? Is it only populist parties that deploy this kind of communication, or is it mainstream and do parties like PvdA (Labour Party) or VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy) also use it as a tool? How does discontent framing affect public opinion, our voting preferences and policy processes?’

Climate change, Covid and immigration

Vliegenthart wants to move beyond clichés and assumptions. His heart lies with empirical research: ‘I’m interested in this precise form of communication: How does it really work?’ The assumptions that are currently going around are precisely what triggers him: ‘There is this widespread belief that angry citizens are responsible for polarisation, but is that really true? Is this polarisation real? I want to measure all this myself. There are indications that the situation is not as dire as we might think. People keep saying that the Netherlands is pretty much on fire because of discontent, but is that really the case? I plan to do content analysis, analyse images and photographs, use existing opinion polls and set out new ones myself. Anything to expose the mechanisms behind the assumptions. In this context, I focus on topics such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and immigration. These are typically issues around which polarisation can arise and that can be used by politicians.’

Disinformation

You might be tempted to think that politicians are not really deploying this sense of discontent on purpose. But that is one thing Vliegenthart is sure of: ‘I’m now at a point where I can go so far as to say that a lot of communication by politicians is strategically driven. It is deliberate, as shown by much of the existing research. But how is it done, through what media and what is the effect? That is what I want to find out. Ultimately, I hope that this research will contribute to people becoming aware of how these kinds of processes unfold and becoming more critical. This knowledge can be used in secondary schools, for example, to teach young people what misinformation and disinformation are, and how polarisation arises.’

There are still many open questions to be answered says Vliegenthart: ‘For example, framing in itself is not a bad thing. We all look at the world from our own perspective and communicate a limited interpretation of reality. But I’m talking about discontent framing, using discontent in your communication. In some cases, this may involve the use of disinformation. At the same time, accusing someone of disinformation is also a phenomenon worth studying. Where does it come from? And why is it also so common these days? Another thing we don’t actually know yet is how effective this type of communication is: When does it work, and when doesn't it?’

Keek op de Week

In his lectures, Vliegenthart often uses an example from ‘Keek op de Week’, a sketch by comedy duo Van Kooten and De Bie: ‘Back in 1977, Van Kooten and De Bie were already concerned about polarisation, which they blamed on the media. It just goes to show that concerns that we think of as very new or current have often been around for much longer. Wageningen is an ideal place to explore discontent and polarisation in communication. We work on important issues, such as the nitrogen crisis, in which polarisation and discontent repeatedly play a leading role, as we saw with the farmers and their tractors. Understanding these processes better is the ultimate goal.’