New chances for attracting attention: the extreme right and radical right in Swiss public communication, 1960-2005

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is the attention that has been paid to the extreme right and radical right in Switzerland. Using a longitudinal analysis (1960-2005) of articles and reports in leading media outlets and of debates in the parliamentary arena, we argue that the (growing) resonance of the extreme right and radical right depends on the salience of a rigid ‘semantics of difference’ in public communication. Awareness of the extreme right and radical right increases in the context of an intensified political conflict about what ought to be considered as extreme or radical. The ‘new structural transformation of the public sphere’ has also led to increasing coverage given to scandals, conflicts and taboo-breaking; that creates favourable opportunity structures for the extreme right and radical right and provides these actors with new chances of attracting attention.