Bordering Inclusion and Exclusion in the Discourses of Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour

This paper focuses on the discursive construction of borders and discourses of exclusion and inclusion in French right-wing populist discourse. It elaborates on the idea of the politicization of borders in contemporary political communication and their symbolic meaning as an expression of national sovereignty, security, and identity. Using the approach of discourse analysis, the author investigates how bordering discourses were employed by Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour during the 2022 presidential campaign. The empirical analysis focuses on the parties’ programs, candidates’ discourses, and their social media communication. This offers valuable insights into how political actors construct borders and shape ‘us’ and ‘them’ groups. Keywords: populism, discourse analysis, borders, othering, inclusion, exclusion.