Engaging Vulnerabilities in the Analysis of Political Hate and Threats: The Case of Nasty Rhetoric in Swedish Climate Politics

Following the course of critical researchers in management and organisation studies, striving to move away from traditional norms of academic writing that has created an empty, homogenous time with a focus on counting rather than content towards a more vertical writing, I dig deep down in this paper along the slope of what touches me deeply – a democratic decline in climate politics. Resonating with my own experiences of hate and threat campaigns, not locking my own vulnerabilities in, I analyse qualitatively the usage, reasons, contents, senders and targets of ‘nasty rhetoric’ in Swedish climate politics, and the implications thereof for democracy. With the 2022 elections to the Swedish parliament, a far-right populist nativist party gained tangible powers dictating the content and process of Swedish climate politics. In less than two years, Swedish climate politics have turned into an antidemocratic divisive politics portraying climate science as “a point of view”, female journalists writing about climate change and climate policy as “crypto environmentalists”, “motherfuckers” and “moron hags” that should be “fired” and “raped”, and the climate justice movement as “terrorists” and “a threat to Swedish democracy” that should be “sent to prison” and “executed”. Such ‘nasty rhetoric’ is used not only by anonymous trolls in social media, but by the prime minister, cabinet ministers and parliamentarians, even in debates in the Swedish parliament. It has inspired the far-right extremist movement to use physical violence. Use of nasty politics aims to silence the opponents to the government’s climate policy, the political opposition, climate scientists, the climate justice movement and journalists, breaching liberal and deliberative democratic norms such as legitimacy, accountability and justice. It is a powerful tactic that leaves its targets with an anxious fear of losing control and often a need for disappearance. Many targets resign or stay silent. I chose to break the silence and write differently about the issue.