Dog whistle (politik)

Inden for politik er et dog whistle (oversat til dansk: "hundefløjte") brugen af et kodet eller suggestivt sprog i politiske budskaber for at opnå støtte fra en bestemt gruppe uden at provokere modstandere. Konceptet er opkaldt efter ultralydshundefløjter, der bruges af hyrder, og som er hørbare for hunde, men ikke mennesker.

Dog whistle bruger sprog, der forekommer normalt for et flertal af folk, men kommunikerer et kodet budskab til specifikke målgrupper. De bruges dermed generelt til at formidle budskaber om emner, der sandsynligvis vil fremprovokere kontroverser, uden at tiltrække negativ opmærksomhed. Et eksempel kan være brugen af udtrykket "familieværdier" (engelsk: "family values") i USA for at signalere til kristne, at en kandidat ville støtte politikker, der fremmer kristne værdier uden at fremmedgøre ikke-kristne tilhængere.^[1] En andet eksempel kan være brugen af udtrykket "internationale bankfolk" for at signalere til racister, at en kandidat er antisemitisk uden at fremmedgøre ikke-racistiske tilhængere.^[2]

Flere har påpeget, at det er svært at afgøre, om påståede dog whistles faktisk er ment som dog whistles. Således går denne kritik på, at begrebet dog whistle tillader, at udefrakommende kan overanalysere politisk tale og påstå, at nogen siger noget, som ikke er forendeligt med det faktiske bogstavelige indhold af det taleren siger.^[3] Omvendt argumenterer andre for, at netop dette medvirker til at give afsenderen dét, som betegnes, "plausibel benægtelse", der er en af nøgleegenskaberne ved dog whistle og har været medvirkende til dets udbredelse.

Referencer

^ Albertson, Bethany. "Dog-Whistle Politics: Multivocal Communication and Religious Appeals". Research Gate. Hentet 10. juni 2020. ("religious appeals that signal particular faith communities may not be persuasive. Indeed, people may even develop more negative attitudes towards a politician who makes an overt religious appeal when it is clear that they are not part of the ingroup.... Given that there is religious diversity in the United States, the unique appeal of multivocal language is that it allows politicians to speak directly to like-minded others, communicating to them common ground and shared values, while those who do not share this perspective remain oblivious.")
^ Olasov, Ian (7. november 2016). "Offensive political dog whistles: you know them when you hear them. Or do you?". Vox. Hentet 1. juli 2020. While many people might hear "international banks" quite literally... antisemites hear something very different. After all, the supposed existence of a cabal of international Jewish bankers working to undermine US democracy is a recurring theme in American antisemitism.
^ Bailey, Ronald (10. juli 2020). "Steven Pinker Beats Cancel Culture Attack". Reason magazine. Hentet 25. september 2020.

[Zpkd3-1] Albertson, Bethany. "Dog-Whistle Politics: Multivocal Communication and Religious Appeals". Research Gate. Hentet 10. juni 2020. ("religious appeals that signal particular faith communities may not be persuasive. Indeed, people may even develop more negative attitudes towards a politician who makes an overt religious appeal when it is clear that they are not part of the ingroup.... Given that there is religious diversity in the United States, the unique appeal of multivocal language is that it allows politicians to speak directly to like-minded others, communicating to them common ground and shared values, while those who do not share this perspective remain oblivious.")

[vox_big_idea-2] Olasov, Ian (7. november 2016). "Offensive political dog whistles: you know them when you hear them. Or do you?". Vox. Hentet 1. juli 2020. While many people might hear "international banks" quite literally... antisemites hear something very different. After all, the supposed existence of a cabal of international Jewish bankers working to undermine US democracy is a recurring theme in American antisemitism.

[Reason_Pinker-3] Bailey, Ronald (10. juli 2020). "Steven Pinker Beats Cancel Culture Attack". Reason magazine. Hentet 25. september 2020.

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