Disrupting European politics? Rhetorical analysis of MEP Manon Aubry’s politicising strategies in Twitter

ABSTRACT

This article takes a conceptual approach to EU politicisation and analyses the empirical case study of MEP Manon Aubry’s use of Twitter as political activity from a rhetorical perspective. A self-proclaimed ‘activist deputy’ representing La France Insoumise is illustrated of using politicising strategies in Twitter after the European elections in 2019 to assume the representative role of a ‘disruptive outsider’. Here rhetorical analysis is used to answer the question: to what extent Aubry’s use of Twitter was a case of disruption, and whether or not it contributes to EU politicisation? Aubry, who was threatened of a sanction by the President of the European Parliament for inciting the occupation of the plenary by Extinction Rebellion, argued that her political freedom and free speech were under threat. Although the analysis is limited to only one MEP, examining the case study is an effort into conceptualising and advancing future research on disruption in European politics with a contribution in the EU politicisation literature. The aim here is not to provide evidence of how widespread this kind of politicisation is, but it offers material for further research on political careers in the EP aiming at understanding the role of newcomers as potential ‘disruptive outsiders’.

KEYWORDS:

• EU politicisation
• disruption
• 2019 European elections
• rhetorical analysis
• digital parties

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges the financial support from the Tomás y Valiente fellowship programme funded by Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and the Madrid Institute for Advanced Study (MIAS). This article has also been written within the collaborative framework of Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Network “OpenEUdebate: Matching Politics with Policy” (600465-EPP-1-2018-1-ES-EPPJMO-NETWORK) funded by the European Commission. The findings and views presented here, however, are solely those of the author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In the 2018 presidential elections, Mélenchon became third in the first round after Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.

2. For full transcript of Aubry’s Youtube video message, see Appendix 1. Translations from French to English have been made by the author.

3. Here, comparison to the events on January 6^th, 2021, at the US Congress is in order. Extinction Rebellion is a non-violent, international activist organisation. While MEP Aubry was using social media to incite occupation of the EP, she did not call for violence or overthrowing the political regime.

4. ‘Cette lettre me menaçant de sanctions pour un tweet constitue une grave remise en cause de la liberté d’expression des eurodéputés!’.

5. ‘Les ONG pratiquant la désobéissance civique non violente sont-elles désormais interdites de séjour au Parlement? Les députés qui soutiennent leurs actions doivent-ils désormais s’inquiéter de la censure qui pourrait être exercée à leur encontre?’.

6. See https://left.eu/the-left-secures-debate-and-vote-on-qatargate/ (posted on 12 December 2022).