Radicalizing Populism and the Making of an Echo Chamber: The Case of the Italian Anti-Vaccination Movement

Abstract

In this article, I call attention to the relation between populist rhetoric and the creation and reinforcement of echo chambers. Looking at the case of the Italian anti-vaccination movement, I demonstrate that populist rhetoric has reshaped the echo chamber in order to politically mobilize it, by focusing its attention towards distrusting a (liberal) epistemic elite, thus further contributing to a post-truth narrative. I further argue that populism and echo chambers in general are conceptually linked through their dichotomous division of society and rejection of legitimate opposition.

Keywords

• echo-chambers
• populism
• anti-vaccination