Is There Such a Thing as Populism?: 3 Provocations and 5 1/2 Proposals

Is There Such a Thing as Populism? calls into question our common understanding of populism. Taken on their own, commonplace references to the people, leaders, or elites are more like dog whistles or false positives of populism than part of a serious attempt to address the phenomenon. Scholars asked themselves, ＂What is populism?＂ without realizing that this assumed there was such a thing and that we just needed to figure out what it meant. That was a mistake. Benjamin Arditi proposes that we put this certainty on hold and start from a different premise, asking, ＂Is there such a thing as populism?＂ This doesn’t rule out its existence or take it for granted.

Structured as a set of polemical interventions and theoretical proposals, Arditi addresses key theoretical, methodological, and comparative questions in the study of populism. These include the limitations of formal definitions of populism, the importance of context and the conjuncture, polemics, the situated gaze, and issues concerning strategic relations and governing from below. Five subject experts, Nadia Urbinati, José Luis Villacañas, Carlos de la Torre, Anthoula Malkopoulou, and Anthony Spanakos, react to Arditi’s theses in captivating conversations on how to study populism and the way in which populism has been used in contemporary comparative analysis. Refreshingly different and thought-provoking, Is There Such a Thing as Populism? is the ideal departure for the exploration of this diverse and fascinating political movement.

Benjamin Arditi is professor of political theory at the National University of Mexico, UNAM. He is the author of Politics on the edges of liberalism: difference, populism, revolution, emancipation (Edinburgh 2007). He co-edits the book series Taking on the Political published by Edinburgh University Press. His research focuses on political insurgencies, populism, and illiberal politics.