This article interrogates the relationship between two apparently disjointed themes: the consensual presentation and mainstreaming of the global problem of climate change on the one hand and the debate in political theory/philosophy that centers around the emergence and consolidation of a post-political and post-democratic condition on the other. The argument advanced in this article attempts to tease out this apparently paradoxical condition. On the one hand, the climate is seemingly politicized as never before and has been propelled high on the policy agenda. On the other hand, a number of increasingly influential political philosophers insist on how the post-politicization (or de-politicization) of the public sphere (in parallel and intertwined with processes of neoliberalization) have been key markers of the political process over the past few decades. We proceed in four steps. First, we briefly outline the basic contours of the argument and its premises. Second, we explore the ways in which the present climate conundrum is predominantly staged through the mobilization of particular apocalyptic imaginaries. Third, we argue that this specific (re-)presentation of climate change and its associated policies is sustained by decidedly populist gestures. Finally, we discuss how this particular choreographing of climate change is one of the arenas through which a post-political frame and post-democratic political configuration have been mediated.

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Apocalypse Forever? Post-political Populism and the Spectre of Climate Change

The close empirical connections between populism and nationalism have naturalised a rather misleading overlap between the concepts of populism and nationalism in academic and public debates. As a result, the relation between the two has not received much systematic attention. Drawing on the poststructuralist discourse theory originally formulated by Laclau and Mouffe, this article differentially identifies populism and nationalism as distinct ways of discursively constructing and claiming to represent “the people”, as underdog and as nation respectively. These distinct constructions of “the people” can also be identified and highlighted from a spatial or orientational perspective, by looking at the architectonics of populism and nationalism as revolving around a down/up (vertical) and an in/out (horizontal) axis respectively. Building on this framework, the article then concludes that the co-occurrence of populism and nationalism should be studied through the prism of articulation. Again, a focus on discu...

Distinctions and Articulations: A Discourse Theoretical Framework for the Study of Populism and Nationalism

Humans have adapted to the chronic hypoxia of high altitude in several locations, and recent genome-wide studies have indicated a genetic basis. In some populations, genetic signatures have been identified in the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway, which orchestrates the transcriptional response to hypoxia. In Tibetans, they have been found in the HIF2A (EPAS1) gene, which encodes for HIF-2α, and the prolyl hydroxylase domain protein 2 (PHD2, also known as EGLN1) gene, which encodes for one of its key regulators, PHD2. High-altitude adaptation may be due to multiple genes that act in concert with one another. Unraveling their mechanism of action can offer new therapeutic approaches toward treating common human diseases characterized by chronic hypoxia.

/pdf/human-high-altitude-adaptation-forward-genetics-meets-the-1j0m811urs.pdf

Human high-altitude adaptation: forward genetics meets the HIF pathway

We explore the relationship between populist attitudes and conspiratorial beliefs on the individual level with two studies using American samples. First, we test whether and what kinds of conspiratorial beliefs predict populist attitudes. Our results show that belief in conspiracies with greedy, but not necessarily purely evil, elites are associated with populism. Second, we test whether having a conspiratorial mentality is associated with all separate sub-dimensions of populist attitudes – people-centrism, anti-elitism, and a good-versus-evil view of politics. Results show a relation only with the first two, confirming the common tendency of both discourses to see the masses as victims on elites’ hands. These findings contribute to research on the correlates of populism at the individual level, which is essential to understanding why this phenomenon is so strong in contemporary democracies.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/spsr.12270

The Elite Is Up to Something: Exploring the Relation Between Populism and Belief in Conspiracy Theories

In political theory it goes without saying that the constitution of government raises a claim for legitimacy. With the constitution of the people, however, it is different. It is often dismissed as a historical question. The conviction is that since the people cannot decide on its own composition the boundaries of democracy must be determined by other factors, such as the contingent forces of history. This article critically assesses this view. It argues that like the constitution of government, the constitution of the people raises a claim for legitimacy. The failure to see this is what makes many theorists run into the arms of history. They submit the legitimacy of the people to the arbitrary and asymmetrical forces of the present.

Marie Meyer

Papers

For the people.