Book•
On Populist Reason
01 Jan 2005-
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a critical reading of the existing literature on populism, demonstrating its dependency on the basic categories elaborated by theorists of "mass psychology", from Taine and Le Bon to Tarde, McDougall and Freud.
Abstract: In this new and highly original work Ernesto Laclau continues the philosophical and political exploration initiated in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time and Emancipation(s). his topic here is the construction of popular identities, conceived in a wide sense covering the ensemble of strategies making possible the emergence of the 'people' as a collective actor. The book skilfully combines theoretical analysis with a myriad of empirical references from numerous historical and geographical contexts. The first part presents a critical reading of the existing literature on populism, demonstrating its dependency on the basic categories elaborated by theorists of 'mass psychology', from Taine and Le Bon to Tarde, McDougall and Freud. The second part forms the main theoretical core of the work, where the question of the emergence of the 'people' as a political and social force is treated. Several categories already present in Laclau's work - such as empty and floating signifiers, hegemony and heterogeneity - are developed here in new and innovative directions. In particular, the relation of populism to democracy and to the logic of representation is given special emphasis. The third part is devoted to particular case studies of both the conditions leading to the emergence of the 'people' and the obstacles preventing its formation. Finally, in a concluding chapter, Laclau locates the question of popular identities within the context of a globalized world and differentiates his approach from those of other theoreticians such as Zizek, Hardt and Negri and Ranciere. This book is essential reading for all those interested in the question of political identities in present-day societies.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between 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.
Abstract: 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.
989 citations
Cites background from "On Populist Reason"
...In this part, we shall chart the characteristics of populism (see, among others, Canovan, 1999; 2005; Laclau, 2005; Mudde, 2004; Žižek, 2006a) as they are expressed in mainstream climate concerns....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the present consensual vision of the urban environment presenting a clear and present danger annuls the properly political moment and contributes to what a number of authors have defined as the emergence and consolidation of a postpolitical and post-democratic condition.
Abstract: In recent years, urban research has become increasingly concerned with the social, political and economic implications of the techno-political and socio-scientific consensus that the present unsustainable and unjust environmental conditions require a transformation of the way urban life is organized. In the article, I shall argue that the present consensual vision of the urban environment presenting a clear and present danger annuls the properly political moment and contributes to what a number of authors have defined as the emergence and consolidation of a postpolitical and postdemocratic condition. This will be the key theme developed in this contribution. First, I shall attempt to theorize and re-centre the political as a pivotal moment in urban political-ecological processes. Second, I shall argue that the particular staging of the environmental problem and its modes of management signals and helps to consolidate a postpolitical condition, one that evacuates the properly political from the plane of immanence that underpins any political intervention. The consolidation of an urban postpolitical condition runs, so I argue, parallel to the formation of a postdemocratic arrangement that has replaced debate, disagreement and dissensus with a series of technologies of governing that fuse around consensus, agreement, accountancy metrics and technocratic environmental management. In the third part, I maintain that this postpolitical consensual police order revolves decidedly around embracing a populist gesture. However, the disappearance of the political in a postpolitical arrangement leaves all manner of traces that allow for the resurfacing of the properly political. This will be the theme of the final section. I shall conclude that re-centring the political is a necessary condition for tackling questions of urban environmental justice and for creating egalibertarian socio-ecological urban assemblages.
728 citations
Cites background from "On Populist Reason"
...Populism, contra Laclau’s defence (Laclau, 2005), becomes the symptomatic expression of a postpolitical condition....
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...In this part, we shall chart the characteristics of populism (see, among others, Canovan, 1999; Laclau, 2005; Mouffe, 2005; Žižek, 2005b; 2006a) and how this is reflected in mainstream urban environmental concerns....
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TL;DR: The authors put forward an inductive model of populism as a political style and contextualised it within the increasingly stylised and mediatised milieu of contemporary politics by focusing on its performative features.
Abstract: As a key feature of the contemporary political landscape, populism stands as one of the most contentious concepts in political science. This article presents a critique of dominant conceptions of populism – as ideology, logic, discourse and strategy/organisation – and introduces the category of ‘political style’ as a new compelling way of thinking about the phenomenon. We argue that this new category captures an important dimension of contemporary populism that is missed by rival approaches. In doing so, we put forward an inductive model of populism as a political style and contextualise it within the increasingly stylised and mediatised milieu of contemporary politics by focusing on its performative features. We conclude by considering how this concept allows us to understand how populism appears across the political spectrum, how it translates into the political mainstream and its implications for democratic politics.
541 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that the national populisms of Northern and Western Europe form a distinctive cluster within the wider north Atlantic and pan-European populist conjuncture, and that they are distinctive i...
Abstract: This paper argues that the national populisms of Northern and Western Europe form a distinctive cluster within the wider north Atlantic and pan-European populist conjuncture. They are distinctive i...
504 citations
TL;DR: This article developed a definition of populism, populism as discourse, and defined a quantitative measure of populism by creating a quantitative measur to measure the extent of populism in the discourse of the 2016 US election.
Abstract: This article pushes forward our understanding of populism by developing one of the more underappreciated definitions of populism, populism as discourse It does so by creating a quantitative measur
430 citations