Didier Fassin: The blind spots of left populism

By Dilip -

NB: Aside from its useful political reflections, the most important theoretical insight in this essay is this one: ‘Populism is not an ideology but the discursive strategy that sets up an opposition between the elite and the people and is therefore able to accommodate various institutional frameworks.’ In other words, populism is a rhetorical style that employs a clear cut if undefinable binary opposition; and is employed by variegated ideological projects. DS

In the profusion of essays recently published on populism (Müller 2016, Moffitt 2017, Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser 2017) one stands out for its claim of the term, the idea and the program: Chantal Mouffe’s (2018) manifesto For a Left Populism, which has received much attention from political scientists as well as politicians. Whereas most authors writing on this timely topic distance themselves from what they regard as a nefarious ideology or a treacherous disguise, the Belgian political theorist promotes it as the only way, for the left, to respond effectively to right-wing populism and, like the phoenix, rise from the ashes.

The starting point of her argument is a relatively straightforward political diagnosis, which she develops in four steps (9-24). First, we are living through a populist moment. Populism is not an ideology but the discursive strategy that sets up an opposition between the elite and the people and is therefore able to accommodate various institutional frameworks…

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/rethinking-populism/blind-spots-left-populism/

Agenda for Social Democracy

Jairus Banaji on the Indian corporate strategy of subordinating farm households and family labor

Navsharan Singh: A million reasons to march

Aruna Roy: All citizens should stand with the protesting farmers. At stake is India’s food self-sufficiency and sovereignty

Discussion on Indian Agriculture and the ongoing Kisan agitation

Amit Bhaduri: Faces in mirror held up by farmers’ protest

Can Capitalism and Democracy Coexist?

Defying capitalism and socialism, Kumarappa and Gandhi had imagined a decentralised Indian economy - Venu Madhav Govindu & Deepak Malghan

Amandeep Sandhu on Arthiyas - extract from PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines

Ravinder Kaur: Has Modi finally met his match in India's farmers?

Indian Farmers' Protest - Work in progress videos

STATE OF RURAL AND AGRARIAN INDIA REPORT 2020

P. Sainath: Did You Think the New Laws Were Only About the Farmers? // SCBA president says farm laws 'unconstitutional', offers free services as lawyer to agitating farmers


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