Seven Essays on Populism

Paula Biglieri is Professor of Politics at the University of Buenos Aires and at the La Plata National UniversityLuciana Cadahia is Visiting Professor at Cornell University, and Researcher at FLACSO-Ecuador

• Foreword — Wendy BrownIntroductionEssay 1. The Secret of PopulismThe returns of populismModernization, class struggle, and the constitutive dimension of the politicalPopulism as ontology of the politicalEssay 2. Neither Left nor Right: Populism without ApologyPopulism, left and right?Is all populism right-wing?Just populismPopulism without apologyEssay 3. Against Neoliberal Fascism: From Sacrificial Identity to Egalitarian SingularityIs populism a form of neoliberalism?The prejudices of the anti-communist liberal leftAutonomism: opium of the peoplePopulism as transitional object?Populism: antithesis of neoliberalismEssay 4. Profaning the Public: The Plebeian Dimension of Republican Populism Is populism anti-institutionalist?Ruptural institutionalityPlebeian republicanismRepublican populism?Essay 5. Toward an Internationalist Populism The beautiful souls of pure causesThe people and its leaderToward an internationalist populismEssay 6. The Absent Cause of Populist Militancy Post-foundationalism and the absence of guaranteesNeither the cemetery nor the madhouseThe three militant questionsEssay 7. We Populists are FeministsLet’s imagine the futureFeminism without identitarian closurePopulist feminism (or the antagonism of care)Feminist populism (or the homeland is the other) BibliographyNotesIndex

“Debates on populism are currently facing a huge challenge: to move beyond obsolete euro-centric and post-democratic myths and stereotypes. Biglieri and Cadahia demonstrate that a strong comparative angle can greatly assist in this effort and that the Latin American experience is crucial for a much-needed reorientation towards a truly reflexive discussion of populism. Yet, this book cannot be reduced to one more micro-scale social-scientific analysis from a “local” perspective. This is rigorous theoretical reflection & committed democratic argumentation at its best!”Yannis Stavrakakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki