“The People Must Be Extracted from Within the People”: Reflections on Populism

Müller, Jan‐Werner

doi:10.1111/1467-8675.12126

Cited by 131 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This distinction can be a useful one for Essex School discourse analysis especially in light of the common criticism that Laclau's theory of populism fails to adequately account for what is political but not populist (Rovira Kaltwasser, 2012;Müller, 2014). By taking into account how "the people" is constructed as a criterion for distinguishing between populist and non-populist logics, the populist/reductionist distinction takes another step away from a strictly "formalist" theory of populism (Stavrakakis, 2004) and towards greater conceptual nuance in understanding phenomena generalised all too readily as "(rightwing) populist" (Glynos and Mondon, 2016;De Cleen and Stavrakakis, 2017;Stavrakakis et al, 2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The populism of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): an extended Essex School perspective

Kim

2017

Palgrave Commun

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This paper seeks to draw on the tools of Ernesto Laclau's theory of discourse, hegemony and populism as well as recent Essex School work on populism to examine the discourse of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and, in the process, come closer to a more systematic understanding of nature and limits of right-wing populism as well as the interplay and distinction between populist and non-populist discursive logics more generally. The paper situates itself in the context of existing Essex School work that has distinguished populism from institutionalism-and, more recently, from nationalism -in terms of either the length of the equivalential chain or the centrality of "the people" as nodal point in addition to the degree of antagonistic division between "people" and "power." Building on this latter strand in the recent work of Yannis Stavrakakis and others, this paper proposes a formal distinction between populism and reductionism as internal to Laclau's theory of populism. Reductionism, it is argued, tends to reduce "the people" onto a differential particularity that sets a priori limits on the equivalential chain as opposed to constructing it as a tendentially empty signifier attached to an open-ended chain-producing a tendential closure of the equivalential chain and thus undercutting the primacy of the logic of equivalence that is fundamental to Laclau's understanding of populism and subsequent Essex School applications of it. It is argued that predominantly ethno-, cultural-or nativist-reductionist discourses may nonetheless deploy a populist logic of partial openings in the equivalential chain, especially through the selective equivalential incorporation of sexual or ethno-linguistic minorities against a common (often "Islamic") constitutive outside. This is demonstrated empirically in a discourse analysis of the AfD and its development from a "competition populism" into an ethno-culturally reductionist conception of "the people" coexisting with partial openings in relation to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and RussianGermans in the Berlin context in particular.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The populism of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): an extended Essex School perspective

Kim

2017

Palgrave Commun

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“…Contributing to this robust body of work, my investigation of Randazzo's supposed betrayal elucidates how personalist fetishizations of the leader shape populist cosmologies. Reactions to Randazzo's letter illustrate how these cosmologies reify individuals, investing them with superhuman abilities—as uniquely capable of representing popular will (Chatterjee 2019; Müller 2014; Sánchez 2016).…”

Section: Studies Of Populism Personalism and Fellowshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Embrace You with the Affection and Loyalty of Always”: Personalism and Exchange in Argentine Populism

Fierman

2020

J Latin Amer Carib Anth

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R e s u m e n Este artículo examina una acusación de traición dentro del Movimiento Kirchnerista de Argentina, en los meses previos a las elecciones presidenciales de 2015. La presidenta, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, líder del Frente para el Partido de la Victoria, no podía postularse para la presidencia después de servir dos mandatos consecutivos. Para evitar una elección primaria disputada, le pide un favor a su querido asesor, Florencio Randazzo, quien, a su vez, se niega a llevarlo a cabo. La negativa de Randazzo es considerada como una traición abyecta por muchos kirchneristas. Asimismo, muchos kirchneristas simpatizan con la situación de Randazzo, creyendo que Kirchner había maltratado a su leal funcionario y no lo contrario. La valorización de la lealtad de ambas partes inevitablemente conduce a una obsesiva preocupación por la traición. Apelando a las teorías de reciprocidad e intercambio para investigar la dinámica tensa entre la jerarquía y el igualitarismo en la política kirchnerista, este artículo muestra cómo las diferentes interpretaciones de las acciones de Randazzo y Kirchner exponen la lealtad y la camaradería populistas al ser inherentemente precarias. [Kirchnerismo, populismo, Argentina, lealtad, traición]

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“…1 Some scholars working outside the Essex School of discourse analysis have also used the notion of anti-populism. See, for instance, Krastev (2007), Müller (2014), and Verbeek and Zaslove (2016). 2 The relationship between populism, institutionalism and anti-populism is addressed only in a footnote in Stavrakakis, Katsambekis, Kioupkiolis, Nikisianis, and Siomos (2017), in which institutionalism and anti-populism are presented as synonymous.…”

Section: Acknowledgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11Some scholars working outside the Essex School of discourse analysis have also used the notion of anti‐populism. See, for instance, Krastev (), Müller (), and Verbeek and Zaslove ().…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond populism and institutionalism: Anti‐populism and the management of austerity in Spain

Miró

2018

Constellations

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“The People Must Be Extracted from Within the People”: Reflections on Populism

Cited by 131 publications

References 2 publications

The populism of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): an extended Essex School perspective

The populism of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): an extended Essex School perspective

“I Embrace You with the Affection and Loyalty of Always”: Personalism and Exchange in Argentine Populism

Beyond populism and institutionalism: Anti‐populism and the management of austerity in Spain

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