PANEL 12- Theoretical Approaches to Populism: Past, Present and Future
Convenors: Giuseppe Ballacci and Pedro Pinheiro
All inquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected] or [email protected]
That of populism is a well-established field of study that spans different disciplines and methodologies in the social sciences, including political theory. The burgeoning of studies on this topic has made possible an increasing systematization of the debate. One obvious example in this regard concerns the very conceptualization of populism. If until recently it was common to find complaints about the lack of consensus on how to define populism, today the main definitional approaches to populism can be clearly identified. Such systematization, however, has certainly not made less urgent the task of assessing theoretically populism and its implications for liberal democracy. Quite the contrary, it could be argued that precisely the consolidation of, at least in part, alternative approaches – the ideational, strategic and discursive/performative approaches, to name the leading ones - has raised a number of further important questions. For instance, to the extent that we understand populism as a set of discursive and performative practices how can we explain its articulation in both right and left-wing directions? If some discursive and performative practices are said to engender right-wing forms of populism whereas others left-wing ones, can we still refer to populism as it were a single phenomenon? On the other hand, if we define populism in ideological terms, can we neglect the political import of its discursive and performative repertoire without running the risk of losing something essential to its nature? Additionally, does not the prioritization of the strategic dimension in populism compel us to ask whether such dimension is related to a particular vision of society and explore the ways in which the political relationships it establishes between the elites and the people are created and maintained?
Furthermore, a key aspect continues to elude the theorists of populism: its assessment from a historical perspective. In effect, despite being a relatively recent phenomenon, populism has evident links with a wide range of longstanding topics in the history of political thought such as demagoguery, popular sovereignty, political representation, civic education, and so on. Thus, discussing populism through the lens of the history of political thought can certainly contribute to better understand both its peculiarity and its analogies with other phenomena of the past.
In brief, this panel aims to discuss different kind of questions related to the past, present, and future of the theoretical debate on populism. If you want to apply, please submit an abstract, of 400-500 words along with five keywords, of your paper prepared for peer review by 17 April 2022. We will respond by 28 April 2022. All proposals must be submitted online through our website using the Abstract submission Form (please, click “Submit Abstract” and fill the form).
All inquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected] or [email protected]
That of populism is a well-established field of study that spans different disciplines and methodologies in the social sciences, including political theory. The burgeoning of studies on this topic has made possible an increasing systematization of the debate. One obvious example in this regard concerns the very conceptualization of populism. If until recently it was common to find complaints about the lack of consensus on how to define populism, today the main definitional approaches to populism can be clearly identified. Such systematization, however, has certainly not made less urgent the task of assessing theoretically populism and its implications for liberal democracy. Quite the contrary, it could be argued that precisely the consolidation of, at least in part, alternative approaches – the ideational, strategic and discursive/performative approaches, to name the leading ones - has raised a number of further important questions. For instance, to the extent that we understand populism as a set of discursive and performative practices how can we explain its articulation in both right and left-wing directions? If some discursive and performative practices are said to engender right-wing forms of populism whereas others left-wing ones, can we still refer to populism as it were a single phenomenon? On the other hand, if we define populism in ideological terms, can we neglect the political import of its discursive and performative repertoire without running the risk of losing something essential to its nature? Additionally, does not the prioritization of the strategic dimension in populism compel us to ask whether such dimension is related to a particular vision of society and explore the ways in which the political relationships it establishes between the elites and the people are created and maintained?
Furthermore, a key aspect continues to elude the theorists of populism: its assessment from a historical perspective. In effect, despite being a relatively recent phenomenon, populism has evident links with a wide range of longstanding topics in the history of political thought such as demagoguery, popular sovereignty, political representation, civic education, and so on. Thus, discussing populism through the lens of the history of political thought can certainly contribute to better understand both its peculiarity and its analogies with other phenomena of the past.
In brief, this panel aims to discuss different kind of questions related to the past, present, and future of the theoretical debate on populism. If you want to apply, please submit an abstract, of 400-500 words along with five keywords, of your paper prepared for peer review by 17 April 2022. We will respond by 28 April 2022. All proposals must be submitted online through our website using the Abstract submission Form (please, click “Submit Abstract” and fill the form).