Is populism a social pathology? The myth of immediacy and its effects

This article argues that populism, both in its left-wing and right-wing versions, is a social pathology in the sense contemporary critical theorists give to it. As such, it suffers from a disconnect between first order political practices and the reflexive grasp of the meaning of those practices. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zamora, J.S (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications Ltd 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
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245 1 0 |a Is populism a social pathology? The myth of immediacy and its effects 
260 0 |b SAGE Publications Ltd  |c 2022 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1177/13684310221094762 
520 3 |a This article argues that populism, both in its left-wing and right-wing versions, is a social pathology in the sense contemporary critical theorists give to it. As such, it suffers from a disconnect between first order political practices and the reflexive grasp of the meaning of those practices. This disconnect is due to populists’ ideal of freedom, which they understand as authentic self-expression of ‘the People’, rejecting the need for mediating instances such as parties, parliaments or epistemic actors. When enacted in political practices and institutions, this ideal creates the conditions for undermining different forms of political freedom, including populist’s own ideal of collective self-expression, which they erode by fostering expressive domination. This all makes populism a self-defeating political ideology and bad candidate for advancing democracy in times of crisis. The article ends with a consideration of the advantages of this view compared to existing approaches to populism. © The Author(s) 2022. 
650 0 4 |a Democracy 
650 0 4 |a expressive domination 
650 0 4 |a freedom 
650 0 4 |a populism 
650 0 4 |a social pathology 
700 1 |a Zamora, J.S.  |e author 
773 |t European Journal of Social Theory