This volume fills a major void in the study as of populism, as it pulls together different strands of scholarship that highlight populism's socio-cultural and performative dimensions. The editors and other contributors build on the foundations of Laclau's discursive approach to analyse the relational character of populist appeals, the cultural construction of populist identities, and the performative element in populist practices. The contributors illustrate the utility of these conceptual and theoretical insights through case studies of populism from around the world. This is an original and pathbreaking book, one that is sure to shape the agenda of populism studies for many years to come.
Kenneth M. Roberts, Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government, Cornell University
Hitherto, even most sympathetic theories of populism have recoiled from the corporeality of populist politics. This wonderful volume does more than put empirical flesh on the bones of theoretical abstraction; it takes the flaunting fleshiness of populist politics as its starting point.
William Mazzarella, Neukom Family Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago
One cannot understand contemporary politics without understanding populism, and this anthology offers a cornucopia of theoretical and empirical insights about the concept and its multiple and protean uses around the world. It is a scholarly achievement of the highest order.
Michael Kazin, Professor of History, Georgetown University
In the increasingly crowded space of populist studies, Populism in Global Perspective stands out as a pathbreaker: it inaugurates a post-Laclauian approach to populism. The authors take on board Laclau's discourse-theoretical framework and move it in another direction by offering a refreshing sociological grounding to the formalistic arguments about empty signifiers, the leader, and the people. For the authors, the name of the leader is not empty but full of life, with multifaceted and contradictory meanings that allow for many different forms of identification: it is an overflowing signifier. They see no point in talking about the purity or goodness of the people because for them the populist plebs is an embodied, damaged, angry, unheard, unrepresented and emotionally charged actor. Theirs is a political argument. Populism is about a performative constitution of a people that have been wronged and want to do something about it. And unlike Laclau's flirtation with a Jacobin view of the populist mobilization, the authors understand the staging of this wrong as an exercise in populist citizenship to challenge the institutional setting, either to replace it or to expand its democratic boundaries. These are the building blocks of the post-Laclauian drive in the contributions to this volume.
Benjamin Arditi, Professor of Politics, National University of Mexico (UNAM)
Few doubt the challenges and opportunities posed by the resurgence of populist politics in the current political conjuncture. Populism in Global Perspective: A Performative and Discursive Approach is an excellent collection of essays and reflections, which brings together leading experts in the field to problematize and engage with the populist moment. Articulating and developing a distinctive perspective, while injecting a valuable comparative and global focus, the volume adds vital theoretical, methodological, and substantive contributions to characterize and explain a pressing political issue across a range of highly pertinent cases.
David Howarth, Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex
What is populism, and how should we respond to the recent populist 'explosion'? The questions have been posed many times from many different perspectives, but compelling answers remain elusive. This fine collection is therefore a welcome addition to the literature offering a much-needed global and comparative perspective often lacking in other works. The editors are to be congratulated in assembling a stellar cast of contributors. Between them they cast much-needed light on these pressing matters, resulting in a thought-provoking volume that will be essential reading for everyone interested in perhaps the key political phenomenon of our age.
Simon Tormey, Dean of the Faculty of Social Scienses and Law, University of Bristol
This volume constitutes a major contribution to the study of contemporary populism. With its broad range of diverse cases, its fair and balanced treatment of the populist phenomenon, both left and right, and its theoretical richness, it stands out in the field. A masterful tribute to the groundbreaking work of Ernsto Laclau, it extends and enriches his insights by illustrating the central importance of style and performance for the understanding of populism's appeal. Its innovative and theoretically sophisticated approach is bound to challenge and inspire anyone interested in the appeal of contemporary populism, which is likely to persist in the foreseeable future.
Hans-Georg Betz, Lecturer of Political Science, University of Zurich
