Papers & chapters by Antonis Galanopoulos
The Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies, 2022
Although populism constitutes a multi-modal phenomenon involving institutional, socio-cultural an... more Although populism constitutes a multi-modal phenomenon involving institutional, socio-cultural and subjective dimensions, most accounts up to now have focused on the study of political institutions (parties, movements, etc.) and ideological orientations. Analyses that purport to take into account subjective dimensions usually remain trapped within the myth of the charismatic personality, the stereotype of the populist strongman, which, in most cases fails to register in a nuanced way the psychosocial dimensions involved. It also fails to acknowledge in a rigorous way the two-way movement constitutive of identification processes within democratic political systems. In this text, we employ a formal research strategy associated with the discursive approach initiated by Ernesto Laclau – and further developed by a host of other researchers – in order to highlight the psychosocial aspects of populist identifications and mobilizations. This particular approach is highly pertinent because it embraces many psychoanalytic ideas and has been used to stress the relevance of a variety of psychosocial dimensions: (1) the identification/interpellation loop underlying populist phenomena; (2) the centrality of affect and emotion in accounting for the discursive processes and mechanisms involved in the said loop; (3) demand and desire as the starting point of a populist socio-political choreography; (4) the negative ontology marking hegemony incl. populism; (5) charisma as a discursive, transferential mechanism facilitating populist identifications. Furthermore, the populism/anti-populism antithesis seems to inform the psychosocial dynamic underpinning the appeal of such identifications within a mirroring dialectic. The two rhetorics grip subjects through their clash, as identity formations are partly based οn difference. Both the idealization of ‘the people’ and the denunciation of populism involve valorization and demonization processes that call for further analysis.
by Yannis Stavrakakis, Giorgos Katsambekis, Benjamin De Cleen, Jana Goyvaerts, Thomás Zicman de Barros, Antonis Galanopoulos, Tjitske Akkerman, Nicole Curato, Emmy Eklundh, Liv Sunnercrantz, and Halil Gurhanli POPULISMUS interventions No. 7 (special edition), 2020
With the COVID-19 pandemic dominating the public sphere in recent months and no aspect of social ... more With the COVID-19 pandemic dominating the public sphere in recent months and no aspect of social and political life left unaffected, it seems almost natural that this unprecedented public health crisis would soon be reflected on discussions around the other buzzword of our time: populism. This report aims at providing a concise yet rigorous global comparative mapping of populist politics in the context of the ongoing pandemic. This will not only shed further light on the specificities, the potentials and limitations of the phenomenon, but we also expect it to highlight its irreducible heterogeneity and diversity as a way of doing politics.The key questions that we posed to contributors in this report when looking at different countries across the world can be summarised as follows:
• How have populist actors reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic when in
government or opposition?
• Has their ideological position on the left or right, or indeed somewhere inbetween, played a role to that reaction?
• How have the rates of approval and vote intensions for populist actors
developed during that period?
• More generally, how have discussions around ‘populism’ and the role of ‘experts’ and ‘science’ developed in each country during this time? Have they reproduced standard anti-populist stereotypes?
In order to shed light on these crucial aspects of the discussion and set the agenda for future comparative research as well as conceptual enquiry, we approached a series of well established scholars, along with several dynamic younger researchers specialising on both populism and the study of politics in different countries and regions. This gave us a sum of sixteen (16) case studies of countries and political actors from across the world, making the scope of our report truly global, extending from Australia to Sweden and from the Philippines to Brazil and the United States.
POPULISMUS working papers, 2019
The debate around ‘post-truth’ dominated the public space following the Brexit referendum and Don... more The debate around ‘post-truth’ dominated the public space following the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s victory. Since then one continuously encounters references that connect ‘post-truth’ or ‘fake news’ with populism and present both phenomena as mutually reinforcing pathologies of a supposed political normality. Mainstream politicians and prominent members of the media and the academic establishment seem to claim an epistemic superiority based on the possession of a (single) truth and on incarnating a supreme rationality. The introduction of obsolete debates around truth in the confrontation between political discourses in the public sphere has led to a distinction between populism and post-truth politics, on the one hand, and politics based on facts, rationality, expert knowledge and technocracy, on the other.
In Greece the dominant anti-populist discourse proceeded quickly to employ this polemical notion of ‘post-truth’. This paper aims to examine how post-truth politics were conceptualized in Greece, how they became part of the political conflict and how the rubric of post-truth was incorporated into the dominant populism/anti-populism cleavage that marks Greek politics. The Greek case is certainly under-researched as far as the ‘post-truth’ dimension is concerned. Finally, the paper attempts to highlight, through this examination of Greek politics, the political claims related to the polemical use of the concept of ‘post-truth’ in political discourses more generally, i.e. the political implications that can be produced by the inter-connection between populism and post-truth. Last but not least, the paper deals with the status of truth itself in politics. What if every truth is a post-truth? What would this mean for the political conflicts marking our era?
Book Chapter by Antonis Galanopoulos
Discourse Analysis and Austerity Critical Studies from Economics and Linguistics, 2019
Stavrakakis, Y. & Galanopoulos, A. (2019). Discursive uses of “abnormality” in the Greek crisis. ... more Stavrakakis, Y. & Galanopoulos, A. (2019). Discursive uses of “abnormality” in the Greek crisis. In K. Power, A. Tanweer, & E. Lebdušková (Eds.), Discourse Analysis and Austerity
Critical Studies from Economics and Linguistics. New York, NY: Routledge (pp. 177-195).
Papers by Antonis Galanopoulos
Las Torres de Lucca, 2025
Tras una producción pletórica -y por momentos exasperante-de libros, artículos y comentarios de o... more Tras una producción pletórica -y por momentos exasperante-de libros, artículos y comentarios de opinión, muchos pondrían en duda, y no sin razón, la motivación por emprender un nuevo dossier dedicado a la temática del populismo. Más aún si se considera que dicho esfuerzo intelectual se propone revisitar La razón populista de Ernesto Laclau, a veinte años de su publicación en inglés y en español, acaso uno de los textos más trabajados, leídos y discutidos en el campo durante las últimas dos décadas. ¿Qué más hay para decir acerca de esta obra y del entramado teórico-político que el pensador argentino articuló en 2005 en torno al concepto "populismo"? Quizás la riqueza de las discusiones que esta obra todavía genera justifique, por sí sola, la pertinencia de volver a ella. Entre los innumerables esfuerzos intelectuales por dar cuenta del populismo, el trabajo de Laclau es posiblemente el más sugestivo, en tanto rescata un término largamente vilipendiado -relegado a nombrar una expresión degradada de la política-y lo rehabilita como clave para pensar, precisamente, una reactivación democrática. La apuesta por despertar, desde un campo conceptual desdeñado tanto por marxistas como por positivistas, una imaginación política orientada a abrir caminos emancipatorios, constituye una osadía intelectual que, al día de hoy, no ha dejado de convocarnos. Sin embargo, lejos de limitarse a impugnar con desdén esfuerzos anteriores o de proclamar La razón populista como la formulación definitiva del fenómeno en cuestión, dicha osadía encuentra su virtud distintiva en el reconocimiento de que toda producción de sentido -provenga esta de la batalla intelectual en el campo teórico-ontológico o del calor de la acción política cotidiana-es siempre imperfecta e inacabada. Una virtud que, valga decir, da lugar e inspira el desarrollo de este dossier. Estemos de acuerdo o no con lo expuesto por Laclau en su libro más célebre, resulta insoslayable que en el 2005 este autor argentino marcó un antes y un después en la forma de encarar el estudio del populismo, al cuestionar el modo despectivo en que el fenómeno ha sido -y sigue siendo-abordado. Esta tendencia a comprender el populismo en clave condenatoria sucedía, por cierto, en un contexto histórico bastante
In October 2018, Slavoj Žižek published a two-part contribution titled ‘Should the Left’s answer ... more In October 2018, Slavoj Žižek published a two-part contribution titled ‘Should the Left’s answer to rightist populism be really a “me too”?’. In this text, Žižek reproduced his diachronic skepticism on populism as a fruitful strategy for the Left. In a critical vein, we believe that Žižek’s latest interventions join – unconsciously or not – an avalanche of antipopulist discourses that usually emanate from elitist politicians and journalists, and reproduce a moralist, alarmist stance against populism. As a consequence, anti-populist elitism blurs the concept of populism even more thereby hampering our possibilities to capture the changing politico-historic reality in the age of collapsing neoliberalism.
Representation, 2021
This article investigates how 'populism' was used in public discussions during the COVID-19 outbr... more This article investigates how 'populism' was used in public discussions during the COVID-19 outbreak. It argues that the indiscriminate use of 'populism' and its association with the pandemic is rooted in the negative way it is talked about in public debates. Critically evaluating pundit claims framing populism as an 'anti-scientific', 'irresponsible' and 'authoritarian' response to the health crisis, this article shows that 'populism' does not suffice to explain actors' responses to COVID-19. Rather, populists' ideological positions played a crucial role in their pandemic politics.
International Journal of Žižek Studies, 2019
In October 2018, Slavoj Žižek published a two-part contribution titled 'Should the Left's answer ... more In October 2018, Slavoj Žižek published a two-part contribution titled 'Should the Left's answer to rightist populism be really a "me too"?'. In this text, Žižek reproduced his diachronic skepticism on populism as a fruitful strategy for the Left. In a critical vein, we believe that Žižek's latest interventions join-unconsciously or not-an avalanche of anti-populist discourses that usually emanate from elitist politicians and journalists, and reproduce a moralist, alarmist stance against populism. As a consequence, anti-populist elitism blurs the concept of populism even more thereby hampering our possibilities to capture the changing politico-historic reality in the age of collapsing neoliberalism.
Book Reviews by Antonis Galanopoulos
This is a draft version submitted for publication at the Political Studies Review. The definitive... more This is a draft version submitted for publication at the Political Studies Review. The definitive published in Volume 15 of the Journal, Issue 1, February 2017, and is available at Sage Journals http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/pswa/15/1
Book review: Marcelo Hoffman (2014) Foucault and Power: The Influence of Political Engagement on ... more Book review: Marcelo Hoffman (2014) Foucault and Power: The Influence of Political Engagement on Theories of Power. London: Bloomsbury. 221pp, £65.00 (h/b), ISBN 9781441180940
This is a draft version submitted for publication at the Political Studies Review. The definitive version will be published in Volume 13 of the Journal, Issue 4, November 2015, and will be available at Wiley Online Library.
Βιβλιοκριτική για το "Φουκώ και Μαρξ. Το παραγωγικό υποκείμενο" των εκδόσεων Εκτός Γραμμής. Δημοσ... more Βιβλιοκριτική για το "Φουκώ και Μαρξ. Το παραγωγικό υποκείμενο" των εκδόσεων Εκτός Γραμμής. Δημοσιεύθηκε στο Unfollow Δεκεμβρίου.
Βιβλιοκριτική για το βιβλίο "Φουκώ και Μαρξ. Το παραγωγικό υποκείμενο" του Πιερ Μασερέ που κυκλοφ... more Βιβλιοκριτική για το βιβλίο "Φουκώ και Μαρξ. Το παραγωγικό υποκείμενο" του Πιερ Μασερέ που κυκλοφόρησε από τις εκδόσεις Εκτός Γραμμής. Η βιβλιοκριτική δημοσιεύθηκε στο Περιοδικό Ουτοπία, τεύχος 106.
Βιβλιοκριτική για το Εγκώμιο για τον Έρωτα του Αλαίν Μπαντιού. Δημοσιεύθηκε στις Αναγνώσεις της Α... more Βιβλιοκριτική για το Εγκώμιο για τον Έρωτα του Αλαίν Μπαντιού. Δημοσιεύθηκε στις Αναγνώσεις της Αυγής στις 24 Ιανουαρίου 2015.
Με έλαπζκα ην βηβιίν «Λαϊθηζκόο, αληηιαϊθηζκόο θαη θξίζε» εμεηάδνπκε ηε θύζε ηνπ ιαϊθηζκνύ, ην ξό... more Με έλαπζκα ην βηβιίν «Λαϊθηζκόο, αληηιαϊθηζκόο θαη θξίζε» εμεηάδνπκε ηε θύζε ηνπ ιαϊθηζκνύ, ην ξόιν ηνπ αληηιαϊθηζκνύ ωο ππνζηεξηθηή ηωλ θπβεξλεηηθώλ πνιηηηθώλ θαη πξνηείλνπκε έλαλ πξννδεπηηθό ιαϊθηζκό πνπ ζα κπνξνύζε λα γίλεη έλαο πξαγκαηηθόο θνξέαο δεκνθξαηηθώλ κεηαξξπζκίζεωλ.
Βιβλιοκριτική για το βιβλίο "Πρόσωπα της Απομάγευσης. 38 συνεντεύξεις για την κρίση και το μέλλον... more Βιβλιοκριτική για το βιβλίο "Πρόσωπα της Απομάγευσης. 38 συνεντεύξεις για την κρίση και το μέλλον"του Τάσου Τσακίρογλου
Conference Papers by Antonis Galanopoulos
Ο λαϊκισμός αποτελεί κεντρικό χαρακτηριστικό γνώρισμα της πολιτικής σκηνής της Ελλάδας και της Αρ... more Ο λαϊκισμός αποτελεί κεντρικό χαρακτηριστικό γνώρισμα της πολιτικής σκηνής της Ελλάδας και της Αργεντινής εδώ και πολλά χρόνια. Ο Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου και ο Χουάν Ντομίνγκο Περόν είναι δυο από τις πιο εμβληματικές λαϊκιστικές προσωπικότητες που ανέδειξαν αυτές οι χώρες. Τα τελευταία χρόνια, τόσο στην Ελλάδα, όσο και στην Αργεντινή, η οικονομική κρίση έδωσε την δυνατότητα στην λαϊκιστική αριστερά, ΣΥΡΙΖΑ και Frente Para la Victoria αντίστοιχα, να ανέλθει στην εξουσία. Στην Αργεντινή η λαϊκιστική ηγεμονία των Κίρσνερ βρέθηκε στο τιμόνι της χώρας για πολλά χρόνια (2003-2015), ενώ στην Ελλάδα ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ μετά τη νίκη του στις εκλογές (Ιανουαρίου και Σεπτεμβρίου) του 2015 σχημάτισε κυβέρνηση με τους Ανεξάρτητους Έλληνες (ΑΝΕΛ), καταφέρνοντας να διατηρήσει την κυβερνητική του πλειοψηφία μέχρι σήμερα. Έτσι, η σύγκριση μεταξύ δύο χωρών της ημι-περιφέρειας με παρόμοιο λαϊκιστικό υπόβαθρο είναι αναγκαία.
Όπως είναι γνωστό, κάθε λαϊκιστική κινητοποίηση δημιουργεί μια αντι-λαϊκιστική αντίδραση. Εντούτοις, ενώ ο λαϊκισμός είναι ένα φαινόμενο που έχει μελετηθεί σε σημαντικό βαθμό μέχρι σήμερα, ο αντι-λαϊκισμός παραμένει ένα σχετικά παρθένο πεδίο έρευνας. Αυτό προξενεί ιδιαίτερη έκπληξη καθώς ο αντι-λαϊκισμός, τόσο στην Ελλάδα όσο και την Αργεντινή, αναπτύσσει σημαντική δυναμική στο πολιτικό και δημοσιογραφικό τοπίο.
Ο κυρίαρχος λόγος στις δύο χώρες μπορεί να χαρακτηριστεί ως μια ιστορία για τους κινδύνους του λαϊκισμού. Πολιτικοί, δημοσιογράφοι και ακαδημαϊκοί περιγράφουν τον λαϊκισμό ως ένα αποκλειστικά αρνητικό φαινόμενο, ενώ τον αναλύουν μέσα από στερεοτυπικές ιδέες. Ο λαϊκισμός παρουσιάζεται ως το «απόλυτο κακό». Ο κυρίαρχος λόγος κατανοεί τον λαϊκισμό ως ένα φαινόμενο που αποτελεί τον μέγιστο κίνδυνο για τις (φιλελεύθερες) δημοκρατικές αρχές και τον παρουσιάζει σχεδόν πάντα με αυταρχικές και ολοκληρωτικές τάσεις, εξισώνοντας τον με τον εθνικο-λαϊκισμό.
Αυτό το άρθρο θα προσπαθήσει να αναζητήσει τα κεντρικά χαρακτηριστικά του αντι-λαϊκιστικού λόγου σε Ελλάδα και Αργεντινή, στοχεύοντας στην αναγνώριση πιθανών ομοιοτήτων, αλλά και διαφορών, μεταξύ των δύο χωρών. Στη συνέχεια, θα επιχειρήσει να περιγράψει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο οι αντι-λαϊκιστικοί λόγοι παρουσιάζουν τον λαϊκισμό και τροπό με τον οποίο εννοιολογούν τη δημοκρατία. Τέλος, το άρθρο θα θέσει το ζήτημα της (αντι-) δημοκρατικότητας του αντι-λαϊκιστικού λόγου, υπογραμμίζοντας τους κινδύνους που ενέχει η αντι-λαϊκιστική λογική για την πολιτική και την κοινωνία.
Presentation in the colloquium ‘Discourse Theory: Ways Forward’ (Brussels, 7-8 February 2019, htt... more Presentation in the colloquium ‘Discourse Theory: Ways Forward’ (Brussels, 7-8 February 2019, https://www.researchcenterdesire.eu/discourse-theory.html)
Abstract
Populism reappeared in everyday public discourse in Greece with the first protests against the austerity policies and the structural reforms imposed by consecutive Greek governments. Many scholars of populism have demonstrated the emergence and consolidation during the crisis period in Greece of the populism/anti-populism cleavage. While most studies focus on the populist side of this dichotomy, attempting to define what is populism and who is populist, this paper will focus on the anti-populist side. The emphasis will be on discourses about populism that emerged in Greece and became dominant during the crisis and on the purely negative presentation of populism in the mainstream political discourse through its identification with something abnormal or pathological. The main purpose of this paper is, by studying the discourse about populism in the political, academic and journalistic sphere, to describe the main discursive patterns and the core elements of anti-populism. What exactly is anti-populism beyond a criticism or a rejection of populism? Is there a concrete anti-populism logic or is it simple a reflexive discourse developed after the emergence of a populist discourse? What political implications carry an anti-populist discourse? Finally, the paper will explore the socio-cultural dimension of anti-populism as the latter is usually related to culturalist approaches to politics, moralistic or disciplinary arguments and use of pejorative language. In Greece, for example, anti-populist discourse is connected with a normativist discourse.
Despite the fact that the limited focus of this paper on the Greek case cannot provide a universally applicable definition of anti-populism, the attempt to locate some core elements would be useful on the way to a working definition of anti-populism.
Conference presentation in the international conference “Media, Polis, Agora: Journalism & Commun... more Conference presentation in the international conference “Media, Polis, Agora: Journalism & Communication in the Digital Era”. (Thessaloniki, 27-29 September 2018
Abstract
Many researchers have demonstrated the emergence and consolidation during the crisis period in Greece of the populism/anti-populism cleavage. As elections and referenda are moments of polarization and acute political tensions, it is reasonable that the 2015 referendum in Greece constitutes a high point of the populism/anti-populism dichotomy. What is more interesting in this case is that the referendum itself was presented by the anti-populist camp as an irrational populist political choice.
Using qualitative methods and particularly the theoretical and methodological tools of Essex School of Discourse Analysis, this paper will highlight how this dichotomy was constructed and what forms it took in the political and the journalistic discourse during the referendum in Greece. Furthermore, it will focus on the ways in which the populist/anti-populist dichotomy intersects with the rational/irrational dichotomy, as mainstream political and media figures presented populism as an irrational, emotional and ultimately abnormal political phenomenon.
Conference presentation
PSA 68th Annual International Conference (Cardiff, 26 - 28 March 2018)
Pa... more Conference presentation
PSA 68th Annual International Conference (Cardiff, 26 - 28 March 2018)
Panel: Populism and Passions: 'mad masses' and 'strategic masterminds'
Abstract
Since 2009, when the crisis began, Greece is portrayed as an exception to the norm, as the dysfunctional party deviating from the European standard. Within this context populism, according to mainstream political discourse, is a pathology that plays a double negative role. On the one hand, it was responsible for the crisis and it obstructs the necessary reforms and the modernization of the country, prohibiting its return to normality.
In that sense, populism is a pure negativity contrasted to the pure positivity represented by “normality” and “modernization”. Two chains of equivalence emerge: on the one hand, that of normality which includes rationality, responsibility, reforms, and modernization, and, on the other hand, that of populism which includes populism and its many negative connotations: irresponsibility, irrationalism, demagogy and so on and so forth.
Using qualitative methods and particularly the theoretical and methodological tools that emanates from the Essex School of Discourse Analysis, this paper will highlight how the dichotomy populism-normality was constructed and what forms it took in the Greek mainstream political discourse during the crisis.
Paper presentation: "The Greek Abnormality: a Particular Understanding of the Greek Crisis".
The... more Paper presentation: "The Greek Abnormality: a Particular Understanding of the Greek Crisis".
The 2018 Postgraduate Colloquium of the Society For Modern Greek Studies: Exploring Crises In The Modern Greek World: Cultural Narratives, Identity Politics, Social Life.
4 May 2018, University of Birmingham.
https://smgscolloquium2018.wordpress.com/
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Papers & chapters by Antonis Galanopoulos
• How have populist actors reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic when in
government or opposition?
• Has their ideological position on the left or right, or indeed somewhere inbetween, played a role to that reaction?
• How have the rates of approval and vote intensions for populist actors
developed during that period?
• More generally, how have discussions around ‘populism’ and the role of ‘experts’ and ‘science’ developed in each country during this time? Have they reproduced standard anti-populist stereotypes?
In order to shed light on these crucial aspects of the discussion and set the agenda for future comparative research as well as conceptual enquiry, we approached a series of well established scholars, along with several dynamic younger researchers specialising on both populism and the study of politics in different countries and regions. This gave us a sum of sixteen (16) case studies of countries and political actors from across the world, making the scope of our report truly global, extending from Australia to Sweden and from the Philippines to Brazil and the United States.
In Greece the dominant anti-populist discourse proceeded quickly to employ this polemical notion of ‘post-truth’. This paper aims to examine how post-truth politics were conceptualized in Greece, how they became part of the political conflict and how the rubric of post-truth was incorporated into the dominant populism/anti-populism cleavage that marks Greek politics. The Greek case is certainly under-researched as far as the ‘post-truth’ dimension is concerned. Finally, the paper attempts to highlight, through this examination of Greek politics, the political claims related to the polemical use of the concept of ‘post-truth’ in political discourses more generally, i.e. the political implications that can be produced by the inter-connection between populism and post-truth. Last but not least, the paper deals with the status of truth itself in politics. What if every truth is a post-truth? What would this mean for the political conflicts marking our era?
Book Chapter by Antonis Galanopoulos
Critical Studies from Economics and Linguistics. New York, NY: Routledge (pp. 177-195).
Papers by Antonis Galanopoulos
Book Reviews by Antonis Galanopoulos
This is a draft version submitted for publication at the Political Studies Review. The definitive version will be published in Volume 13 of the Journal, Issue 4, November 2015, and will be available at Wiley Online Library.
Conference Papers by Antonis Galanopoulos
Όπως είναι γνωστό, κάθε λαϊκιστική κινητοποίηση δημιουργεί μια αντι-λαϊκιστική αντίδραση. Εντούτοις, ενώ ο λαϊκισμός είναι ένα φαινόμενο που έχει μελετηθεί σε σημαντικό βαθμό μέχρι σήμερα, ο αντι-λαϊκισμός παραμένει ένα σχετικά παρθένο πεδίο έρευνας. Αυτό προξενεί ιδιαίτερη έκπληξη καθώς ο αντι-λαϊκισμός, τόσο στην Ελλάδα όσο και την Αργεντινή, αναπτύσσει σημαντική δυναμική στο πολιτικό και δημοσιογραφικό τοπίο.
Ο κυρίαρχος λόγος στις δύο χώρες μπορεί να χαρακτηριστεί ως μια ιστορία για τους κινδύνους του λαϊκισμού. Πολιτικοί, δημοσιογράφοι και ακαδημαϊκοί περιγράφουν τον λαϊκισμό ως ένα αποκλειστικά αρνητικό φαινόμενο, ενώ τον αναλύουν μέσα από στερεοτυπικές ιδέες. Ο λαϊκισμός παρουσιάζεται ως το «απόλυτο κακό». Ο κυρίαρχος λόγος κατανοεί τον λαϊκισμό ως ένα φαινόμενο που αποτελεί τον μέγιστο κίνδυνο για τις (φιλελεύθερες) δημοκρατικές αρχές και τον παρουσιάζει σχεδόν πάντα με αυταρχικές και ολοκληρωτικές τάσεις, εξισώνοντας τον με τον εθνικο-λαϊκισμό.
Αυτό το άρθρο θα προσπαθήσει να αναζητήσει τα κεντρικά χαρακτηριστικά του αντι-λαϊκιστικού λόγου σε Ελλάδα και Αργεντινή, στοχεύοντας στην αναγνώριση πιθανών ομοιοτήτων, αλλά και διαφορών, μεταξύ των δύο χωρών. Στη συνέχεια, θα επιχειρήσει να περιγράψει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο οι αντι-λαϊκιστικοί λόγοι παρουσιάζουν τον λαϊκισμό και τροπό με τον οποίο εννοιολογούν τη δημοκρατία. Τέλος, το άρθρο θα θέσει το ζήτημα της (αντι-) δημοκρατικότητας του αντι-λαϊκιστικού λόγου, υπογραμμίζοντας τους κινδύνους που ενέχει η αντι-λαϊκιστική λογική για την πολιτική και την κοινωνία.
Abstract
Populism reappeared in everyday public discourse in Greece with the first protests against the austerity policies and the structural reforms imposed by consecutive Greek governments. Many scholars of populism have demonstrated the emergence and consolidation during the crisis period in Greece of the populism/anti-populism cleavage. While most studies focus on the populist side of this dichotomy, attempting to define what is populism and who is populist, this paper will focus on the anti-populist side. The emphasis will be on discourses about populism that emerged in Greece and became dominant during the crisis and on the purely negative presentation of populism in the mainstream political discourse through its identification with something abnormal or pathological. The main purpose of this paper is, by studying the discourse about populism in the political, academic and journalistic sphere, to describe the main discursive patterns and the core elements of anti-populism. What exactly is anti-populism beyond a criticism or a rejection of populism? Is there a concrete anti-populism logic or is it simple a reflexive discourse developed after the emergence of a populist discourse? What political implications carry an anti-populist discourse? Finally, the paper will explore the socio-cultural dimension of anti-populism as the latter is usually related to culturalist approaches to politics, moralistic or disciplinary arguments and use of pejorative language. In Greece, for example, anti-populist discourse is connected with a normativist discourse.
Despite the fact that the limited focus of this paper on the Greek case cannot provide a universally applicable definition of anti-populism, the attempt to locate some core elements would be useful on the way to a working definition of anti-populism.
Abstract
Many researchers have demonstrated the emergence and consolidation during the crisis period in Greece of the populism/anti-populism cleavage. As elections and referenda are moments of polarization and acute political tensions, it is reasonable that the 2015 referendum in Greece constitutes a high point of the populism/anti-populism dichotomy. What is more interesting in this case is that the referendum itself was presented by the anti-populist camp as an irrational populist political choice.
Using qualitative methods and particularly the theoretical and methodological tools of Essex School of Discourse Analysis, this paper will highlight how this dichotomy was constructed and what forms it took in the political and the journalistic discourse during the referendum in Greece. Furthermore, it will focus on the ways in which the populist/anti-populist dichotomy intersects with the rational/irrational dichotomy, as mainstream political and media figures presented populism as an irrational, emotional and ultimately abnormal political phenomenon.
PSA 68th Annual International Conference (Cardiff, 26 - 28 March 2018)
Panel: Populism and Passions: 'mad masses' and 'strategic masterminds'
Abstract
Since 2009, when the crisis began, Greece is portrayed as an exception to the norm, as the dysfunctional party deviating from the European standard. Within this context populism, according to mainstream political discourse, is a pathology that plays a double negative role. On the one hand, it was responsible for the crisis and it obstructs the necessary reforms and the modernization of the country, prohibiting its return to normality.
In that sense, populism is a pure negativity contrasted to the pure positivity represented by “normality” and “modernization”. Two chains of equivalence emerge: on the one hand, that of normality which includes rationality, responsibility, reforms, and modernization, and, on the other hand, that of populism which includes populism and its many negative connotations: irresponsibility, irrationalism, demagogy and so on and so forth.
Using qualitative methods and particularly the theoretical and methodological tools that emanates from the Essex School of Discourse Analysis, this paper will highlight how the dichotomy populism-normality was constructed and what forms it took in the Greek mainstream political discourse during the crisis.
The 2018 Postgraduate Colloquium of the Society For Modern Greek Studies: Exploring Crises In The Modern Greek World: Cultural Narratives, Identity Politics, Social Life.
4 May 2018, University of Birmingham.
https://smgscolloquium2018.wordpress.com/