Populism and the Crisis of Democracy: Volume 1: Concepts and Theory

204 Pages·2018·3.21 MB·English

by  Gregor Fitzi

‘The debates on populism may have reached a certain state of consolidation, but
the search for a conceptual framework and the definition of its key elements is
still going on. The book offers a wide variety of positions including the proposal
to avoid the term altogether. It is an important contribution laying ground for
further research. Populism is no longer seen as a transitional phenomenon, it is
here to stay, and its meaning is inextricably linked to the meaning of democracy
itself. Rich in theoretical and empirical information, the volume provides a
comprehensive view of the state of the art and offers important considerations on
how to deal with populist phenomena.’
Karin Priester, Professor of Sociology and
Political Theory, University of Münster
‘Populism and the Crisis of Democracy is a vital and sadly very necessary project
for our troubled times after Brexit, the election of Trump, the rise of right wing
authoritarian parties and regimes across Europe, as well as the success of the Five
Star Movement and the Northern League in Italy. Questioning traditional concepts
and theories of populism that too easily talk of a populism of the right and left,
as if the middle-ground of liberal democracy has held firm, this important collection
helps to shape new political imaginations. In the face of growing racism, anti-
immigrant xenophobia and a politics of hate, the project helps to engage new
globalised control technologies as we frame new forms of democratic resistance.’
Victor Seidler, Emeritus Professor of Sociology,
Goldsmiths University of London
‘This stimulating volume goes beyond theoretical self-absorption, sociological
platitudes, the rounding up of the usual historical suspects, and journalistic exag-
geration to provide conceptually sophisticated, context-sensitive, conjuncturally
relevant, and profoundly nuanced analyses of the varieties and variegation of
populism. Drawing on different theoretical paradigms and research methods, the
contributors offer new and accessible insights into the complexities of populism,
its recent resurgence, and its wider significance. In the face of populist disdain for
intellectuals, this volume shows that serious scholarship can offer critical
perspectives that clarify present discontents and future possibilities.’
Bob Jessop, Distinguished Professor of
Sociology, Lancaster University
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
http://taylorandfrancis.com
Populism and the Crisis
of Democracy
There is no threat to Western democracies today comparable to the rise of right-
wing populism. While it has played an increasing role at least since the 1990s,
only the social consequences of the global financial crises in 2008 have given it
its break that led to UK’s ‘Brexit’ and the election of Donald Trump as US
President in 2016, as well as promoting what has been called left populism in
countries that were hit the hardest by both the banking crisis and consequential
neo-liberal austerity politics in the EU, such as Greece and Portugal.
In 2017, the French Front National (FN) attracted many voters in the French
Presidential elections; we have seen the radicalization of the Alternative für
Deutschland (AfD) in Germany and the formation of centre-right government in
Austria. Further, we have witnessed the consolidation of autocratic regimes, as in
the EU member states Poland and Greece. All these manifestations of right-wing
populism share a common feature: they attack or even compromise the core
elements of democratic societies, such as the separation of powers, protection of
minorities, or the rule of law.
Despite a broad debate on the re-emergence of ‘populism’ in the transition from
the twentieth to the twenty-first century that has brought forth many interesting
findings, a lack of sociological reasoning cannot be denied, as sociology itself
withdrew from theorising populism decades ago and largely left the field to
political sciences and history. In a sense, Populism and the Crisis of Democracy
considers itself a contribution to begin filling this lacuna. Written in a direct and
clear style, this set of volumes will be an invaluable reference for students and
scholars in the field of political theory, political sociology and European Studies.
This volume, Concepts and Theory, offers new and fresh perspectives on the
debate on populism. Starting from complaints about the problems of concept-
ualising populism that in recent years have begun to revolve around themselves,
the chapters offer a fundamental critique of the term and concept of populism,
theoretically inspired typologies and descriptions of currently dominant concepts,
and ways to elaborate on them. With regard to theory, the volume offers approaches
that exceed the disciplinary horizon of political science that so far has dominated
the debate. As sociological theory so far has been more or less absent in the debate
on populism, only few efforts have been made to discuss populism more intensely
within different theoretical contexts in order to explain its dynamics and processes.
Thus, this volume offers critical views on the debate on populism from the perspec-
tives of political economy and the analysis of critical historical events, the links
of analyses of populism with social movement mobilisation, the significance of
‘superfluous populations’ in the rise of populism, and an analysis of the exclusionary
character of populism from the perspective of the theory of social closure.
Gregor Fitzi is Co-Director of the Centre for Citizenship, Social Pluralism and
Religious Diversity at University of Potsdam, Germany. After his PhD in Sociology
at the University of Bielefeld, he was Assistant Professor at the Institute of
Sociology, University of Heidelberg, Germany, and held a temporary position
as full professor at the University of Bielefeld. His most recent publication is
The Challenge of Modernity: Georg Simmel’s Sociological Theory (Routledge,
2018).
Jürgen Mackert is Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Centre for
Citizenship, Social Pluralism and Religious Diversity at Potsdam University,
Germany. His research interests are in sociology of citizenship, political economy,
closure theory, collective violence. His most recent publication is The Trans -
formation of Citizenship (Routledge, 2017), in three volumes, co-edited with
Bryan S. Turner.
Bryan S. Turner is Professor of the Sociology of Religion at the Australian
Catholic University, Honorary Professor at Potsdam University and Honorary
Fellow in The Edward Cadbury Centre, Birmingham University. In 2015 he
received the Max Planck Award from the Max-Planck Society and Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation, Germany. He is editor of Citizenship Studies, the Journal
of Classical Sociology, and the Journal of Religious and Political Practice. He is
also Chief Editor of the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory(2017).
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Populism and the Crisis of Democracy
Volume 1: Concepts and Theory
Edited by Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert and Bryan S. Turner
Populism and the Crisis of Democracy
Volume 2: Politics, Social Movements and Extremism
Edited by Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert and Bryan S. Turner
Populism and the Crisis of Democracy
Volume 3: Migration, Gender and Religion
Edited by Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert and Bryan S. Turner
The Challenge of Modernity
Georg Simmel’s Sociological Theory
Gregor Fitzi
The World Multiple
Everyday Politics of Knowing and Generating Entangled Worlds
Edited by Keiichi Omura, Grant Jun Otsuki, Shiho Satsuka, Atsuro Morita
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Advances-in-Sociology/book-series/SE0511
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
http://taylorandfrancis.com
Populism and the Crisis
of Democracy
Volume 1:
Concepts and Theory
Edited by
Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert
and Bryan S. Turner
OR Routledge
GDELTU Taylor & Francis Group
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2019
by Routledge
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© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert and
Bryan S. Turner; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Gregor Fitzi, Jürgen Mackert and Bryan S. Turner to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-1-138-09136-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-10807-0 (ebk)
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Contents
List of figures and tables xi
Notes on contributors xiii
Foreword xv
Introduction: Is there such a thing as populism? 1
JÜRGEN MACKERT
PART I
Conceptual debate 15
1 Populism as a conceptual problem 17
CATHÉRINE COLLIOT-THÉLÈNE
2 Why populism? 27
ROGERS BRUBAKER
3 Populism: An ideal-typical assessment 47
GREGOR FITZI
4 How to define populism? Reflections on a contested
concept and its (mis)use in the social sciences 62
CRISTÓBAL ROVIRA KALTWASSER
5 Populism and ‘unpolitics’ 79
PAUL TAGGART
PART II
Theoretical approaches 89
6 ‘We the people’: Liberal and organic populism, and
the politics of social closure 91
JÜRGEN MACKERT