Defining ‘populism’: Concepts, contexts, genealogies
Keynote speaker: Dr. Benjamin Moffitt
Call for papers
Today populism seems to be, once more, firmly back in the agenda. An avalanche of recent events have shocked and scandalized our public spheres internationally, puzzling academics, journalists and citizens alike. The Italian and BREXIT referendums and, in a more pronounced way, the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential elections constitute only the most recent ones in a long chain that elevated ‘populism’ into one of the most hotly debated topics in contemporary politics, media and academia. Although populism is becoming politics’ buzzword and its impact is being felt across the globe, beyond a widespread concern about its explosive appearance, there’s little agreement about how the phenomenon should be defined, the context behind its surge & what factors in our past and current conjuncture facilitated it. The Populism Specialist Group seeks papers that confront these questions.
We are looking for abstracts which engage with the question of populist politics from either a theoretical, empirical, or methodological perspective, local or global. In particular, we are interested in papers which deal with the various definitions of populism, its conceptual backgrounds and genealogies in different contexts internationally.
Please send your abstract to yanstavr@yahoo.co.uk no later than January 10, 2018. Any questions can be addressed to the same email. Please also visit our Facebook and Twitter accounts for the latest updates.
PSA Populism Specialist Group 