The third issue of ‘Populism’ is released amid extraordinary circumstances. The ongoing pandemic creates uneasy conditions that directly affect our everyday lives at both personal and professional levels. The work-life balance is becoming increasingly obscure while uncertainty casts a shadow over the future, especially for junior researchers. We hope to offer you something interesting and stimulating to read during these times. Until we meet again in person, we will try to sustain an active community of populism researchers – not only at the professional but also at the interpersonal level.
Beginning with our group’s news, we are delighted to announce two new Calls for Papers: one for our 5th Populism Specialist Group Workshop – ‘Populism: New Perspectives’ – which will be taking place online in June 2021, and second, a conference co-organised with the Populism Group Initiative of the German Political Science Association, entitled ‘Populism, Protest and New Forms of Political Organization: Ten Years after the Movements of the Squares’, which will take place in Berlin in September 2021. For more information check page 2.
This issue contains a lot of material which is generated thanks to you, our members, with your direct or indirect contributions. We include an overview of the engaging discussions that we had as part of our online workshop back in September 2020 and two interviews with the keynote speakers for that event, María Esperanza Casullo and Simon Tormey. Perspectives on the U.S. elections could not be absent from this issue, with a neck and neck race amid increasing polarisation in US politics and the mobilisations that followed. On page 4 you will find commentaries by two junior researchers working on U.S. politics and populism.
The book review section is gradually becoming an established part of our newsletter. Four junior scholars of populism are reviewing freshly published books offering an opportunity for critical and engaging discussions. Last but not least, our publications alert includes a selection of newly published contributions to the state of the field!
If you have comments or suggestions, or if you want to contribute with a short commentary or a review, please get in touch.
The Editor,
Giorgos Venizelos
PSA Populism Specialist Group 