Welcome to the 4th issue of Populism, the electronic
newsletter of Populism Specialist Group of the Political
Studies Association. We have recently held our 5th annual
workshop titled ‘Populism: New Perspectives’ and in page 2
you will get a taste of how it went.
Our second issue released back in July 2020 was dedicated
to left-wing populism. This issue shifts focus on the political
spectrum and showcases the populist radical right. It
overviews the ways the far right interacts with populism,
nationalism, mainstream economics, conservatism, but also
liberalism. Focusing on both historical and contemporary
examples, contributions seek to shed light on where the
populist right intersects with and where it diverges from the
earlier and continuing iterations of the right – both in its far
and more ‘centrist’ orientations.
This issue then, hosts two challenging commentaries which
highlight the pivotal role conservative ideologies play in the
economic and social politics of the contemporary populist
radical right. In page 7, Valentina Ausserladscheider argues
that, despite their attempt to appeal to the ‘popular classes’,
populists on the right construct both an economically
neoliberal and an ethnically exclusionary ‘people’. In page
9, Francesca Feo and Anna Lavizzari discuss the gender
politics of the populist radical right in Italy and argue that the
conservative values of ‘family’ and ‘tradition’ lie at the core of
Lega and Brothers of Italy’s discourse.
We also interviewed Aurelien Mondon who keynoted our
recent annual workshop. We talked about the mainstreaming
of the radical right, the role experts play in normalising it,
populism and of course anti-populism. The interview can be
found on page 4 of the newsletter.
This issue also hosts five book reviews themed around
right wing populism and nationalism. Salomé Ietter
reviews Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter’s Reactionary
Democracy ; Seongcheol Kim reviews Cas Mudde’s The far
right today; Spyros Sofos reviews Luca Manucci’s Populism
and Collective Memory Comparing Fascist Legacies in
Western Europe; Mikko Salmela reviews Nicolas Demertzis’
The Political Sociology of Emotions: Essays on Trauma and
Ressentiment, and Kurt Sengul reviews Ruth Wodak’s second
edition of The Politics of Fear: The Shameless Normalization
of Far-Right Discourse.
We hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to welcoming
many of you in our future events. Please do not hesitate to get
in touch to connect with us.
The Editor,
Giorgos Venizelos
PSA Populism Specialist Group 