Description
Book SynopsisThis volume illustrates the diversity of populism globally. When seeking power, populists politicize issues, and point to problems that need to be addressed such as inequalities, the loss of national sovereignty to globalization, or the rule of unresponsive political elites. Yet their solutions tend to be problematic, simplistic, and in most instances, instead of leading to better forms of democracy, their outcomes are authoritarian. Populists use a playbook of concentrating power in the hands of the president, using the legal system instrumentally to punish critics, and attacking the media and civil society. Despite promising to empower the people, populists lead to processes of democratic erosion and even transform malfunctioning democracies into hybrid regimes.
The Routledge Handbook of Global Populism provides instructors, students, and researchers with a thorough and systematic overview of the history and development of populism and analyzes the main debates
Trade Review
"It broadens our view and provides rich material for a more empirically based debate on populism and, most of all, on the reasons for its development."
Dirk Jörke, Professor of Political Theoy, TU Darmstadt, Germany
"The Routledge Handbook of Global Populism by Carlos de la Torre is one the best anthologies I have read in recent years. The book has two major pluses. First, top-notch author have provided clearly written, well-argued, and engaging chapters with up-to-date bibliographies on the topic. These include authors such as Andrew Arato, Jean Cohen, Steven Levitsky, Kurt Weyland, Kenneth Roberts, Nadia Urbinati, Robert Barr, Kirk Hawkins, Benjamin Moffitt, Paul Blokker, and Federico Finchelstein. The second plus is the thematic scope of the contributions and the consideration of competing approaches. In addition to de la Torre’s general introduction and a coauthored afterword, the twenty-eight chapters deal with everything one would want to know about the phenomenon…In short, this book is a must read because of its scope and high scholarly level. It will be very useful for teachers seeking up-to-date articles on populism for their course syllabi, and it is a lifesaver for students preparing term papers and dissertations on the subject. I highly recommend it, and I am currently using it in an undergraduate course on political processes and in a graduate seminar on contemporary political theory."
Benjamin Arditi, Professor of Politics, National University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico
Table of Contents1. Global Populism: Histories, Trajectories, Problems and Challenges Part 1: Contemporary Theories of Populism 2. Populist Ideologies 3. Populist Political Strategies 4. Discourse Theories: Ernesto Laclau and the Essex School Part 2: Regional Trajectories 5. Populism in the US 6. Contemporary/21st century Populism in Europe 7. Populism in Latin America 8. Populism in Africa 9. Populists in Asia: Fighting Social Immobility or Entrenching Autocracy? 10. Populism in the Middle East Part 3: Populism and Democracy 11. Populism and Late Liberalism 12. Leftwing Populism and Democratization 13. Populism and Democracy in Europe 14. Populist Leadership, Party Institutionalisation and Democratisation in Africa 15. Populism and Democracy Part 4: Populism, Authoritarianism, Fascism 16. Populism and Trans-Atlantic Fascism 17. Postfascism and Populism in Europe 18. Populist Authoritarianism 19. Populism and Competitive Authoritarianism Part 5: The Populist Politization of Inequalities and Differences 20. Left Populism and the Politization of Neoliberal Exclusions in Latin America and Southern Europe 21. Islamic Populism and the Politization of Neoliberal Inequalities 22. Populism and Race in the US 23. Populism, Migration, and Xenophobia in Europe 24. Populism and Race/Ethnicity in Latin America 25. Ethnopopulism in Africa Part 6: Populism and the Media 17. Latin America 18. Asia, and Europe 19. Europe 20. Israel 21. Conclusion
