The populism/anti-populism divide in Western Europe
Journal article
Moffitt, Benjamin. (2018). The populism/anti-populism divide in Western Europe. Democratic Theory. 5(2), pp. 1 - 16. https://doi.org/10.3167/dt.2018.050202
Authors | Moffitt, Benjamin |
---|---|
Abstract | While the rise of populism in Western Europe over the past three decades has received a great deal of attention in the academic and popular literature, less attention has been paid to the rise of its opposite— anti-populism. This short article examines the discursive and stylistic dimensions of the construction and maintenance of the populism/anti-populism divide in Western Europe, paying particular attention to how anti-populists seek to discredit populist leaders, parties and followers. It argues that this divide is increasingly antagonistic, with both sides of the divide putting forward extremely different conceptions of how democracy should operate in the Western European political landscape: one radical and popular, the other liberal. It closes by suggesting that what is subsumed and feared under the label of the “populist threat” to democracy in Western Europe today is less about populism than nationalism and nativism. |
Keywords | anti-populism; democracy; nationalism; nativism; populism; technocracy; Western Europe |
Year | 2018 |
Journal | Democratic Theory |
Journal citation | 5 (2), pp. 1 - 16 |
Publisher | Berghahn Books |
ISSN | 2332-8894 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3167/dt.2018.050202 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85062394556 |
Page range | 1 - 16 |
Research Group | School of Arts |
Publisher's version | File Access Level Controlled |
Place of publication | United Kingdom |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/89x27/the-populism-anti-populism-divide-in-western-europe
Restricted files
Publisher's version
294
total views0
total downloads0
views this month0
downloads this month