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
AuthorsMoffitt, 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.

Keywordsanti-populism; democracy; nationalism; nativism; populism; technocracy; Western Europe
Year2018
JournalDemocratic Theory
Journal citation5 (2), pp. 1 - 16
PublisherBerghahn Books
ISSN2332-8894
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3167/dt.2018.050202
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85062394556
Page range1 - 16
Research GroupSchool of Arts
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Controlled
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/89x27/the-populism-anti-populism-divide-in-western-europe

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 294
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

The colors of the populist radical right : The strategic use of hue and saturation in party logos
Curini, Luigi, Moffitt, Benjamin John and Zulianello, Mattia. (2024). The colors of the populist radical right : The strategic use of hue and saturation in party logos. The International Journal of Press/Politics. pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241229216
How the populist radical right exploits crisis : Comparing the role of proximity in the COVID-19 and refugee crises in Germany
Hinterleitner, Markus, Kammermeier, Valentina and Moffitt, Benjamin. (2023). How the populist radical right exploits crisis : Comparing the role of proximity in the COVID-19 and refugee crises in Germany. West European Politics. pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2023.2275892
What was the ‘alt’ in alt-right, alt-lite, and alt-left? on ‘alt’ as a political modifier
Moffitt, Benjamin. (2023). What was the ‘alt’ in alt-right, alt-lite, and alt-left? on ‘alt’ as a political modifier. Political Studies. pp. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217221150871
The populist radical right in Australia : Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
Moffitt, Benjamin and Sengul, Kurt. (2023). The populist radical right in Australia : Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. Journal of Language and Politics. 22(3), pp. 306-323. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22132.mof
Populist attitudes in Australia : Contextualising the demand-side
Kefford, Glenn, Moffitt, Benjamin John, Collins, John and Marsh, Joshua. (2023). Populist attitudes in Australia : Contextualising the demand-side. Australian Journal of Political Science. 58(1), pp. 53-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2122401
How not to respond to populism
Malkopoulou, Anthoula and Moffitt, Benjamin. (2023). How not to respond to populism. Comparative European Politics. pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-023-00341-9
Nativism, civic nationalism and the malleability of voter attitudes
Kefford, Glenn, Moffitt, Benjamin and Werner, Annika. (2023). Nativism, civic nationalism and the malleability of voter attitudes. Acta Politica. 58(2), pp. 424-447. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-022-00253-8
Types of Populism
Moffitt, Benjamin John. (2022). Types of Populism. In The Populism Interviews: A Dialogue with Leading Experts pp. 5-10 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003250388-2
Taking account of the visual politics of populism
Moffitt, Benjamin. (2022). Taking account of the visual politics of populism. Polity. 54(3), pp. 557-564. https://doi.org/10.1086/719829
How do populists visually represent ‘the people’? A systematic comparative visual content analysis of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders’ Instagram accounts
Moffitt, Benjamin. (2022). How do populists visually represent ‘the people’? A systematic comparative visual content analysis of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders’ Instagram accounts. The International Journal of Press/Politics. pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221100418
The localist turn in populism studies
Chou, Mark, Moffitt, Benjamin and Busbridge, Rachel. (2022). The localist turn in populism studies. Swiss Political Science Review. 28(1), pp. 129-141. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12490
Populist attitudes : Bringing together ideational and communicative approaches
Kefford, Glenn, Moffitt, Benjamin and Werner, Annika. (2022). Populist attitudes : Bringing together ideational and communicative approaches. Political Studies. 70(4), pp. 1006-1027. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321721997741
How do mainstream parties ‘become’ mainstream, and pariah parties ‘become’ pariahs? Conceptualizing the processes of mainstreaming and pariahing in the labelling of political parties
Moffitt, Benjamin. (2022). How do mainstream parties ‘become’ mainstream, and pariah parties ‘become’ pariahs? Conceptualizing the processes of mainstreaming and pariahing in the labelling of political parties. Government and Opposition. 57(3), pp. 385-403. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2021.5
Who would identify with an "empty signifier"? : The relational, performative approach to populism
Ostiguy, Pierre and Moffitt, Benjamin. (2021). Who would identify with an "empty signifier"? : The relational, performative approach to populism. In In Ostiguy, Pierre, Panizza, Francisco and Moffitt, B. (Ed.). Populism in global perspective : A performative and discursive approach pp. 47-72 Routledge.
Political meritocracy and populism : Cure or curse?
Chou, Mark, Moffitt, Benjamin and Bryant, Octavia. (2020). Political meritocracy and populism : Cure or curse Routledge.
The potentials and difficulties of transnational populism : The case of the democracy in Europe movement 2025 (DiEM25)
De Cleen, Benjamin, Moffitt, Benjamin, Panayotu, Panos and Stavrakakis, Yannis. (2020). The potentials and difficulties of transnational populism : The case of the democracy in Europe movement 2025 (DiEM25). Political Studies. 68(1), pp. 146-166. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321719847576
Populism
Moffitt, Benjamin. (2020). Populism Polity Press.
Introduction
Ostiguy, Pierre, Panizza, Francisco and Moffitt, Benjamin. (2020). Introduction. In In Ostiguy, Pierre, Panizza, Francisco and Moffitt, Benjamin (Ed.). Populism in global perspective : A performative and discursive approach pp. 1-18 Routledge.
Conclusions : Reflections on the lessons learned
Panizza, Francisco, Ostiguy, Pierre and Moffitt, Benjamin. (2020). Conclusions : Reflections on the lessons learned. In In Panizza, Francisco, Ostiguy, Pierre and Moffitt, Benjamin (Ed.). Populism in global perspective : A performative and discursive approach pp. 255-274 Routledge.
Cultural Marxism: Far-right conspiracy theory in Australia’s culture wars
Busbridge, Rachel, Moffitt, Benjamin and Thorburn, Joshua. (2020). Cultural Marxism: Far-right conspiracy theory in Australia’s culture wars. Social Identities. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822
Populism versus technocracy : Performance, passions, and aesthetics
Moffitt, Benjamin. (2019). Populism versus technocracy : Performance, passions, and aesthetics. In In Cossarini, Paolo and Vallespín, Fernando (Ed.). Populism and passions : Democratic legitimacy after austerity pp. 49-64 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351205474-4
Populism 2.0: social media and the false allure of "unmediated" representation
Moffitt, Ben. (2019). Populism 2.0: social media and the false allure of "unmediated" representation. In In G. Fitzi, J. Mackert and B.S. Turner (Ed.). Populism and the Crisis of Democracy: Politics, Social Movements and Extremism pp. 30 - 46 Routledge.
Populism and media in Western Europe
Moffitt, Ben. (2019). Populism and media in Western Europe. In In C. De La Torre (Ed.). Routledge Handbook of Global Populism pp. 235 - 248 Routledge.
Populism in Australia and New Zealand
Moffitt, Ben. (2017). Populism in Australia and New Zealand. In In C. R. Kaltwasser, P. Taggart and P. O. Espejo and P. Ostiguy (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Populism pp. 121 - 139 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198803560.013.5
Transnational populism? Representative claims, media and the difficulty of constructing a transnational “people”
Moffitt, Ben. (2017). Transnational populism? Representative claims, media and the difficulty of constructing a transnational “people”. Javnost. 24(4), pp. 409 - 425. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2017.1330086
Liberal illiberalism? The reshaping of the contemporary populist radical right in Northern Europe
Moffitt, Ben. (2017). Liberal illiberalism? The reshaping of the contemporary populist radical right in Northern Europe. Politics and Governance. 5(4), pp. 112 - 122. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v5i4.996
The global rise of populism: performance, political style, and representation
Moffitt, Ben. (2016). The global rise of populism: performance, political style, and representation Stanford University Press.
How to perform crisis: a model for understanding the key role of crisis in contemporary populism
Moffitt, Ben. (2015). How to perform crisis: a model for understanding the key role of crisis in contemporary populism. Government and Opposition: an international journal of comparative politics. 50(2), pp. 189 - 217. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2014.13
Contemporary populism and "the people" in the Asia-Pacific: Thaksin Shinawatra and Pauline Hanson
Moffitt, Ben. (2015). Contemporary populism and "the people" in the Asia-Pacific: Thaksin Shinawatra and Pauline Hanson. In In C. de la Torre (Ed.). The Promise and Perils of Populism: Global Perspectives pp. 293 - 316 The University Press of Kentucky.
Rethinking populism: politics, mediatisation and political style
Moffitt, Ben and Tormey, Simon. (2013). Rethinking populism: politics, mediatisation and political style. Political Studies. 62(2), pp. 381 - 397. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.12032