Скачать или смотреть Guest Lecture: Théo Aiolfi - Populism beyond the Far Right

Populism beyond the Far Right: From Anti-Populism to Green Articulations of the Populist Style

15.11.2022 @ CY Advanced Studies I CY Cergy Paris Université

Over the years, a growing consensus has emerged about the core of populism: its focus on the people standing in opposition with the elite. But while the literature seems to mature, populism remains tainted in the public discourse by its association with demagoguery, amateurism and far-right politics. Building on the critical scholarship on anti-populism, I will demonstrate why these negative connotations are not only intellectually unsatisfying but politically dangerous as they enable the liberal centre to silence any challenge to the status quo by framing them as dangerous and undemocratic.

To move on from this conceptual impasse, I will then explore the way the dialectical tension between content and form illuminates the tired debates on the nature of populism. By contrasting ideological content and populist repertoire while emphasising their interconnection, I will argue that a discursive-performative approach provides the most productive way to disentangle populism from its pejorative connotations. Conceptualising it as an ideologically agnostic way of embodying politics, I then highlight the three core features of populism: its performance of agonism, transgression and crisis.

The final part of this lecture examines the intersection between green politics and populist style. While highlighting the potential pitfalls of the populist repertoire – including notably simplification, polarisation and reliance on a leader – I will discuss the benefits of this frame to understand the way green political actors mobilise conflict, transgression and emotion to perform the climate crisis in a more compelling manner.


Théo Aiolfi is currently Marie Skłodowska-Curie / EUTOPIA-SIF post doctoral fellow at CY Cergy Paris Université, invited by laboratory LT2D.