1,720,999 research outputs found
Populism and hegemony in Ernesto Laclau. Theory and strategy in the Italian Communist Party and the Ecuadorian Citizens' Revolution
Full text linkThis thesis explores critically two central notions in the work of Ernesto Laclau: populism and hegemony. From analytical and strategic points of view, some incongruities stand out. For example, the conceptual proximity between the two often hinders their respective explanatory and political purchase. Moreover, Laclau's arguments in support of left-wing populism appear not to examine in sufficient depth some important issues, such as the non-necessary but also potentially problematic relationship between populism and democracy and the question of the leader. In this thesis I examine Laclau's work and interpretations of his work before offering a fresh interpretation that will both retain and enhance the distinctiveness and relevance of populism and hegemony for contemporary debates in socialist thought, and emancipatory theory more generally.
My argument is grounded on both empirical and theoretical sources, relying on a combination of concept- and case-based interpretive methods. The empirical aspect of the thesis, which consists of an in-depth study of the trajectory of the Italian Communist Party and the Ecuadorian Citizens' Revolution, is used to problematise the conceptualisation of populism and hegemony. From a theoretical point of view, I first conduct a geneaological analysis of the emergence of the two notions in Laclau. I argue that this prompts a kind of ‘return to Antonio Gramsci’, involving the mobilisation of some insights that were overlooked or progressively neglected in the reading that Laclau made of the Italian thinker. The strategic upshot of this is that, while it is paramount to think in both populist and hegemonic terms, the former does not necessarily imply or reduce to the latter, and vice versa. Finally, I put forward the case for an agonistic, radical-democratic and ethical left-wing populism, drawing from the contributions of Chantal Mouffe, Jacques Derrida, William Connolly and Jacques Lacan
Come comunica la sinistra radicale? Il caso di Unione Popolare in Italia
No full textThis paper examines the political communication employed by Unione Popolare (UP), an alliance of radical left parties led by former mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, for the 2022 Italian parliamentary elections, which ultimately fell short of achieving both parliamentary representation and its estimated voting intention. The study investigates UP’s national communication team formation, budget constraints, intra-alliance communication challenges, and discursive positioning. Additionally, the study assesses UP’s use of digital technologies in relation to the academic discussion on digital parties, examining why its digital dynamism did not match the successes of other European left-wing formations. The analysis also explores UP’s relationship with communicative innovations associated with European
left-wing populism, and discusses why these strategies failed to develop within UP. This research offers insights into the complexities of contemporary radical left communication and contributes to filling a significant gap in academic literature concerning the communication strategies of classical radical left actors like UP
Southern European Populisms as Counter-Hegemonic Discourses? A Comparative Perspective of Podemos and M5S
No full textinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
Does left populism short-circuit itself? Podemos in the labyrinths of cultural elitism and radical leftism
No full textPodemos’ initial left populist strategy and electoral success have been the subject of much academic debate. However, amid the party’s rapidly declining numbers at the polls, scholarly attention towards the Spanish party has been on the wane. Based on a discussion of the existing literature and a mixture of qualitative methods, this paper attempts to capture the distinctive features of the early populist gamble and two internal elements that progressively short-circuited it. The first is related to the cultural elitism of Podemos’ leadership, a phenomenon observed especially within the faction of Íñigo Errejón, former number 2 of the party. The intellectualist distinction of many of its members proved to be a repressive instance that jeopardised the populist practice. The second is instead the return to a radical left fold, which is instead to be attributed to
Podemos’ former leader Pablo Iglesias and his successor Ione Belarra.
Party factionalism, strong leftist symbolism and the promotion of identity
politics stand here among the most visible factors that negated the initial
transversal approach. In different ways, those elements re-established the
previous symbolic space that Podemos’ populism had been trying to
supersede and sabotage the possibility of securing a broad and durable
popular identity
Italia: una coyuntura particular
Full text linkLa reciente victoria progresista en Emilia-Romaña puede dar la
falsa impresión de que el fantasma de la extrema derecha de Matteo
Salvini fue conjurado. Es cierto que el líder de la Liga cometió un error
al dinamitar el gobierno que compartía con el Movimiento 5 Estrellas,
y fue derrotado en esta antigua región «roja». Pero esto está lejos
de ser suficiente para frenar el avance de una derecha populista
autoritaria y racista, y para refundar un progresismo que se volvió
elitista y ajeno a las sensibilidades y preocupaciones de los de abajo
Populismo ed egemonia nel primo Laclau: un percorso genealogico e un raffronto temporale
Full text linkThe text aims to trace a genealogical itinerary of the concepts of populism and hegemony in the first part of Ernesto Laclau's work, corresponding to the phase in which his thought is still situared within a Marxist perimeter, however heterodox. Following the method of Quentin Skinner, the birth and evolution of the notions at stake are retraced, as well as the relationship with other key concepts of his theoretical scheme, such as hegemony, articulation and “the political”. At the same time, the theoretical and political stimuli that lead the Argentine thinker to formulate and revise the scope of the two notions are framed. The text also takes into consideration the years of Laclau's political-militant formation within the Peronist left and his very first writings on political economy in which the concept of populism does not appear. These first political and intellectual
experiences constitute a decisive substrate for understanding Laclau's subsequent theoretical movements. Finally, taking a leap forward, an examination of the similarities and differences between the theory of populism developed in Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory of 1977 and that offered in On Populist Reason of 2005 is advanced
Essays on the seven essays: Populism, ontology, feminism and more. Introductory remarks
No full textThe paper provides a succinct introduction to the special issue of Ethics and Politics dedicated to the book Seven Essays on Populism. For a Renewed Theoretical perspective written by the Argentine duo Paula Biglieri and Luciana Cadahia. To this purpose, it firstly outlines the growing scholarly tendency to conceptualise populism as an ontological phenomenon. Secondly, it provides some basic information about the scope of the text under analysis. Finally, it introduces two of the most discussed issues of the book, ie. the choice to consider populism as being inherently emancipatory based on a different way to conceive ontology and the connection between populism and feminism, with a brief overview of the contributors’ positions involved in this critical exchange
Social Media and Political Parties. Partial Normalization, Party Centralization and Digital Pessimism in Spain
No full textPolitical parties’ communication has been strongly impacted by the advent of the social media. Scholarly attention has mostly focused on native digital organizations, while largely neglecting how social media have impinged upon parties across the board. Based on 19 interviews to party heads of (digital) communication and consultants, this article explores how Spanish parties have adopted social media, how they have coped in terms of labor resources and what their perspectives on such affordances are. The article argues that a partial normalization has taken place, as all parties are involved with different degrees of confidence in the most important social media, although native digital organizations still maintain the upper hand. Moreover, the paper suggests that parties have internalized digital tasks rather than relying on external actors, thus reinforcing the role played by the party in central office. Finally, despite the merits that social media have had in honing political communication, there emerge increasing reservations due to phenomena such as platforms’ unaccountability, hate speech, fake news and trolling
Empate hegemónico y derrota en alargue. Sobre las raíces de la extraña transición Correa-Moreno en Ecuador
Full text linkThe political turn of Lenín Moreno, heir apparent of the previous Ecuadorian pres- ident Rafael Correa, was an unexpected political event. However, this change of di- rection did not take place in a vacuum. Based on Portantiero’s concept of “hegemonic tie”, the text argues that, after multiple electoral successes, a certain levelling between the correísta bloc and its socio-political adversaries acted as a backdrop for this odd transition. In particular, the political impasse occurred thanks both to the inability of correísmo to play a leading role in society and to the recovered activism on the part of the Ecuadorian right, favoured by its structural advantages. Finally, the Citizens’ Revo- lution proved incapable of disputing a war of positions and of a capillary reform of the country’s common sense, which facilitated Moreno’s tricky change of shirt, thus paving the way back to neoliberalism
El buen vivir ecuatoriano como simbolización de una cadena de equivalencias
No full textEl Buen Vivir ha surgido en los últimos años como el principal concepto orientador en el proceso de transformación política y social del Ecuador. Sin embargo, el uso de este término no ha estado exento de polémicas. En este texto se presentan las diferentes interpretaciones de la expresión y se formula una crítica de la posición particularista, basada en una interpretación política del Buen Vivir, la cual deriva de la aplicación de un enfoque laclausiano
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