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What is Populism?

Article in Social Movement Studies · August 2018

DOI: 10.1080/14742837.2018.1516132

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 Social Movement Studies

ISSN: 1474-2837 (Print) 1474-2829 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/csms20

What is Populism?

Jacqueline Ross

To cite this article: Jacqueline Ross (2018) What is Populism?, Social Movement Studies, 17:6,
754-756, DOI: 10.1080/14742837.2018.1516132

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754 BOOK REVIEWS

that there may be a rise in worldwide white supremacy. He reminds the reader of the
links between European and North American extremists based, in part, on their com-
mitment to a racial holy war along with advocacy for the use of violence to undermine
government authority and traditional social institutions. Yet Trouble on the Far Right is
also a reminder that politicians such as Marine Le Pen, Nick Griffin, and Geert Wilders
have supporters and win votes in democratically held elections. The far-right both
challenges and utilizes government and existing social institutions in furthering their
political projects. In both cases, and adding to the challenges faced by political pro-
gressives, is the fact that right wing terrorists, anti-Semites, anti-Muslim activists, and
homophobes are increasingly connected by social media outlets such as Facebook and
platforms such as Stormfront. This can result in mobilization efforts that are difficult to
control even though hate speech laws may be in effect.
The book also raises debates around policy designed to protect the rights and safety
of different social groups. ‘Right-Wing Terrorism and Hate Crime in the U.K.’ Alex
Carter’s research indicates how domestic terrorism in Great Britain relates to networking
opportunities in online environments. These facts question the value or efficacy of hate
speech laws. In 2017, Germany passed NetzDG, a law that requires large social media
companies to remove illegal and/or malicious content from their sites within 24 hours
or receive heavy fines. Not everyone supports the law and many commentators are
preoccupied with the potential for its application to stifle free and creative speech. Yet
reflecting on examples from across the book, editors and contributors highlight the
fragility of democratic systems and the determination of right-wing movements to chip
away at individual freedoms and the right of citizens of all ethnicities to live and work
where they please.

Dianne Dentice
Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, USA
denticede@sfasu.edu
© 2018 Dianne Dentice
https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2018.1516548

What is Populism? by Jan-Werner Müller, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Press, 2016,

103 pp., $19.95 (hardback), ISBN 978 0 8122 4898 2; indices

In the wake of the 2016 Trump campaign for the White House, given the continued
popularity of Le Pen in France, and the ‘left-populist’ Bernie Sanders campaign for US
Democratic nominee, the terms ‘populist’ and ‘populism’ have gained new public and
academic interest. Jan-Werner Müller’s What is Populism? seeks to problematize the use
of the term ‘populism’ in current discourse, but in reading this book it is clear that an
analysis from a social movements studies perspective might be necessary for a more
thorough unpacking. Müller’s book provides (in 103 pages) an approachable, neat, and
liberal democratic presentation of ‘populism’, while lacking a potentially more critical and
practical analysis of contemporary social movements.
Populism is characterized by Müller as involving: 1) criticism of elites; 2) anti-pluralism
and a reliance on the notion of exclusive representation of the people based on ‘moral’
rather than empirical or rational grounds; and 3) appeal to a homogeneous ‘one group’
identity that is specifically dangerous to democratic operations. I will describe these
 SOCIAL MOVEMENT STUDIES 755

briefly. Many people are critical of elites, whether they be powerful politicians or influen-
tial Wall Street bankers. However, populist critiques of elites are accompanied by a moral
claim to represent ‘the people’ as an exclusive group. The exclusivity implicit in this moral
claim is anti-pluralist and both supposes and projects ‘enemies of the people’, whose
exclusion is necessary as an act of reflexive self-definition. Müller suggests that the logic of
populism is a ‘moralistic imagination of politics’ (p.19), a moralized form of anti-plural-
ism or ‘holism’. It appeals to an idealized ‘people’ as totality, but which is actually only a
fraction of the people or citizenry. However, the entirety of a people, he argues, can never
truly be grasped, it is an ‘illusion’ (p.28). Those who are populists consider themselves to
be morally superior rather than just anti-pluralists, a position that he characterizes as
‘immune to empirical refutation’ (p.102).
Müller’s more nuanced position is that, while often uncouth, rude and dangerous,
populism affirms a number of unpleasant truths. He warns against falling into the ironic
trap of dismissing populist claims, delineating an ‘us’ (liberal democrats) and ‘them’
(populists), especially since his argument is that populism emerges from the logic of
liberal democracy itself. He argues that advocates of liberal democracy should acknowl-
edge the problems raised by people who identify with populists without accepting the
anti-pluralist, moralistic and exclusionary populist framing. These are people whose
grievances are going unrepresented and the emotional, moral and representative frame
that populist movements project is reaching those who feel that the institutions of liberal
democracy have marginalized them. One potential weakness of the book is that Müller
discusses populists as though individual people within a movement identify as ‘populists’.
It is rather the case that constituents of populist movements do not identify as populists,
though they be considered as such by observers, critics, and detractors. Analyzing
through a social movements lens why and how individuals – 1) collectively identify; 2)
emotionally invest; and 3) bond in solidarity – around populist ideas, but without
explicitly identifying as ‘populist’, could provide greater depth to the explanations offered
by the democratic theory tradition.
In order to do this, an understanding of the success of populist leaders is necessary.
This requires not only an intervention from a democratic theory lens, but also a social
movements perspective. This would include an analysis of the structures and strategies
of group action and resistance within populist movements. For example, Müller argues
that populism is critical of elites, however, his analysis does not, adequately account for
the overwhelming support for elites at present (i.e. billionaire Donald Trump) or
provide a clear articulation of the ways in which support for this leadership might be
a form of dissatisfaction or resistance. This book makes apparent the need for further
investigation into populist movements with specific reference to their leaders, who often
belong to the economic elite, rather than merely through identifying apparent forms of
disaffection of an oft-invoked ‘white working-class’. This focus might help demonstrate
that the strength of populist campaigns in part stems from the substantial resources at
the disposal of economic elites and their consequent ability to organize movements
politically as a mode of organizing ‘social movements from above’ – an example being
the Trump rallies, in which participation is free of charge. Specifically, an investigation
from a social movements perspective alongside a media studies lens could explore
correlations between campaign wealth, advertising, media coverage and other commu-
nication methods, providing a deeper and more critical analysis of successful contem-
porary ‘populist’ collective actors.
In sum, Müller supplies us with a theoretical and historical explanation of populism
which provides a basis for a critical analysis in terms of social movements. Social movement
 756 BOOK REVIEWS

theories building on this analysis would provide further valuable insights into populism in
its 21st century manifestations, highlighting not only the recent successes of these collective
actors, but also potential points of intervention.

Jacqueline Ross
City University of New York Graduate School
jross1@gradcenter.cuny.edu
© 2018 Jacqueline Ross
https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2018.1516132

Student revolt: voices of the austerity generation, Matt Myers; With Introduction
by Paul Mason, London, Pluto Press, 2017, ISBN 9780745337340 (paperback), £12.99,
xvii+194, and indices.

Student Revolt by Matt Myers reports the history of the 2010 UK student revolt against a
programme of austerity economics that proposed – and implemented – the tripling of
university tuition fees and the end of the pre-university Education Maintenance
Allowance scheme. Told through the personal accounts of those involved, including
protesting students, student representatives and politicians, Myers constructs a detailed
account through oral histories of the events which took place. Crucially, this account
goes far beyond a descriptive retelling of the events as they happened as Myers explores
the subsequent effects the movement had on its key actors through its focus on student
activists.
Whilst the revolt was relatively short-lived and already somewhat distant, with the first
major event being the 10th November 2010 march in London, leading to the occupation of
the Conservative party headquarters at Millbank, and the conclusion widely seen as the
Battle of Parliament Square on 9th December of the same year, this contribution is timely.
As highlighted by Paul Mason in the introduction, and confirmed though the many inter-
views, the mobilisations can be understood as a catalyst not only for the wider anti-austerity
movement which followed, but also for establishing the foundations for the rise of Jeremy
Corbyn as leader of the Labour party. Many of the students involved went into other
movements (such as Occupy and UK Uncut initially) which helped re-establish a grassroots
Left in the UK which subsequently rallied behind Corbyn’s left-wing Labour leadership bid
and the subsequent Labour campaign in the snap General Election of June 2017. Whilst the
Conservative party won the election they lost their parliamentary majority, suggesting an
ongoing shift occurring in UK politics, from apparent support for a politics of austerity to
increasing interest in an approach inspired by socialist principles.
Myers presents an oral history of the 2010 student movement as an ‘excavation of
memory’ (p29). This focus on telling the subjective history of a movement from first-
hand accounts uncovers elements of the revolt that have gone understated and unexamined.
A primary example is the participation of further education, non-university students and
the role they played in determining the cultural nature of the revolt. This provides a rich
history of the revolt – in Myers words ‘a patchwork of interlaced narratives and individuals’
(p188) – that without such an inquiry may have been lost.
This thorough examination of the movement leads Myers to his key insight: that the 2010
student movement whilst not achieving its ultimate aims, had a profound impact on those

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