Abstract
This article re-examines the race-populism nexus. It asks: Does populist
political construction of the figure of 'the people' necessarily involve
processes of racial othering? We answer this question by revisiting three
emblematic cases of populism. Each historical case illustrates a basic
type of identity formation that can have an i) exclusionary, ii) ambivalent
or iii) positive impact on racial justice. The first case is Thatcherism,
whose 'authoritarian populism' feeds on and reinforces anti-Black racial
prejudice. The second is Peronism, which has an ambivalent relationship
with race that promises to shed important new light on this classic case
of populism. The third case is that of the American Populists, whose
pioneering experiments in interracial politics remain an enduring
illustration of populism's progressive potential. In each case, we focus on
a key document from that political regime/movement: the Conservative
Manifesto of 1979, the Peronist Constitution of 1949, and the Omaha
Platform of 1892. The article concludes that populism, as a logic of
action, acts as a catalyst that intensifies whatever specific content is
mobilised - racist and anti-racist content alike.
political construction of the figure of 'the people' necessarily involve
processes of racial othering? We answer this question by revisiting three
emblematic cases of populism. Each historical case illustrates a basic
type of identity formation that can have an i) exclusionary, ii) ambivalent
or iii) positive impact on racial justice. The first case is Thatcherism,
whose 'authoritarian populism' feeds on and reinforces anti-Black racial
prejudice. The second is Peronism, which has an ambivalent relationship
with race that promises to shed important new light on this classic case
of populism. The third case is that of the American Populists, whose
pioneering experiments in interracial politics remain an enduring
illustration of populism's progressive potential. In each case, we focus on
a key document from that political regime/movement: the Conservative
Manifesto of 1979, the Peronist Constitution of 1949, and the Omaha
Platform of 1892. The article concludes that populism, as a logic of
action, acts as a catalyst that intensifies whatever specific content is
mobilised - racist and anti-racist content alike.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | European Journal of Sociology |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 26 Jan 2024 |