Populisme en de sociologische verbeelding

Populism is not restricted to right-wing politicians like Pim Fortuyn or Geert Wilders. In Latin America, populism is the provenance of left-wing leaders. Social movements like Anonymous and Occupy, too, espouse populism, even though they renounce leadership. And we can also observe populist styles and sentiments outside politics, from the arts to advertising. How can we identify, understand and explain these different expressions of populism? This introduction argues for a relational approach to the study of populism. If we understand populist styles and sentiments as emergent attributes of relations rather than fixed properties of actors or ideologies, we can begin the task of dissecting, understanding and explaining populism.