Overview

Is populism the unsurpassable horizon of our own time or is it a temptation that should at all costs be resisted? Who, and to what end, does the jargon of populism serve? To answer these questions, Alexander Stagnell, Gustav Strandberg, David Payne, and their contributors trace the socio-historical significance of the concept of ‘The People’ in western philosophy and its relationship to the trend of populist politics today. Bringing together scholars from the fields of aesthetics, critical, cultural and political theory, philosophy, and rhetoric, this volume critically explores the issues facing contemporary society today. With an international team of authors, each chapter speaks to a range of contexts recently affected by populism today, including Sweden, Brazil, Germany, Austria, France, and the UK. As political and economic establishments face a crisis of legitimacy, Populism and The People in Contemporary Critical Thought reveals the shaky foundations on which the concept of ‘The People’ rests. Engaging with critical theory, feminist theory, Marxism, phenomenology, and psychoanalysis, this collection highlights how ‘The People’ comes to stand in for both belonging and exclusion, enabling us to see the uses and abuses of such terminology as pressing theoretical and political concerns.

Full Product Details

Author:   Alexander Stagnell ,  David Payne ,  Gustav Strandberg
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN:  

9781350183629

ISBN 10:   1350183628
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   09 February 2023
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction David Payne, Alexander Stagnell, & Gustav Strandberg Part I: Political Reflections on the People 1. The People: Proper, Common, Improper. An Interview with Jacques Rancière Jacques Rancière, David Payne, Alexander Stagnell, & Gustav Strandberg 2. Demophobia in Politics: Remarks on Liberal Anti-Populism and the Possibility of a Radical Democratic Populism Oliver Marchart 3. Logics of Democracy in the Work of Ernesto Laclau and Jacques Rancière Mark Devenney & Clare Woodford 4.Disavowals of Populism: The Political Displacement of Homogeneity Karl Ekeman Part II: Toward an Affectology of Populism 5. The Politics of Resentment and Its Pitfalls Samo Tomšic 6. “That’s Disgusting!”: The Shifting Politics of Affect in Right-Wing Populist Mobilization Maria Brock & Jenny Gunnarsson Payne 7. The People and the Image of the Leader: Reflections on Mass-Psychology Chiara Bottici Part III: The Aesthetics of the People 8.Picturing the People: The Dilemmas of Democratic Representation Paula Diehl 9. Aesthetic Forms of the Political: Populist Ornaments, Cultures of Rejection, Democratic Assemblies Stefan Jonsson 10. The Undivided People: On the Hypothesis of Radical Democracy in Peter Weiss’s “The Aesthetics of Resistance” Kim West Part IV: The People beyond the Political 11. Fragmentation of the Idea of the People: The Afro-Brazilian Event Muniz Sodré 12.A Politics of the People and a Politics of the Popular: From the Russian Revolution to “Gramsci’s Ashes” Tora Lane 13. Facing People Ramona Rat Epilogue 15. On ‘People’: Brief Theoretical Notes Michael Marder

Reviews

If critical thought can be briefly defined as the activity of unravelling the different scopes of power relationships, this collection of articles draws this task to its ultimate consequences. The people alongside populism—key political categories for the debate of our time—are scrutinised in a variety of dimensions making this book an indispensable read. * Paula Biglieri, Professor of Political Theory, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina * This refreshing volume brings together insights from different strands of thought in the humanities and social sciences to explore the notion of ‘the people’, its significance for democracy, and its relation to populism. Grounded in political philosophy, affective theory, aesthetics, and political theory, it provides a great springboard for critical reflexivity and interdisciplinary dialogue in the field. * Giorgos Katsambekis, Researcher in Comparative Politics, National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), Greece *

In a worldwide context in which the people alongside populism have become key political categories for the debate of our time, this book brings together a collection of articles that feeds the discussion drawing the critical task to its ultimate consequences.Populism and the People are scrutinised in a variety of dimensions making this book an indispensable read. * Paula Biglieri, Professor of Political Theory, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina *

Author Information

Alexander Stagnell is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Rhetoric at the Free University of Brussels (ULB), Belgium. David Payne has a PhD in Political Theory, and lectures and researches at Södertörn University. He is also International Research Editor for Södertörn University, Sweden. Gustav Strandberg is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Södertörn University, Sweden.

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