Populist Discourse: Recasting Populism Research

Populist Discourse: Recasting Populism Research offers a refreshingly innovative discourse theory perspective on populist phenomena. Reading this book will help you familiarize yourself with the historical genealogy of significant populist phenomena from the end of the 19th century onwards and with the main conceptual/theoretical accounts established to analyse them. Mainstream conceptualizations of populism in both academia and public discourse are critically discussed in order to map new, promising avenues for research. Inspired by the works of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the book addresses current challenges within populism research and highlights the new directions that a conceptually nuanced, theoretically rigorous and historically informed discursive orientation can contribute to the contemporary study of populism. Without sacrificing attention to detail, strong bibliographical support and a focus on the future development of populism research, Populist Discourse is written in accessible language to engage populism scholars, advanced undergraduates and graduate-level students within the field of political science. Due to its interdisciplinary character, it will also appeal to readers associated with various politically informed area studies and the broader field of ideology and discourse analysis.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Towards a genealogy of populism 2. Researching populism: the mainstream, old and new 3. (Populist) discourse: an alternative approach 4. Populist (discourse): the toolkit Conclusion: the democratic promise of populism and its discontents

About the Author :
Yannis Stavrakakis studied political science in Athens (Panteion) and Essex. He has worked at the universities of Essex and Nottingham before taking up a position at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2007, where he currently directs the Postgraduate Programme in Political Theory and the Laboratory for the Study of Democracy. His research focuses primarily on contemporary political theory (with emphasis on psychoanalytic and post-structuralist approaches) and on the analysis of ideology and discourse in late modern societies (with emphasis on populism and anti-populism). He was one of the founding co-conveners of the Populism Specialist Group of the Political Studies Association (UK) and directs the POPULISMUS Observatory: www.populismus.gr.

Review :
Populist Discourse: Recasting Populism Research provides a bracing assessment of populism studies, offering an accessible and original account of developments in this field since populism first burst onto the political scene. As one of the leading scholars of the Essex School, Stavrakakis nails discourse theory firmly onto the map of contemporary populism research. He finally delivers the first comprehensive and authoritative book-length treatment of its kind since Laclau's On Populist Reason, bound to become a standard scholarly reference for years to come. Jason Glynos, University of Essex, UK An indispensable book illuminating the most controversial issue in contemporary politics: populism. Each chapter, masterfully organized around precisely targeted questions, allows one to navigate this field anew. The often complex theoretical fabric of discourse theory is here operationalized in order to inform and animate a robust methodology tackling heterogeneous phenomena in elucidating ways. And all this from a critical perspective that escapes from any Eurocentric attitude, revealing Stavrakakis as a truly global thinker. Paula Biglieri, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Populist Discourse: Recasting Populism Research is a thoughtful and timely engagement with the phenomenon of populism. Yannis Stavrakakis dispels widespread misconceptions about populism and charts new directions for thinking about populism's relationship to democracy. None of the many books on populism written over the last decade exhibit the historical sensibility, empirical sensitivity, and analytical sharpness on display in Populist Discourse. A must read for scholars and the wider public as well. John P. McCormick, University of Chicago, USA [The] book is theoretically rich, dense, and detailed in its argumentation. Guiding questions and key themes appear in bold throughout each chapter, and this editorial choice results in helpful signposting for the academic and nonexpert reader alike, making the text a useful one for upper-level classroom teaching. AndreaMcDonnell, Journal of Language and Politics The book is short (178 pages), but covers a lot of ground and is organised in a way that makes the argument easy to follow. While it is accessible and clear and should be useful resource to anyone serious about understanding populism, it must be noted that it engages with many concepts, theories and schools of thought and thus requires either some preliminary knowledge of the subject or a willingness to go further. To do so, readers can build on the wealth of references provided and Stavrakakis’s in-depth knowledge of the field.” Aurelien Mondon, PSA Populism Specialist Group Blog Given the rapid growth of studies on populism, political research urgently requires a book of this nature. In Populist Discourse–Recasting Populism Research, the political theorist, Yannis Stavrakakis critiques the uncritical and oversimplified application of the term “populism” in political research, advocating for a more nuanced discursive approach. Bianca Alighieri Luz Monteiro, Las Torres de Lucca. Revista internacional de filosofía política Yannis Stavrakakis manages to ‘recast’ populist research with extreme clarity and conviction in Populist Discourse, which offers an invaluable contribution to the field. George Henry Newth, Perspectives on Politics