During recent years populism became omnipresent
within European societies. While the term is often used to describe „new“
anti-establishment parties or movements, the specific characteristics of
populism remain highly disputed. Until today there exists no generally accepted
definition and sometimes the term indeed seems to describe highly heterogenous
political phenomena. On the one hand, we will ask how populism is conceptualized
within the social science research. Are there specific elements which are
typical for all forms of populism, is it possible to distinguish different
„versions“ of populism and what is the relationship between populism and
democracy? On the other hand, we will explore empirical manifestations of
populism within Europe and different examples of populist politics are
discussed.
- Dozent/in: Marian Pradella