Mapping Antiglobalist Populism

Abstract

This article argues that the current explosion of right-wing national-populism is intricately connected to shifting perceptions of globalization in the world. I contend that a return to the once dominant but now frequently criticized ideational approach to the study of populism as ideology or discourse can provide insightful, if incomplete, explanations of the current populist moment. After a brief opening overview of some influential conceptual perspectives on populism, the article offers an appraisal of some major criticisms leveled against the ideological paradigm by advocates of competing approaches. I argue that the widespread portrayal of populism as a “thin-centered” ideology does not capture the ideational constellation of what I call antiglobalist populism. The currently dominant strain is reflected most prominently in “Trumpism” and similar European manifestations. To make my case, I apply the qualitative method of morphological discourse analysis (MDA) to key 2016 campaign speeches delivered by then presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and to related public remarks presented by British national-populist leader Nigel Farage on American soil. The research findings presented in this article suggest that globalization-related concepts have moved to the core and adjacent symbolic environment of antiglobalist populism. Thus, the general assumption of a “thin” conceptual core of national-populism no longer holds because its morphology has been significantly enriched. Bringing ideology back into populism studies serves the much-needed rehabilitation of a valuable perspective that has been written off too prematurely by many populism scholars.