The Populism-Identity Link

Abstract

The identity-populism nexus plays a central role in our understanding of populist discourses, and the success of populist parties and movements. Populist discourses typically aim to mobilize a sense of identification among the public, by sketching a division between ‘us’ and ‘them’. For instance, a gap between ‘us’, the people, and ‘them’, the corrupt establishment is highlighted, or a demarcation of people along national, ethnic, religious, class, and gender lines are mobilized for political gains. The papers in this panel investigate how different types of identification are linked to populist attitudes.