Theorizing a Transnational Populist Logic: the Case of 60's the Montreal "Scene"

Despite a recent boom in research on the combination of populism and nationalism (Brubaker 2020) there has been surprisingly little work on left-wing transnational populism. Much of the research on transnational populism has focused on the far-right (Miller-Idriss 2019; Volk 2019, 2020). While the initial research on left-wing populist transnationalism has mainly been introductory and limited to Western Europe (De Cleen et al. 2020; Fanoulis and Guerra 2020; Moffitt 2017; Panayotu 2021). Both sets of literature, however, affirm that when populism is conceived in accordance with the Essex School of Discourse Theory, that it functions as a capable concept to describe the formation of transnational social movements and can serve as an activist theory to enables the production of novel transnational discourses and political movements (Laclau 2005; Stavrakakis 2021; Wajner 2022). Still, intimate knowledge of left-wing transnational populism has been elusive, with a dearth of accounts on the practices, contexts, and logics to account for how such movements can form or what past movements may be re-imagined through the concept. This study turns to the case of the radical networks and activism consisting of intermixed ideological (sovereigntist, Third-Worldist, Black nationalist, and Marxist) perspectives in 1960's Montreal. By assessing this case as left-wing transnational populism it demonstrates the cogency and productive qualities of the theory and generates knowledge of the dynamics, characteristics, and techniques of transnational populism (both specific and general) that may be productive for motivating future radically democratic movements. Existing scholarship notes how the 1968 Black Writers Conference in Montreal remarkably brought together prominent African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Pan-African intellectuals and activists alongside the inclusion and participation of Quebecois sovereigntists, such as the FLQ, and representatives of the Cuban revolutionary government (Austin 2023; Mills 2010). Not only was this cross-border collection of activists able to get along, but their exchange of ideas and sharing of organizational, protest, and discursive techniques orchestrated a shared struggle. Thus, the left-wing Quebec ‘scene’ is an extraordinary yet underappreciated landmark event not just in the history of 1960’s radicalism but as case of transnational left-wing politics (Horn 2007; Meren 2013). The project aims to contribute to both the political theory of left-wing transnationalism and the appraisal of the Quebec ecosystem, including key events like the Conference and the October Crisis as significant moments in transnational politics and not solely Quebecois or de-colonial nationalism (Getachew 2019). This study aims to decipher the historical-contextual circumstances as well as the organizational and communicative practices that enabled these odd partners to form a network. From this historical analysis, the project aims to retroductively theorize the case as an example of leftwing transnational populism utilizing the theoretical resources of the Essex school of discourse theory (Glynos and Howarth 2007).