Book reviewed:

The Populist Radical Left in Europe

Giorgos Katsambekis and Alexandros Kioupkiolis (eds) (Oxford Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2019), 216 pp. ISBN: 9781138744806


For years, the study of populism has been subject to scholars of the radical right. Taking a look at public and expert discourse, this has resulted in the conflation of populism with other phenomena such as nationalism, the extreme right or even demagogy. The title of this volume, edited by Giorgos Katsambekis and Alexandros Kioupkiolis, serves in restoring the status of left-wing populism and, in doing so, fills a significant gap in the existing research on the Populist Radical Left (PRL). The number of cases included in this volume illustrates a large pool of PRL parties in Europe. This in itself renders PRL as a relevant area of focus for both researchers and pundits.

The volume addresses a variety of issues and concerns, at both the theoretical and the empirical levels. These include the distinct trajectories of populist parties; the challenges they face; the changes they undergo once they enter institutions; their varying degrees of radicalisation and moderation; their relationship with democracy; their programmatic positions on socio-economic and cultural issues; and their stances on the EU.

As the reader will discover, PRL parties are not homogenous. They are movement-based and bottom-up experiments, some of which are deeply rooted in digitally oriented forms of organisation (Kioupkiolis, chapter 8). They are top-down leader-centric projects, representing diverse degrees of radicalisation and moderation, as well as populist and leftist components. All these different features depend on context-sensitive reasons such as the national framework, the political arena in which they operate and the degree of power they have.

The volume includes well-studied cases of left-wing populism such as those of Syriza in Greece (Katsambekis, Chapter 1) and Podemos in Spain (Kioupkiolis, Chapter 2). These chapters advance knowledge of these case studies by focusing on the trajectories these parties followed in their ascent to power and the setbacks they experienced due to their institutionalisation. The volume also includes ‘fresh cases’ including the ‘left-wing patriot’ Mélenchon in France (chapter 4) and Jeremy Corbyn and ‘his’ Momentum movement in the UK (Maiguashca and Dean, chapter 7). With respect to Mélenchon’s France Insoumise, Philippe Marlière advances the discussion on populism and ‘the nation’ by drawing on French Republican tradition and what he calls ‘staunch patriotism’. In chapter 3, Toplišek moves beyond the standard geographical focus on western, central and southern European regions and informs the reader about the under-researched case of the Slovenian Left.

The edited volume also discusses ‘disputed’ or ‘borderline’ cases, such as the Dutch Socialist Party (chapter 5) and Die Linke in Germany (chapter 6) whereby populism is not the main feature that defines the identity of these parties. While the authors show that populist discourse has been frequently employed by the two parties, populism cannot be considered as an integral logic that defines them. Rather, populism is a matter of an occasional mode of communication. In the case of the Dutch Socialist Party, Lucardie and Voerman distinguish between weak and strong populism. In the case of Die Linke, Hough and Keith show how degrees of populism depend on the arena where discourse is communicated as well as who articulates it. These two chapters make a critical methodological contribution as they highlight that ‘populism’ is not a dichotomous or static category, but rather a matter of degree.

Overall, ‘the Populist Radical Left in Europe’ makes a significant contribution to the literatures within which it is situated: those of ‘populism’ and the ‘radical left’. Although chapters focus on single cases, they draw ‘unofficial’ comparisons and identify commonalities and differences among other populist actors in other countries—within and beyond Europe—shedding light on a plethora of ignored manifestations of contemporary left-wing populist projects. The rich empirical material gathered in this volume challenges those who criticise discourse theory for being overly abstract. Of course, not all chapters ascribe to this perspective strictly speaking, but they do engage with it significantly. The incorporation of party politics and policy analysis perspectives in the analysis of party competition and party change (e.g. chapters 3, 5 and 6) supplements discourse theory and develops further its research programme.

Contrary to stereotypes, the empirics show that populism is not necessarily xenophobic and authoritarian, but it can be egalitarian and progressive. This volume adds another brick in the wall for those who, for the last 10 years or so, have been trying to recalibrate the research agenda on populism in Europe. The volume pushes for major reconsiderations on the concept of populism and points towards the advancements that the so-called Essex School has offered to the field of populism. In this spirit, Stavrakakis (postscript/chapter 9) urges for a self-reflexive ethos in social sciences as well as punditry because, by uncritically adopting an exclusively pejorative definition of populism, normative, ahistorical and ideologically charged stereotypes are adopted too. The consequences are evident: on the scientific level, we are left with the absence of research on left-wing populism, while the euphemistic application of the populist label on the far-right arguably camouflages the dangers on the political level.

While the volume contributes significantly to the literature, it does not address a common scepticism deriving from those who question the usefulness of the concept of populism. Does the rich variety of populisms, as this volume skilfully portrays, weaken or strengthen the usefulness of the concept of populism itself? Despite this minor criticism, this book should offer much to students, researchers and scholars of populism and the radical left.