This seminar seeks to investigate the historical and sociological roots of the construction of populisms both sides of the Atlantic, in the UK as well as in the U.S. First, it looks at definitions of populism in political science, since "populism" itself is a very slippery word.
It interrogates the role of the media in shaping a populist, conservative, very influential narrative against immigrants, ethnic minorities and against the liberal Welfare state as well as against enemies of the market (elites, trade-unions, etc...). It is also an analysis of the emergence of the so-called conservative revolution in both countries, and it purports to study the echoes, the connections, the borrowings from both sides, particularly, of course, the way U.K. politics has been influenced by U.S. politics.
By reaching back to the 1960s, this course aims to provide some answers to students wondering at how frequent the term "populist" / "populism" is used in public debate, and what this means in the contemporary world.
- Enseignant: Olivier Esteves