De-centring Populism: An Empirical Analysis of the Contingent Nature of Populist Discourses

Abstract

Multiple voices warn about an analytical deadlock in the field of populism studies mainly due to an excess of description and a lack of contextualisation. Reflecting on the current responses to this impasse, this study presents a framework for contextualising populism and seeks to enrich and expand the potential of populism research. The main argument of this article is that a more dynamic and interactive analytical framework is necessary to show the contingent and fragile nature of populist discourses and complement existing research. To illustrate this approach, the case of Podemos is analysed to show how the populist discourse varies over time for the same populist actor and to what extent this variation responds to contextual pressures. The study concludes that the contingent nature of populism can be related to two main conditions: the variable power over discourse of populist mobilisation and the normative pressures within the political sphere.