The Populist Radical Left in Europe (Routledge Advances in European Politics)

Building on a comprehensive theoretical framework that draws on discursive and ideational approaches to populism, this volume offers a comparative mapping of the Populist Radical Left in contemporary Europe. It explores the novel discursive, political and organisational features of several political actors, as well as the conditions of their emergence and success, while being alert to the role of relevant social movements.

Chapters feature case studies of the Greek party Syriza, the Spanish Podemos, the German Die Linke, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and France Insoumise, the Dutch Socialist Party and the Slovenian Levica. Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour in the UK and ‘Momentum’, the movement that supports him is also examined. A separate chapter is devoted to recent grassroots social movements that can be seen as instances of progressive populism, such as the ‘squares movement’ in Spain and Greece.

This book fills a crucial gap in the literature on radical left politics and populism in Europe, contributing to the rapidly burgeoning field of populism studies.

Giorgos Katsambekis is a Lecturer in European and International Politics at Loughborough University. He has co-edited the volume Radical Democracy and Collective Movements Today (Ashgate 2014). His recent work has appeared in The Political Quarterly, Constellations, European Political Science, Javnost–The Public, Contemporary Political Theory, Critical Discourse Studies and The Journal of Political Ideologies.

Alexandros Kioupkiolis is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Political Theory at Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece. His research interests are focussed on radical democracy, the commons, social movements, and the philosophy of freedom. He is directing an ERC COG project on these topics (Heteropolitics, 2017–2020) and has published numerous relevant books and papers, including the monograph Freedom after the critique of foundations (Palgrave Macmillan 2012), and the collective volume Radical democracy and collective movements today (Ashgate 2014). His new monograph is entitled Τhe Common and Counter-hegemonic Politics (forthcoming, Edinburgh University Press 2019).