Class Contemporary Populism

In the last three decades, international politics witnessed a significant reconfiguration of the great political families of the Second Post-War, with the emergence of new relevant actors at national and transnational levels. In this context, the emergence of a new populist wave stands out, relevant for its intensity in the transition between the 20th and the 21st centuries and transversality in the Left-Right axis. Contemporary populism focuses on national and supranational party-ideological reality and on political and academic debate. In this last dimension, in particular, contemporary populism, of left and right, is today one of the most important objects of analysis due to its impact on the model of Liberal Democracy, dominant in the West. Far from having produced a consensus, these analyzes represent an important stimulus for the future of political institutions, consolidated values, projects for the construction of identities and contemporary societies.

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Contemporary Populism and Scientific Debate Historical and political context of the debate Scientific approaches to populism in comparative perspective Ideational approach Political and Strategic approach Socio-Cultural approach Contemporary populism and political axis The debate about contemporary populism and historical Fascism Left-wing populism Right-wing populism and the Extremism/Radicalism question Contemporary Populism and Liberal Democracy Liberal criticism to contemporary populism as threat to democracy The impact of populism on Liberal Democracy: Identity Representation Pluralism Populism and Portuguese Democracy Historical perspective on populism in Portuguese Democracy since 1974 The new populist right in Portugal between extraplanetary extremism and parliamentary radicalism

At the beginning of the UC, students will provided with practical training to select scientific materials on the salient topics of the course from online audiovisual platforms (YouTube videos and podcasts). Today, conferences and seminars by renowned academics in the area of ¿¿study of populism are also available on the websites of prestigious international universities, which work as a precious support for the analysis presented in the classroom and for the indicated bibliography.

DE LA TORRE, Carlos - Routledge Handbook of Global Populism. New York: Routledge, 2019. KALTWASSER Cristóbal Rovira, TAGGART Paul, ESPEJO Paulina Ochoa, and OSTIG UY Pierre (eds) - The Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.