Left-wing populism

An Occupy Wall Street sign with the 99% slogan, a left-wing populist movement.
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Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often includes elements of anti-elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "common people".[1] Recurring themes for left-wing populists include economic democracy, social justice, and skepticism of globalization. Socialist theory plays a lesser role than in traditional left-wing ideologies.[2][3]

Criticism of capitalism and globalization is also linked to unpopular United States military operations, especially those in the Middle East.[4] It is considered that the populist left does not exclude others horizontally and relies on egalitarian ideals.[1] Some scholars also speak of nationalist left-wing populist movements, a feature exhibited by the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua or the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. Unlike exclusionary or right-wing populism, left-wing populist parties are generally supportive of minority rights,[5][6] as well as to an idea of nationality that is not delimited by cultural or ethnic particularisms.[7] Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, self-described democratic socialists, are examples of modern left-wing populist politicians in the United States.[8][9][10][11] With the rise of Syriza and Podemos during the European debt crisis, there has been increased debate on new left-wing populism in Europe.[12][13]

Traditionally, left-wing populism has been associated with the socialist movement; since the 2010s, there has been a movement close to left-wing populism in the left-liberal camp,[14][15][16][17] some of which are considered social democratic positions.[18][19] Left-liberal economic populism appealing to the working class has been prominent in some countries, such as with Joe Biden of United States and Lee Jae-myung of South Korea, in the 2020s, where liberal and conservative parties are the main two parties.[20]

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  1. ^ a b Albertazzi and McDonnell. "Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy". Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, p. 123.
  2. ^ Zaslove, Andrej (June 2008). "Here to Stay? Populism as a New Party Type". European Review. 16 (3): 319–336. doi:10.1017/S1062798708000288. S2CID 145702059.
  3. ^ Roth, Silke (17 April 2018). "Introduction: Contemporary Counter-Movements in the Age of Brexit and Trump". Sociological Research Online. 23 (2): 496–506. doi:10.1177/1360780418768828.
  4. ^ Hartleb, Florian (2004). Rechts- und Linkspopulismus. Eine Fallstudie anhand von Schill-Partei und PDS [Right and left populism. A case study based on Schill Party and PDS] (in German). Wiesbaden. p. 162.
  5. ^ Mudde, C.; Rovira Kaltwasser, C. (2013). "Exclusionary vs. inclusionary populism: comparing contemporary Europe and Latin America". Government and Opposition. 48 (2): 147–174. doi:10.1017/gov.2012.11.
  6. ^ Huber, Robert A.; Schimpf, Christian H. (2017). "On the Distinct Effects of Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism on Democratic Quality". Politics and Governance. 5 (4): 146–165. doi:10.17645/pag.v5i4.919. hdl:20.500.11850/228385. ISSN 2183-2463. First, on average we observe a substantial positive relationship between left-wing populist parties and minority rights, whereas we find negative effects for right-wing populist parties. [...] The most consistent finding across these additional checks is the positive association between left-wing populist parties and minority rights in comparison to right-wing populist parties, particularly in opposition.
  7. ^ Custodi J (2020). "Nationalism and populism on the left: The case of Podemos". Nations and Nationalism. 27 (3): 705–720. doi:10.1111/nana.12663. S2CID 225127425.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Mudde, Cas (17 February 2015). "The problem with populism". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  13. ^ Zabala, Santiago (2 December 2014). "In Europe, not all populist parties are the same". AlJazeera. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference SocialLiberal0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference SocialLiberal1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference SocialLiberal3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference SocialLiberal4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Warran1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Warran2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "News Analysis: President Biden's speech to Congress offers a dose of left-leaning economic populism". Los Angeles Times. 29 April 2021.