Populism has become a buzzword in popular and media discourses in recent years. Academic debates on the concept of populism—what it is and is not, where to look for it, and its normative prescription—have been highly contested. A considerable but disparate field of study has emerged from minimal definitions to vernacular descriptions to propositions to drop the concept altogether. This essay series attempts to critically explore the concepts’ possibilities and limitations to find a common language for similar phenomena in disparate contexts. Inspired by the discipline of critical conflict studies, this essay series intends to transcend colonial constructions of differentiation by bridging the still prevailing Global South/North divide in academic literature while simultaneously considering context specificity and uncovering populist vernaculars.
- Funding: Governance in Conflict Network (GiC)