Populism: Gender, Race, Class and Backlash

This course explores the topical phenomenon of populism from a sociological perspective. Topics covered include: 1) What is populism? Politics offers the most common definition of populism today: social movements and parties that claim to be 'of the people' and 'against the elite'. But is this sufficient? 2) Populism, class and producerism: how does populism mobilise traditional markers of working class belonging while simplifying or distorting the actual stratifications of class today; 3) The role of gender and racial backlash: how are gender, sexual and racial minorities constituted as enemies of the people; 4) Populism and neoliberalism: the relationship between populist backlash and free market neoliberalism, from Thatcher and Reagan to today; 5) Populism of the left and right: what distinguishes populism from mainstream politics and how is it mobilised by both the left and right.