Transformations of Populism in Europe and the Americas: History and Recent Tendencies

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The recent resurgence of populist movements and parties has led to a revival of scholarly interest in populism. This volume brings together well-established and new scholars to reassess the subject and combine historical and theoretical perspectives to shed new light on the history of the subject, as well as enriching contemporary discussions. In three parts, the contributors explore the history of populism in different regions, theories of populism and recent populist movements. Taken together, the contributions included in this book represent the most comprehensive and wide-ranging study of the topic to date. Questions addressed include: - What are the essential characteristics of populism - Is it important to distinguish between left- and right-wing populism - How can the transformation of populist movements be explained This is the most thorough and up to date comparative historical study of populism available. As such it will be of great value to anyone researching or studying the topic.

Reviews

This is a major contribution to the scholarship on populism. Methodologically rigorous and geographically wide-ranging, the essays in this volume present the latest research and analysis on a topic of compelling importance for understanding Europeanand worldpolitics both in the recent past and in the urgent present. This carefully organised collection combines theoretical insights with richly detailed case studies and in so doing captures the complexity of a political phenomenon too often depicted in simplistic, caricatured terms. Finally, populism is getting the serious attention it deserves. * Daniel Scroop, University of Glasgow, UK *
Seldom does a book give its readers such broad coverage (three continents), temporal range (19th century to the present), and depth of analysis as Transformations of Populism in Europe and the Americas, especially on a topic as contested as this. The editors and authors, mostly mature scholars with lots of monographs on their shelves, achieve an amazing degree of coherence despite their differences in training and approach. The introduction sets the reader on a clear path, with a balanced populist minimum, or synthetic definition drawing on most contributions. It also provides an overview of the chapters that follow. Bravo! * Michael Conniff, San Jos State University, USA *
This is an important book for understanding the changing faces of populism. Populism means, and meant, different things at different times. The book provides a multilayered approach that illuminates the perspectives and limits of the concept. The different authors analyze the national, regional and global variations of populism in the past and the present, providing key dimensions of the current debates about its more progressive, repressive and conservative formations in Europe, the United States and Latin America. * Federico Finchelstein, The New School, USA *

Author Bio

John Abromeit is Associate Professor of History at SUNY, Buffalo State, USA. He is the author of Max Horkheimer and the Foundations of the Frankfurt School (2011) and Herbert Marcuse: A Critical Reader (2004). Gary Marotta is Professor of History at Buffalo State, The State University of New York, USA York Norman is Assistant Professor of History at Buffalo State, The State University of New York, USA Bridget Mara Chesterton is Assistant Professor of History at Buffalo State, The State University of New York, USA