Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe.

• Author: Cakmak, Alper

Edited by Giuliano Bobba and Nicolas Hube

Palgrave MacMillan, 2021, 144 pages, [euro]49.99, ISBN: 9783030660109

Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe, with its focus on eight countries in the context of the pandemic, provides empirical insight into the unique crisis environment bracketed by COVID-19 and how populist political parties capitalize on this environment. The book exquisitely posits the presupposition that the COVID-19 crisis is a fertile ground for populists, as the pandemic created an entirely new, salient scenario where governments' inability to take control of COVID-19 made it more difficult to exploit the advantages, depending on whether populists are in the office or are the opposition.

The book meticulously traces populist leaders' narratives from January to May 2020 that display the fundamental characteristics of populism. In Chapter 1, written by Bobba and Hube, the 5 months period is divided into three parts: (i) absence of contagions and nationwide epidemics prior to the COVID-19 crisis, (ii) "virus spread and containment" and (iii) "mitigation of the contagion phase" (p. 11). First, they explore the fundamental proponents of populism-"the people, the elites, and out-groups" (p. 11) -to see whether their discourses emerged throughout the crisis or whether they differ from discourses in a normal era. Next, they conducted a review of how populists characterized the pandemic and endeavored to politicize COVID-19, utilizing the concept of politicization based on the "naming (emergence), blaming (confrontation), and claiming (managing) formula" (p. 11).

Chapter 2, written by Sahin and Ianosev, focuses on the United Kingdom (UK), the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), and the Brexit Party. The scarcity of healthcare equipment offers an ideal environment for populist parties; the UKIP's criticism of the British government's aloofness toward the pandemic and its "herd immunity" (p. 21) approach, in the author's perspective, exemplifies a populist party's reaction when it is in opposition. For the marginal Brexit Party, the crisis fueled the populist discourse, thereby serving as a catalyst for a more vigorous battle against the "enemies of the people" (p. 135).

In Chapter 3, Magre, Medir, and Pano focus on the Spanish populist parties, UP and VOX, which have largely emphasized the intellectual nature of their ideas rather than their populist positions. "Anti-science and anti-expert" (p. 43)...