The Faces of Contemporary Populism in Western Europe and the US.

• Author: Yousuf, Ambreen

Edited by Karine Tournier-Sol and Marie Gayte

Springer, 2021, 287 pages, $125, ISBN: 9783030538885

Among the larger political predicaments that modern political systems have "ambiguously" or "unambiguously" led to, populism's rise on the canvas of politics is disturbingly almost everywhere. Of late, researchers and journalists have attempted to engage with the underpinnings of the populist forces and the larger context behind them. This volume not only provides a broader picture of populism but also explores various features of a recent wave of populism, particularly in countries like the United States (U.S.), where it originated, the United Kingdom (UK), and Western European countries--where populism is consolidating its roots. Apart from a comparative study of populism in the U.S., UK, and Western European countries, this book attempts to locate populism in the discursive tradition of theory. Largely relying on Cas Mudde's conceptual framework and definition of populism, the authors have identified both populistic discourses and rhetoric. Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser explain populism as a thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic camps, "the pure people" versus "the corrupt elite," and that politics should be an expression of the volonte generale (general will) of the people. The Faces of Contemporary Populism in Western Europe and the US also investigates nativism, authoritarianism, and populism derived from Mudde's model of contemporary radical right-wing parties (p. 133).

Karine Tournier-Sor, in Chapter 1, underlines factors responsible for the prodigious rise and success of the UK Independence Party (UKIP)--a right-wing populist party. The favorable political environment and the political shift taking place between the political parties have benefited the party to some extent. It argues that the populist forces remain the main drivers behind the Brexit vote. Based on previous data, in the subsequent chapter, Charles Dick and Chris Gifford identify three core elements of populism, people centrism and popular sovereignty, anti-elitism, and nativism. It ascertains that Eurosceptic populism has worked as a catalyst for the transformation of British politics between the years 2010 to 2016.

Pertinently, Emma Bell in the 3rd chapter of the book, delves into populistic politics and explains how the term "populism" is being used as a political gimmick. According...