Populism. In search of a definition

There are now countless studies on populism. The point, however, is that these are often works which do not follow a Weberian – that is, scientific – approach at all, but instead seem to chase trends or ideological biases. The result is clear: most of the literature on populism adds nothing to our understanding of this phenomenon. On the contrary, it seems to aim primarily at repeating a few tired refrains. There are, however, some exceptions. In Italy, one such example is the work of Damiano Palano, and in particular "Genealogie del populismo. Per la storia di un concetto paranoico", which is truly indispensable for establishing a rigorous historical and conceptual framework on the subject. Another example is the research of Loris Zanatta, who adopts an approach that sheds considerable light on a specific form of populism – perhaps its most powerful manifestation – namely that of Latin America. There are also certain historical sources from which one must necessarily begin.

This refers to the famous symposium on populism held in May 1967 at the London School of Economics. The event brought together numerous scholars, including Maurice Cranston and Ernest Gellner, Richard Hofstadter and Ghita Ionescu, Shirley Letwin and Kenneth Minogue, Peter Wiles and Peter Worsley. A summary of the event subsequently appeared in the journal Government and Opposition, whilst some of the papers were collected in a volume (Populism: Its Meaning and National Characteristics). Now, for the first time, the remarks made at the conference by a distinguished speaker, Isaiah Berlin, appear in Italian translation, edited by Sara Bignotti. For the liberal philosopher, who used the famous metaphor of the ‘Cinderella complex’ to describe the difficulty of pinpointing the essence of the phenomenon, there are few common features across all forms of populism: the centrality of the collective concept of the people; a fear of progress and modernisation; a certain nostalgia for the past; and a critique of capitalism, which he saw as a threat to the unity and harmony of the community. However, a certain victim complex should not be overlooked. Berlin writes: ‘If populists were asked who the people are (…) they would say that the people are the majority of their society, natural men who have been deprived of their rightful place in life; they would then seek to identify groups of artificial and corrupt men who keep large masses of natural men subjugated. If the victims are not the vast majority, populism collapses’.

    

Isaiah Berlin
, Populism: In Search of a Definition
, Morcelliana, 128 pp., 12 euros