Populisms: A Quick Immersion

Populisms. A Quick Immersion analyzes populism globally and through the lens of Latin America, where populists have governed since the 1930s and 1940s up to the present. When populism is analyzed globally, the novelty is not its presence in most regions of the world. After all, populists have challenged the power of political and economic elites since the nineteenth century, and the first self-described Populist Party was formed in the U.S. in 1891. What is new is that populists are in office not only in Venezuela, Bolivia, the Philippines and Turkey but also in the U.S. as well as other consolidated Western liberal democracies like Italy. By learning from the experiences of populism in the global south, citizens, activists, journalists and politicians in the global north might avoid making the same mistakes when dealing with populists in power.ENDORSEMENTS "Populisms explains and expands upon the definition of populism. Few books touch a contemporary nerve quite like this one." - Benjamin Welton, Foreword Reviews "Carlos de la Torre offers the reader a masterly overview of populism as a political set of disruptive and mobilizing events, as well as a subject of sustained and diversified academic debate. The book integrates Latin America into the mainstream of populism studies and identifies its proper place in the complex web of overlapping and competing populist ideologies and strategies. By providing tools for understanding populism's left-wing alongside its right-wing variants, and by identifying the interlocking roles of reason, emotion, rhetoric, and fantasy in fashioning the worldwide, interconnected appeal -and dangers- of populist discourses, the author has written a highly persuasive, timely and readable analysis." - Michael Freeden, editor of the Journal of Political Ideologies "Carlos de la Torre's book offers an excellent introduction to populism, great current political issue. After a clear conceptual orientation follows a subtle and systematic analysis of populist leadership and the links between charismatic leaders and their followers. The work culminates in a deep and balanced discussion of the impact of populism about democracy. Convincingly, de la Torre demonstrates that despite their promises of democratic inclusion and popular participation, populism has a high risk of authoritarian involution. With all these arguments, this short book has enormous value as an explanation accessible from populism and deserves a very wide circle of readers". - Kurt Weyland, Mike Hogg Professor in Liberal Arts, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin "This is an essential book by the major scholar of Latin American populism." - Federico Finchelstein, author of From Fascism to Populism in History "De la Torre expertly analyzes recent populist leaders, such as Donald Trump, by drawing on his deep knowledge of populism in the global south, especially Latin America. In this lively book, concepts are clearly explained and illustrated with rich case studies of populist movements, making it ideal for introductory courses on politics." Karen Kampwirth, Robert W. Murphy Professor of Political Science, Knox College