Antinomies of formalism: Laclau's theory of populism and the lessons from religious populism in Greece

This paper will first follow the trajectory of Ernesto Laclau's theorizations of populism from his early work in the 1970s up until his current views. While Laclau's formal approach to populist discourse constitutes a substantial advance in the theorization of this elusive concept, it will be argued that his recent reflections on populism may be construed as indicative of the limits of a ‘formalist’ approach. These antinomies of ‘formalism’ will be illuminated through the encounter with a recent neo‐populist mobilization, the articulation of a populist politicized discourse by the Church of Greece.