Populism and Anti-Populism in Climate Politics: Conflict Line, Contingent Relation, or Tacit Alliance in Climate Obstruction?

Abstract Denial and far-right populism are regularly blamed for the inability of liberal democracies in the Global North to address climate change properly. But what is the nexus of populism and climate obstruction? In this article, I explore how ideational and discursive approaches to populism illuminate mechanisms of climate obstruction. While ideational approaches erroneously imply that there is a line of climate political conflict between “bad” populism and “good” anti-populism, discursive approaches suggest a contingent and relational character of populism, anti-populism, and climate obstruction. They not only enable raising awareness of the strategic–authoritarian character of far-right obstruction and the prevalence of obstruction beyond the far right but also prompt that anti-populist responses qua anti-populism contribute to obstruction by depoliticising climate politics. Eco-populist responses to obstruction that feature a political–strategic proximity to discursive approaches to populism, however, overlook an unresolved tension between agendas of inclusion via economic growth and agendas of ecological limitation. By ignoring this tension, they fail to capture societal boundaries of transformation, and they spread unwarranted strategies to break through climate obstruction politically. Therefore, I argue that instead of establishing a conflict line or a contingent relation, far-right obstruction, anti-populist, and eco-populist responses result in a tacit alliance in climate obstruction. To overcome this deadlock, I suggest research on (far-right) climate obstruction to focus on multiple entanglements of authoritarian defences of an unsustainable and imperial mode of living.