It is not (only) about ideas: Understanding populism as a conflict

Following Laclau, we suggest populism is not only a set of ideas but a political conflict between the power bloc and groups (from outside and within the power bloc) marginalized by its dominant fraction. Populism arises when established forces exclude subaltern classes, creating frustration that generates openings for a genuine popular movement or dominated power bloc fractions to mobilize frustrations to improve their position. Thus, populism involves actual ‘anti-establishment’ conflict. It is distinguished from class conflicts by the low collective resources of populist supporters. Based on Poulantzas, we claim that populist mobilization utilizes the ‘popular-national’ dominant ideology, which is inscribed into the state, serves to atomize subaltern classes, and turns it into a source of potential empowerment. We use these insights to explain contemporary populist processes – neoliberal marginalization, mobilization, and conflict – in Europe and North America and to criticize ideational approaches to populism.