25th November 2022 - Université Saint-Louis, Brussels
Populism and communication: between populist discourses and discourses on populism
Seminar with Benjamin De Cleen
Engage, Research Centre for Publicness in Contemporary Communication, invites keynote speakers ECHO co-director Benjamin De Cleen (VUB) and Laura Jacobs (ULB) to present the results of their research on populist discourses and discourses on populism, as well as anti-establishment parties.
Benjamin will be talking about populist and nationalist discourse and discourses about populism:
"Discourse about populism is everywhere in politics, media and academia. In this talk I want to critically reflect on the ubiquity of the concept of populism and the analytical and normative limitations of focusing political debate and analysis around populism. I will start with a precise and modest conceptualization of populism as a political logic, focused on distinguishing populism from nationalism and racism with which it is all too often confused. Secondly, I turn attention to the politics of discourses about populism, asking what the debate about populism reveals about those using the term, in politics, media and academia. In conclusion, I will argue against the development of a field of ‘populism studies’, shedding light on the limitations of organizing academic analysis around ‘populism’ and proposing that it is time for academia to move beyond its own ‘populist moment’."