Digital Populism

• In Event: Extremism and Polarization Online

Abstract

Is the current populist moment digitized? If so, what does digital populism mean for democratic politics? Can pluralism survive online? The populist moment has been described as having emerged at the intersection of neoliberalism and identity politics. As a crisis, it offers new opportunities for forging solidarity (Mouffe 2018) but it also might simply result in an anti-pluralist enlarged sense of political self (Urbinati 2019). Populist politics was largely expanding online prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, establishing new terrains through algorithmic governance. It currently thrives in a seemingly relentless virtual reality. Can intensified digital global connectivity bring about increased solidarity or might it only serve to further isolate and individuate? What mechanisms––algorithmic, social and cultural––make the difference? This paper will explore two responses to these changes in relation to their democratic possibilities and limits. While populism was once regarded as primarily an anti-democratic phenomenon, more recently a number of theorists have been reclaiming populism for democratic purposes. This paper finds that the future of populism will likely be shaped not by its digital iterations but by our collective relationships to them.

Author

• Angela Maione, Harvard University