Theorizing the Populist Moment

Session Submission Type: Paper Session (90 minute)

Description

What has been referred to as “the populist moment” has manifested itself throughout much of the world in recent years, generating a noticeable increase of interest in populism among both scholars and casual observers. Despite the proliferation of populism research in recent years, this apparent increase has been largely driven by political science and social psychology, leaving the sociological qualities of populism underdeveloped. Sociologists can offer a wide range of theoretical insights to better understand what has become such a prominent feature of political life and culture. This session seeks papers that aim to uncover salient conceptual dynamics of populism in its various dimensions (e.g., ideational, performative, etc.).

Sub Unit

• Theory Section / Theorizing the Populist Moment

Presider

• Anthony Vincent Albanese, Georgia Southern University - East Georgia

Individual Presentations

• A Theory of Late Populism: Popularism - Michael A. McCarthy, University of California, Santa Cruz

• Pious Populism: Theorizing Religion as an Embodied Practice in Rightwing Populist Politics - Umair Rasheed, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

• Populist Authority Beyond Weber: Democratic Legitimacy, Institutional Erosion, and the Crisis of Rationality - Sang Kyung Lee, Sogang University; Je eun Yook, Sogang university

• Populist Expertise: New Forms of Knowledge Production in Anti-Intellectualism Regimes - Hector Vera, UNAM

• The Populist Moment - Filipe Carreira da Silva, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge

Session Organizer

• Anthony Vincent Albanese, Georgia Southern University - East Georgia