We are currently witnessing in Western Europe a 'populist moment' that signals the crisis of neoliberal hegemony. The central axis of the political conflict will be between right- and left-wing populism. By establishing a frontier between 'the people' and 'the oligarchy', a left-populist strategy could bring together the manifold struggles against subordination, oppression and discrimination. But what is the ‘populist moment’ and what does it mean for the left?
Leading political thinker Chantal Mouffe proposes a new way to define left populism today: it is more than an ideology or a political regime. It is a way of doing politics that can take various forms but emerges when one aims at building a new subject of collective action — the people.
Mouffe was in conversation with Jon Trickett, Labour MP for Hemsworth.
