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Chantal Mouffe: For a Left Populism

How can we counter the rise of right-wing populist parties? According to the renowned political philosopher Chantal Mouffe we are in need of strong alternatives that give a voice to the people: a Populist Left. But what does the Populist Left look like and should it be aspired in the first place?

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Language
English

Chantal Mouffe:
For a Left Populism

How can we counter the rise of right-wing populist parties? According to the renowned political philosopher Chantal Mouffe we are in need of strong alternatives that give a voice to the people: a Populist Left. But what does the Populist Left look like and should it be aspired in the first place? This evening Mouffe will discuss her motivations and observations that have led to her new work: For a Left Populism.

After the financial crisis in 2008 Mouffe lost her trust in social democratic parties. These parties had been too complicit within the neoliberal system and thereby lost their ability to appeal to the general public. These developments gave way to the rise of right-wing populist parties and the left, subsequently, didn’t have a strong answer. Left-wing parties need to change their strategy in order to become meaningful again, Mouffe advocates. In her new work Mouffe redraws political frontiers in order to strengthen our democratic values.

Moderator: Alicja Gescinska

Chantal Mouffe is a Belgian political philosopher specialized in political theory. She is a professor at the University of Westminster in London and wrote several significantly honored titles, such as The Return of the Political (1993) and Agonistics: Thinking The World Politically (2013). Internationally renowned for her agonistic theory, Chantal Mouffe is one of the most leading political philosophers of the 21st century.

For-a-left-populism-1050

“With strategic leadership, a
radically democratic movement can be a match for
nativism.”

– Chantal Mouffe

Speakers

Chantal MouffePolitical philosopher
Alicja GescinskaModerator