The Center Cannot Hold: A Case for Left Populism?

Within the leftist intellectual landscape, some have argued for left populism as a strategy to reclaim “the people” as a unifying political subject. In practice, political actors have already begun to adopt elements of this approach. Together with our expert panel we explore whether left populism can reconcile class and identity, recognition and redistribution, into a coherent political project. What are the ethical implications of constructing “the people” as a subject? Can this strategy overcome the fragmentation of the left and speak to economic grievances, environmental concerns, and struggles for recognition? How can the rhetorical style and appeal to emotions of the populist Right be adopted by the Left?  

About the speakers  

André Krouwel teaches political science and communication at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is founder and co-owner of Kieskompas (Election Compass), a leading developer of Vote Advice Applications across the globe. Krouwel’s research focuses on political parties, elections, voting behaviour, public opinion, populism, Euroscepticism, extremism (versus political moderation) and conspiracy beliefs. He wrote his PhD on the transformation of political parties in Western Europe.    

Lillian Cicerchia is an Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Amsterdam with a focus on political economy, feminism, and critical theory. She is also co-host of the podcast “What’s Left of Philosophy”, with discussions ranging from contemporary critical social theory to Marxism. Her research in these areas can also be found in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, the European Journal of Political Theory, and Social Theory & Practice. She is also a contributor to Jacobin, Catalyst Journal, and Dissent.   

Marthe van Bronkhorst is a writer, theatre maker and neuropsychologist and completed her studies at VU university and with a thesis about emotion, memory and sleep at Harvard Medical School.  She is an outspoken writer in political subject matter for various media, including De Groene Amsterdammer and in a column for magazine hard//hoofd. Her fiction debut, about young boys in the manosphere, is due this winter at publishing agency De Geus. Aside from writing and activism, she works as a psychologist in a doctor’s practice in Amsterdam-West.

Leo Ranieri (moderator) has a multidisciplinary background spanning the biomedical sciences, medical anthropology, politics, and philosophy. He seeks to approach political problems from an innovative perspective informed by this interdisciplinary background. His research spans gender and race theory, the biopolitics of migration, critical perspectives on international crimes, and trauma. He currently works as a teaching and research assistant at Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs.