The Populist Radical Left in Europe

"Europe is changing at a fast pace and little attention has been given so far to the transformation of the left in the continent. This book addresses this research gap by offering detailed analyses of different cases of populist radical left forces across Europe. This is a must read for anyone who is interested in learning about the future of the populist radical left in Europe and beyond." - Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile

"This volume focuses – for the first time – on the wide range of left-wing populist parties and movements in Europe in a very accessible way and provides both in-depth theoretical discussion as well as excellent empirical research. The introduction and the conclusion offer salient critical and comparative insights. Finally, the already inflationary concept of ‘populism’ is grounded on theoretical, historical and context-dependent analyses of manifold examples. A must-read for scholars and students in the Social Sciences!" - Ruth Wodak, Lancaster University, UK/University ofVienna, Austria

"This is a superlative and agenda-setting volume. Eschewing or skewering much of the hype about the ‘new left populism,’ it analyses left populism within a broader analytical and geographical perspective. It focusses on several key case studies, which include nuanced approaches to the ‘usual suspects’ (Greece and Spain), with some lesser known (Slovenia) or atypical cases (Corbyn’s Labour). The volume both situates the populist left within the study of the wider radical left, and within the wider theoretical undulations of theoretical approaches to populism. It both makes a case for the primacy of ideational/discursive approaches to populism, and highlights the particular applicability of Laclauian formalism. With a number of insightful and detailed chapters from leading scholars, this is a real tour-de-force, and a must for serious scholars both of the left and populism." - Luke March, University of Edinburgh, UK

"This volume should be essential reading for anyone interested in the future of the European Left. The volume provides the first extensive analysis of left-wing populism in Europe. From Syriza through Podemos to Corbyn’s Labour, and many others, the authors analyse the nature of, and the future prospects for, these new parties, and what their emergence means for the study of populism." - Lasse Thomassen, Queen Mary, University of London, UK

"In an edited collection called The Populist Radical Left in Europe, Giorgios Katsambekis and Alexandros Kioupkiolis offer a welcome corrective to Mertens’s indeterminacy. Both scholars are renowned for their combination of theoretical and empirical work on populism, focusing mainly on the European periphery and its left populists[...] This offers a painful but necessary occasion for reflection – about what left populism means, what it does and does not stand for, what it should and what it should not do. As an engaging and engaged work of political science, The Populist Radical Left provides exactly that."- Anton Jäger, University of Cambridge, UK

"Overall, 'the Populist Radical Left in Europe' makes significant and multilevel contributions to both the literatures within which it is situated...The rich empirical material generated in this volume challenges those who critise Discourse Theory for being overly philosophical and abstarct." - Giorgos Venizelos, Scuola Normale Superiore.