Contemporary Histories of Populist Success in Central and Eastern Europe A public research seminar with Charles University

European politics in the last few decades has been defined by the rise of various populisms, both far right and far left. Central and Eastern Europe in particular has been swept by waves of popular reaction, where the ‘zombie' of socialism has been invoked across the post-Soviet bloc to justify adjustments to the neoliberal order. Recent populist success coincides with several twenty-first century political inflection points — apathy rising, democratic participation declining, cultural memories contested, social identities challenged. The liberal centre's mandate is in crisis and the EU project is increasingly undermined: it is into this vacuum of power that populism has emerged. If the style and rhetoric of populism has its finger on the pulse of pessimism with the existing system, its proposed solutions are far from coherent. Whether populism can offer political substance as well as reaction remains unclear, as recent floundering in government by populists in Greece, Austria and the Netherlands shows. Considering these developments, this seminar seeks to re-evaluate the paths taken by European populists in the twenty-first century so far, focusing especially on the interactions between populism and culture.

The seminar is interdisciplinary and seeks to bring researchers on the subject in different fields into conversation with each other. Although the seminar will focus on Central and Eastern Europe, this is not exclusive. We welcome submissions pertaining to our theme as outlined above, and also include the following list of non-exhaustive, potential topics:

– Populism's engagement with postsocialist discourse
– How does populism engage with specific cultural mediums and practices?
– What is the relationship between the EU with competing populist nationalisms at the level
of its member states?
– How do we understand the relationship between the period of liberal centrist government
in Europe with emergent populisms now?
– Is populism necessarily undemocratic, or can it be in the spirit of a healthy and engaged
political settlement as Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau have argued?
– The role of historical narratives in populist identities
– The salience of cultural factors drawing voters to populist parties, compared with
economic ones
– Populist rhetoric and migration
– Media-democracies and the sensationalism of digital politics
– Political theatre and symbolic dissent