Ontological Insecurities and the Politics of Contemporary Populism

Brent J. Steele, Alexandra Homolar, Brent J. Steele, Alexandra Homolar

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032450742
• eBook ISBN: 9781000885774
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book explores contemporary populist politics through the lens of ontological security theory. It shows that the 'divisionary politics of populism' is fostered by narratives of crisis and insecurity surrounding the imagined Self that gives shape to 'the people' that populism claims to represent.

The loss of faith in mainstream political parties and moderate electoral candidates seems characteristic of the Zeitgeist in much of the Western world and beyond. Politicians and agendas propped up by a discourse that antagonizes established political elites on behalf of a reified, and homogenized people has become a trend in the politics of several countries. This book has brought together a team of worldwide renowned specialists on ontological security to grapple with the contemporary populist challenge through the conceptual lens of ontological security theory. From crises of democracy in the West, to backlashes against democratization in the Global South, this collection not only unveils fundamental structures underpinning these significant and current phenomena. It also provides us with the analytical tools to understand other occurrences of populist politics that are gaining traction across the globe.

This book will be of great interest to upper-level students, researchers, and academics in Politics, International Relations and Security. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Cambridge Review of International Affairs.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: Ontological Insecurities and the Politics of Contemporary Populism
• 1 Brexit populism and fantasies of fulfilment
• 2 Political memory after state death: the abandoned Yugoslav national pavilion at Auschwitz
• 3 Turkey’s ambivalent self: ontological insecurity in ‘Kemalism’ versus ‘Erdoğanism’
• 4 Populism, ontological insecurity and Hindutva: Modi and the masculinization of Indian politics
• 5 Japanese revisionists and the ‘Korea threat’: insights from ontological security
• 6 Welcome home! Routines, ontological insecurity and the politics of US military reunion videos
• 7 The power of Trump-speak: populist crisis narratives and ontological security
• 8 The normative threat of subtle subversion: the return of ‘Eastern Europe’ as an ontological insecurity trope
• Index