The Populist Style - by Théo Aiolfi (Hardcover)

About the Book

The first interdisciplinary comparative examination of populism in the cases of Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen.

Book Synopsis

Through a comparative case study analysing the 2016 and 2017 presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, The Populist Style examines the links between far-right ideology and populism. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework combining political science and performance studies, this book develops a critical definition of populism as a style, that is, as a repertoire of political performances that shapes and is given shape by ideological content.

The book argues that the populist style relies on three clusters of performances: performances of identity, performances of transgression and performances of crisis. Through an analysis of a corpus including presidential debates, speeches during rallies and political advertisements drawn from the campaigns of Trump and Le Pen, this book shows the adaptability of the populist style and its relevance as discursive-performative strategy across two different national contexts as it was used by far-right political actors to make their reactionary agenda and exclusionary nationalism more appealing.

Review Quotes

By taking political style seriously Théo Aiolfi makes visible the various elements of right-wing populist politics and its success, with clarity, rigour and an innovative methodology and analysis. This timely book will appeal to those interested in the rise of right-wing populism and its seductions - what appeals to the those voting for populist leaders, and how the performances of leaders can bridge class and gender differences to become normalised.--Shirin Rai, SOAS University of London

Imaginative, conceptually innovative, empirically rigorous and beautifully written, Theo Aiolfi's The Populist Style pushes the study of populism forward into exciting new arenas. Taking performance and style seriously, this outstanding work of interdisciplinarity and originality helps make sense of a time when populism has gone mainstream. Highly recommended.--Benjamin Moffitt, Australian Catholic University