Verso la politica post-elettorale

Abstract

theoretical framework of Karl Polanyi. With the definitive breakdown of the balance between democracy and the market, the primacy of politics has been undermined and this is the perfect context for the emergence of populism. Economic explanations are intertwined with political and cultural(istic) ones and populism emerges as a counter-movement with the aim of resisting the neoliberal hegemony of the market. The proposal to interpret the phenomenon from the perspective of Polanyi is appealing; however, in the face of what is called the compression of human development, there is the risk of interpreting the emergence of populism on the basis of the assumptions of TINA (There Is No Alternative). In conclusion, the effort of the contributors to cover such a broad field is commendable since the wealth of research on the theme does not make it an easy task. In this regard, to offer a most up-to-date reading – and in order to deepen reflection on such an interdisciplinary phenomenon – it would have been useful to refer to the crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and the populist wave. Now more than ever, ‘leader democracy’, ‘immediate democracy’ and ‘populist democracy’ are important tools for advancing our understanding of political changes.