Guest Lecture Jacopo Custodi
Nationalism and populism on the left: The case of Podemos
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Online)
23.3.21
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Online)
23.3.21
On 23 March 2021 Jacopo Custodi will give a lecture on nationalism and populism on left-wing politics, discussing how the Spanish left-wing party Podemos has deliberately embedded nationalism in its populist strategy, proposing an alternative form of national identification that challenges that of the right wing. The lecture is followed by ample time for debate.
The event takes place online from 13h-15h, and is open to everyone after registration through this link. The Zoom-link to attend the lecture will be sent out on the morning of the lecture.
The event takes place online from 13h-15h, and is open to everyone after registration through this link. The Zoom-link to attend the lecture will be sent out on the morning of the lecture.
This lecture provides an empirical exploration of the relation between nationalism and populism on the left of the political spectrum. The Spanish party Podemos is a key case study for such an analysis, as it is a left-populist actor that has made extensive use of nationalist rhetoric in its discourse. Through a discourse analysis on a corpus that includes speeches by Podemos leadership and primary data such as interviews and original unpublished material, Jacopo Custodi has studied the nationalist dimension of Podemos and its relation with the party's much-discussed populism. The analysis shows that the Podemos leadership: Nationalism is a central element of the party's populist project and serves to advance an alternative form of national identification that challenges that of the right wing. Through a resignification of national pride and belonging, Podemos constructs an image of Spain that refers to an inclusive welfare state, to people's mobilization, and to a moral community that is not delimited by lingual or ethnic particularisms.
Jacopo Custodi is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science and Sociology at Scuola Normale Superiore (Florence) and a researcher at COSMOS – The Centre on Social Movements Studies. His research interests cover radical left parties, nationalism and left-wing populism. His Ph.D. thesis focuses on national identity within radical left parties in Spain, Portugal and Italy. He was the organizer of 2019 international conference “The Nation and the Radical Left - Practices and Discourses of National Identity in Left-wing Politics”.
Jacopo Custodi is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science and Sociology at Scuola Normale Superiore (Florence) and a researcher at COSMOS – The Centre on Social Movements Studies. His research interests cover radical left parties, nationalism and left-wing populism. His Ph.D. thesis focuses on national identity within radical left parties in Spain, Portugal and Italy. He was the organizer of 2019 international conference “The Nation and the Radical Left - Practices and Discourses of National Identity in Left-wing Politics”.
This event is organized as part of the course “Populist and Radical Political Discourses in Europe”, taught by Benjamin De Cleen in the Journalism and Media in Europe Master.
Other guest lecturers in the series:
Other guest lecturers in the series:
- Giorgos Katsambekis: populism and ‘the people’: beyond moralism and homogeneity (9 March)
- Ruth Breeze: nationalism and populism on the radical right (16 March)
- Léonie de Jonge: the media and the populist radical right (30 March)
- Jana Goyvaerts: media and populism: defending what kind of democracy? (20 April)
- Katy Brown & Aurelien Mondon: media, populism and the mainstreaming of the radical right (27 April)
- Louise Knops: media, populism, indignation: insights from the radical-right (4 May)