Left populists appeared radical only because centrist politics shifted rightward

Evidence

Rather, it was an attempt at updating the reformist project by other means. In fact, Podemos claimed to be a moderate reaction against the real radicalism—the brutal transformation of societies operated by neoliberals—and many observers have rightly pointed out that l’avenir en commun was, in many respects, less radical a political program than Mitterrand’s when he was first elected president in 1981. Neither would Tsipras, Corbyn, or Sanders style themselves revolutionaries: the fact that they appeared so radical to many observers merely showed how far the ideological center of gravity had veered to the right. — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 296

Categorization

• DEFINE: Recasts ‘radical’ as relative to a drifted ideological center rather than an intrinsic property.
• XREF: connects to: Populist ambiguity yields lukewarm economics and narrow nationalism in power — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 319; Establishment parties admitted populists to government only once populists were safely weak — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 161