The people is constituted politically, not given sociologically.

Evidence

A first theoretical decision is to conceive of the ‘people’ as a political category, not as a datum of the social structure. This designates not a given group, but an act of institution that creates a new agency out of a plurality of heterogeneous elements. For this reason, I have insisted from the very beginning that my minimal unit of analysis would not be the group, as a referent, but the socio-political demand. — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 443

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Populist reason is political reason itself, not a deviant form. — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 444; Equality is produced by political organization, not given by nature — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 736; “The people” is itself a contested construct, not a fixed subject (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Equality is produced by political organization, not given by nature #expands (0.95) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 736
• “The people” is itself a contested construct, not a fixed subject #expands (0.95)