The persistence of the word populism signals a real hidden dynamic despite its vagueness

Evidence

Still, “populism” refuses to die and remains a highly malleable concept. With no suitable alternatives, it is—for most of those who deploy it—simply a word groping for an analysis. Yet our enduring attraction to the term needs explaining. Rather as in the parable of the boy pointing at the moon, we need to look at both the finger and the moon: although the latter might forever remain shrouded behind the clouds, the fact that the boy felt the need to point at it remains interesting enough. Something is out there. — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 72

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Scholarship on populism splits between resigned retention and outright ban of the word — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 43; Populism is a permanent possibility of political structuration, not a deviance — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 46; Populism’s analytical elusiveness stems from theory’s own limited tools — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 9 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Populism is a permanent possibility of political structuration, not a deviance #corroborates (0.85) — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 46
• Populism’s analytical elusiveness stems from theory’s own limited tools #corroborates (0.80) — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 9
• Populism may itself express the public’s irrational exuberance #expands (0.75) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 686