Anti-politics and the roots of populism

Populism has attracted a lot of attention in the last decades, and even more in the last years, among both scholars and the general public. Very often, it has been interpreted as a threat, or at least a challenge, to advanced liberal democracies. This webinar suggests a different interpretation: populism can be considered the effect rather than the cause of a pre-existing crisis of liberal democracy. That crisis, in its turn, must be traced back to the withering away of the political that has taken place in the last fifty years, and at an accelerated pace since 1989, as a consequence of number of factors: the growing individualism of advanced societies, the ever greater autonomy of the markets, the increasing relevance of judicial and technocratic bodies, the process of globalisation.

Giovanni Orsina is Professor of History and Director of the School of Government at Luiss University in Rome. His last book, which develops the argument that he will summarise in the webinar, is La democrazia del narcisismo, Venice 2018.

This webinar is realised in cooperation with the LUISS School of Government.

Monday, 18 May 2020
17:00 - 18:00 h

To register for the webinar click here. 
The attendance is free of charge, but registration is required.