International Populism Research Network

ABOUT THE NETWORK

The International Populism Research Network is based in the Political Theory, History of Ideas and Political Culture section at Kiel University (CAU Kiel). It serves as a platform to facilitate international exchange and initiate publication and research projects on the subject of populism.

The network’s activities are centered on new theoretical, qualitative and quantitative approaches to studying the phenomenon of populism worldwide.

It is open to other social science and humanities disciplines beyond the field of political science, such as sociology, philosophy, cultural, media and literature studies, ethnology, visual studies, performance studies, law and history.

The International Populism Research Network organizes academic events (both in-person and online) at CAU Kiel and in collaboration with partner institutes. These include academic conferences, workshops and panels at national and international conferences, international teaching collaborations and events for the general public.

The International Populism Research Network conducts its own research projects and supports doctoral and post doc projects.

It disseminates its research findings in the form of scientific publications and publicizes the core work of its partner organizations.

To give its activities additional visibility, the International Populism Research Network also communicates with the broader public.

LEIBNIZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE “VALUE OF THE PAST”
– ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2025

LEIBNIZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE “VALUE OF THE PAST” – ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2025

Right-wing populism and the far right have once again become a central political force − in Europe and across the globe. A core element of their politics is the attempt to revise and redefine history. However, there are few comparative works on how right-wing and radical right populists interpret, reinterpret and instrumentalize the past in pan-European and global perspectives. The conference will bring together expertise from different European countries, and it will also look at right-wing populist movements and far-right thinking in the US, India, and Japan.

New documentary by the UNPOP project

Populism: Performing Democracy: Collective Emotions, Political Narratives and Social Identities

The UNPOP project (UNpacking POPulism: Comparing the formation of emotion narratives and their effects on political behaviour) has recently published an exciting documentary with the title „Populism: Performing Democracy: Collective Emotions, Political Narratives and Social Identities“ (Portugal, 2024, 17 minutes).

The documentary features interventions by Tereza Capelos, Paolo Cossarini, Paula Diehl, João Figueiredo, Cristiano Gianolla, Gaia Giuliani, George Marcus, Lisete Mónico, and Emilia Palonen.

The documentary was one of nine documentaries selected for the 1st ISA Sociological Film Festival. It was screened on 7 July at the 5th ISA Forum in Rabat.

It is now made publicly available for viewing and can be used for private study, public sociology, lecturing, dissemination and public debate on a highly relevant topic.

You can access and share it through this link.

Ruth Wodak in conversation with the Catholic Social Academy of Austria (in German)

How can one decipher right-wing populism, Ruth Wodak?

On the language of division and how to oppose it

Wir sprechen mit der Sprachwissenschaftlerin Ruth Wodak über die Sprache des Rechtspopulismus: Wie – und warum – wird politische Sprache, die auf Ausgrenzung anderer basiert, gesellschaftlich normalisiert? Ist diese Art der Kommunikation ausschließlich im rechtsextremen Lager zu finden oder auch in anderen politischen Gruppierungen? Und: Wie kann man – im Sinne des Sozialen Friedens – einer Sprache entgegentreten, die teilen, ausgrenzen und agitieren möchte?

Das Gespräch fand im Rahmen des Podcasts „Der Sozialkompass: Ein Podcast über gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen und Lösungswege“ der Katholischen Sozialakademie Österreichs statt.

Paula Diehl in conversation with Thomas Kirchner from Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German)

„Why right-wing is not the same as far-right"

Wer rechts und rechtsradikal automatisch zusammendenkt, macht einen Fehler. Was unterscheidet Christdemokraten und Konservative von rechten Populisten oder Extremisten? Eine Begriffsklärung.

Der Artikel von Thomas Kirchner, politischer Redakteur der Süddeutschen Zeitung, basiert unter anderem auf einem Gespräch mit Paula Diehl.

Lecture by Paula Diehl

Populist Twists and the Dangers for Democracy

The lecture by Paula Diehl will take place in the context of the lecture series organized by the WOC Research Center at the University of Bremen.

Organizer: Research group „Soft Authoritarianisms“ of the WOC Research Center at the University of Bremen

Date: 15.05.2025, 4:15pm – 5:45pm

Location: University of Bremen, Rotunde

ZDF Info – Upcoming Broadcast (in German)

Volksversteher - Die Tricks der Populisten

Date: 4 March

Time: 6:45pm – 7:30pm

Broadcast Channel: ZDFinfo

New Book by Théo Aiolfi

The Populist Style: Trump, Le Pen and Performances of the Far Right

Through a comparative case study analysing the 2016 and 2017 presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, The Populist Style examines the links between far-right ideology and populism. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework combining political science and performance studies, this book develops a critical definition of populism as a style, that is, as a repertoire of political performances that shapes and is given shape by ideological content.

The book was published in January 2025 by Edinburgh University Press. For more information on the book (including access and purchase options), click here.

New Book by Christoffer Kølvraa and Bernhard Forchtner

Imagining Alternative Worlds: Far-Right Fiction and the Power of Cultural Imaginaries

The book explores how the far right employs fictionality as a powerful political tool in the 21st century. It does so by examining the far right’s own cultural production and commentary through a large collection of its novels, novellas, short stories, and film reviews, illustrating how the ‘alternative worlds’ articulated in such cultural products convey its ideology. More specifically, the book identifies and analyses four distinct far-right cultural imaginaries – a ‘primordial’, a ‘nostalgic’, a ‘promethean’, and a ‘nihilist’ one – that each subtly conveys different yet linked ideas about space, time, ‘race’, gender, and heroic identity.

By drawing attention to the cultural heterogeneity of the contemporary far right, Imagining Alternative Worlds offers key insights into the dreams, identities, and norms such actors hope will define our future.

The book was published on 11 November 2024 by Routledge. More information on the book (including access and purchase options) can be found here.

Publication: Paula Diehl and BRIGITTE BARGETZ (eds.)

The Complexity of Populism – New Approaches and Methods

Much as populism has been researched, it remains a contested notion without coherent definition and methodology, and shaped by dimensions such as ideology, communication style, discourse, mobilization, and organization. It has simultaneously mobilized emotions, produced symbols, and affected subjectivity and gender relations and can manifest itself in different ways and appear in hybrid forms, such as in the cases of Silvio Berlusconi, Hugo Chávez, and Donald Trump.

With chapters by Paula Diehl, Carlos de la Torre, Birgit Sauer, Brigitte Bargetz, Stefan Bird-Pollan, Federico Finchelstein, Giorgia Bulli, Martin Reisigl, Mojca Pajnik, Till Weber.

The book was published on July 3, 2023 and can be ordered here.

Open Access: Mojca Pajnik: Transformations of the Media Sphere. Amplifying Opportunity Structures for Populism

Open access Article

Emotion Narratives on the Political Culture of Radical Right Populist Parties in Portugal and Italy

„Emotion Narratives on the Political Culture of Radical Right Populist Parties in Portugal and Italy“. In: Politics and Governance, 2024, Vol. 12.

Authors: Gianolla, C., Mónico, L., & Cruz, M.

Issue: Vol 12 (2024): Challenging Democracy: How Do Ideas of Populists and Disenchanted Citizens Align? (In Progress)

Privacy Policy

Legal Notice:

Information according to § 5 TMG:

International Populism Research Network
Institute of Social Sciences/Political Science

Olshausenstr. 40
24118 Kiel

Represented by: Prof. Dr. Paula Diehl (Director)
Olshausenstr. 40
24118 Kiel
phone: +49 431 880-5217
mail: contact.populism@politik.uni-kiel.de

Dispute settlement: We are not willing or obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings in front of a consumer arbitration board.

Liability for contents: As a service provider, we are responsible for our own content on these pages according to § 7 para.1 TMG (German Telemedia Act) and general laws. According to §§ 8 to 10 TMG we are not obliged to monitor transmitted or stored information from third parties or to investigate circumstances that indicate illegal activity. Obligations to remove or block the use of information according to general laws remain unaffected by this. However, liability in this respect is only possible from the time of knowledge of a concrete infringement. If we become aware of any such legal infringements, we will remove the content in question immediately.

Liability for links: Our offer contains links to external websites of third parties, on whose content we have no influence. Therefore, we cannot accept any liability for any external content. The respective provider or operator of the site is always responsible for the content of the linked sites. The linked pages were checked for possible legal violations at the time of linking. Illegal content was not identified at the time of linking.However, a permanent control of the content of the linked pages is not reasonable without concrete evidence of a violation of the law. If we become aware of any infringements, we will remove such links immediately.

Copyright: The content and works on these pages created by the site operators are subject to German copyright law. The reproduction, editing, distribution and any kind of use outside the limits of copyright law require the written consent of the respective author or creator. Downloads and copies of these pages are only permitted for private, non-commercial use.

Insofar as the content on this site was not created by the operator, the copyrights of third parties are observed. In particular, third-party content is identified as such. Should you nevertheless become aware of a copyright infringement, please inform us accordingly. If we become aware of any infringements, we will remove such content immediately.

Webdesign by: Lilit K
Contact via mail