NEW DIVERSITIES an Online Journal Published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
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NEW DIVERSITIES An online journal published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Volume 21, No. 2, 2019 Populism Beyond the West: Dissonant Diversities and Fragmented Politics Guest Editors: SİNEM ADAR (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) and GÜLAY TÜRKMEN (University of Göttingen) Populism Beyond the West: Dissonant Diversities and Fragmented Politics 1 by SİNEM Adar (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) and Gülay Türkmen (University of Göttingen) Populism and the Bourgeoisie: The Role of Intra-Elite Factionalism 9 in the Growth of Populism in Turkey by Toygar Sİnan Baykan (Kırklareli University) Religious Populism, Memory, and Violence in India 23 by Efe Peker (University of Ottawa) Under the Shadow of Civilizationist Populist Discourses: 37 Political Debates on Refugees in Turkey by Zeynep Yanaşmayan (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle), Ayşen Üstübİcİ (Koç University, Istanbul) and Zeynep Kaşlı (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam) Populist Politics in the New Malaysia 53 by Shanon Shah (King’s College London) Open Forum Ethnic Options: Self-Identifications of Higher-Educated 69 Second-Generation Minorities as Situated Ways to Negotiate Belonging by Marıeke Wynanda Slootman (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) An Investigation of Belgian-Descent University Students’ Perceived 85 Barriers to Establishing Contact with Muslim Students by F. Zehra Colak (KU Leuven), Lore Van Praag (University of Antwerp) and Ides Nıcaıse (KU Leuven) Editors: Elena GADJANOVA Julia MARTÍNEZ-ARIÑO Guest Editors: Sinem ADAR (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) Gülay TÜRKMEN (University of Göttingen) Language Editor: Sarah BLANTON Layout and Design: Birgitt SIPPEL Past Issues in 2008-2018: “Contexts of Respectability and Freedom: Sexual Stereotyping in Abu Dhabi”, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2018 “The Influence of Ethnic-Specific Networks on Turkish Belgian Women’s Educational and Occupational Mobility”, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2018 “Mobilities – Migratory Experiences Ethnographically Connected”, Vol. 19, No. 3, 2017 “Indigenous Politics of Resistance: From Erasure to Recognition”, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2017 “The Transnational Infrastructures of Luso-Pentecostal Mega-Cities”, Art. 19, No. 1, 2017 “Religion and Superdiversity”, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2016 “The Infrastructures of Diversity: Materiality and Culture in Urban Space”, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2015 “Engaging with the Other: Religion, Identity, and Politics in the Mediterranean”, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2015 “Migration and Development: Rethinking Recruitment, Remittances, Diaspora Support and Return”, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2014 “Social Mobility and Identity Formation”, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2014 “Diversity and Small Town Spaces: Twenty Years into Post-Apartheid South African Democracy ”, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2013 “Female Migration Outcomes II”, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013 “Language and Superdiversities II”, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2012 “Skilled Migration and the Brain Drain”, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2012 “Language and Superdiversities”, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2011 “Female Migration Outcomes: Human Rights Perspectives”, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2011 “Depicting Diversities”, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2010 “Turks Abroad: Settlers, Citizens, Transnationals”, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2009 “The Human Rights of Migrants”, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2009 “The Conditions of Modern Return Migrants”, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2008 “Citizenship Tests in a Post-National Era”, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2008 © MPI MMG (2019) ISSN-Print 2199-8108 ISSN-Internet 2199-8116 Published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Hermann-Föge-Weg 11 D-37073 Göttingen, Germany Populism Beyond the West: Dissonant Diversities and Fragmented Politics by SİNEM Adar (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) and Gülay Türkmen (University of Göttingen) Populism is one of the most contested topics paying little attention to the cultural component of our times. Even though the phenomenon of populism (see Gidron and Hall 2019 for an is anything but new (see Ionescu and Gellner exception underlining both cultural and struc- 1969), the increasing salience of populism and tural explanations for populism). Questions such the rising power of populist actors around the as how populist discourse influences and is influ- globe have prompted a new wave of interest enced by social relations, how it transforms and in the topic. Scholars have so far focused on a is transformed by citizens’ understandings as vast array of questions, such as the definition of to “the people,” and to each other, remain, to populism (Mudde and Kaltwasser 2017, Mueller a large extent, unanswered. Thus, we still know 2016, Laclau 2005) the difference between right- little about how social cleavages shape the way wing and left-wing populisms (Rama and Santana “the people” is conceptualized by populist actors 2019), and the role of social media in the rise of as well as how populist discourse shapes existing populist actors as well as in the dissemination of social cleavages. The few existing works on this populist logics and discourses (Crilley and Gilles- topic turn their gaze towards either North Ameri- bie 2019; Salgado 2019). The nature of the rela- can (Bonikowski et al. 2019) or European cases tionship between populism and democracy (Pap- (Bornschier 2010). However, we believe that an pas 2019; Urbinati 2019; Weyland and Madrid emphasis on social cleavages is important and 2019), populism and nationalism (Brubaker 2017, necessary in understanding how populism oper- 2019; De Cleen 2017), and populism and authori- ates beyond Western democracies, particularly tarianism (Norris and Inglehart 2019) have also in historically diverse countries. Interestingly, been of increasing interest to scholars. such non-Western countries with multi-ethnic, While these analyses have a lot in common, multi-religious populations have so far received they also greatly differ from each other due to the little attention from scholars. When non-Western variety of the cases where populism is observed. cases are discussed in the literature, except for a Populists might apply different economic poli- few recent works on populism in Africa (Cheese- cies (Franzese 2019; Rodrik 2018), be on the man 2018; Resnick 2017) and in Southeast Asia right or on the left (March 2017; Katsambekis (Case 2017), Latin American countries featuring and Kioupkiolis 2019; Weyland 2013), resort to important examples of left-wing populism (De nationalism or nativism (Bonikowski et al 2018; La Torre 2016) are usually the ones to take the Pappas 2018), or they might depart from democ- centre-stage, to the detriment of others. racy and turn into authoritarian actors or not Against this background, in this special issue, (Dix 1985; Mudde and Kaltwasser 2012). Despite we focus on the relationship between populism this variety, however, existing accounts mostly and ethnic and religious diversity beyond West- adopt institutional and structural approaches, ern Europe and the Americas. We are particularly NEW DIVERSITIES Vol. 21, No. 2, 2019 ISSN-Print 2199-8108 ▪ ISSN-Internet 2199-8116 NEW DIVERSITIES 21 (2), 2019 Sinem Adar and Gülay Türkmen interested in the following questions: What is the this process. This particular populist logic works role of cultural and social grievances in the emer- by “formulating demands, rather than a set of gence and spread of populist discourses and demands” (De Cleen and Galanopolous 2016). vice versa? What differences, if any, are there Through the creation of a “chain of equivalence” between the form populism takes in historically (Laclau 2005), populist discourse speaks for “the diverse societies and the form it takes in societ- people” and in the name of “the people,” claiming ies where diversity is a fairly recent phenome- back the “nation” for those to whom it belongs. non related to immigration? How does populism In other words, its primary claim is one of repara- relate to social, political, and affective polariza- tion—enabling a corrective of power inequalities tion in post-imperial societies with multi-cultural and injustices. This is apparent in Shah’s discus- populations? sion of how a focus on economic inequality and corruption was able to bring together diverse Constructing “the people”: Historical diversity societal sectors in Malaysia, leading the alliance and social cleavages of opposition actors to win against the incum- Considering that the juxtaposition of “the peo- bent political alliance in the 2018 election. ple” against “the elites” is integral to populism Unsurprisingly, populist discourse is often (Mudde and Kaltwasser 2017), understanding accompanied by narratives of victimhood that how “the people” is defined and to whom it juxtaposes “the oppressed” against “the oppres- refers is vital to any analysis of populism. This is sor” in both moral and affective terms. As such, it where existing societal cleavages and historical can portray minorities and marginalized groups diversity become important. In diverse societies as “enemies” of the nation, as has been seen with “historical others” populists tend to swiftly with a range of populist right wing parties in revive and mobilize the dormant (and some- Europe since the 1990s (Berezin 2007, Mudde times not so dormant) societal divisions. Often, 2004, Učeň 2007), the populist appeals of both populist actors deploy existing social cleavages the Democrat and Republican Parties in the for their own benefit and utilize them in propa- U.S. (Bonikowski and Gidron 2016), and with gating a divisive discourse that represents social “Chavismo” versus “opposition” in Venezuela groups