Blendi Kajsiu1; 1 University of Antioquia, Colombia
Discussion
The main argument of this paper is that while anti-politics in Latin America is articulated primarily in terms of populism the same phenomenon is articulated mainly through conservative nativism in Eastern Europe. To this end I compare the Citizen Revolution led by Rafael Correa in Ecuador, the Bolivarian Revolution that was led by the late Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) led by Evo Morales in Bolivia with the Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz) led by Victor Orban in Hungary and the Law and Justice Party (PiS) led by Jaroslav Kaczyński in Poland. Although all these different political movements share a strong anti-politics dimension, insofar as they came to power by denouncing the ruling political class, institutions and consensus, they are not all populist. Populist anti-politics in Latin America articulates the people vertically against the elite as the underdog, the excluded. The people here are identical with the plebs rather than with the nation. In Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the people are articulated horizontally as members of the same national community against dangerous foreigners far more than against the ruling elite. The people here are identical with the nation.
