What's left of the populist radical left?

The study of the phenomenon of populism in Europe has extensively focused on its right-wing variant, as the predominant expression of populism in contemporary European politics. However, during the past decade, European left-wing populist parties have gradually caught the academic interest, especially since the cases of SYRIZA in Greece, Podemos in Spain and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK rose to prominence. As a result, the relevant literature has been bolstered with analyses on the different manifestations of European left-wing populism, including the discourse and communication style of the respective actors, their electoral performance and, in the case of SYRIZA and Podemos, their governmental performance.

Indeed, as left-wing populist actors started to influence the political landscape on the national and European level, respective research grew exponentially to examine as many aspects as possible The latest endeavour to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon is Marco Damiani's analysis on the populist radical left parties (from now on PRL parties) in western European countries. Emanating from a sociological background, Damiani's study attempts to offer conceptual and empirical insights on left-wing populism combined with a categorisation of the different parties portrayed in the book, thus consisting the primary aim of Damiani's research. Specifically, the goals are clearly set from the very first page, including a) the exploration of the radical left-wing populism concept, b) mapping the respective parties in western Europe and c) highlighting their similarities and differences. To this end, the book is divided into three sections: the theoretical examination of the term 'radical left-wing populism', the presentation of the various contemporary PRL parties, and lastly, the comparison of them through the examination of their internal (organisation) and external (communication, government performance) aspects.

The author's aspiration to meet his set goals is only obstructed by his intention to provide a broader picture that is not exclusively focused on the contemporary populist radical left alone. As a result, Damiani acknowledges that each approach to populism (ideational approach, discursive approach etc) is distinct from each other without providing a more critical examination of their differences. At the same time. he attempts to combine often contradictory elements from the various approaches, leading to a confusing understanding of populism and more specifically left-wing populism To illustrate this point, the author's understanding of 'the people' appears to rely on both the ideational and the discursive approach, meaning that 'the people' are perceived as homogenous according to the former and as the amalgamation of different demands, social groups and identities according to the latter. A similar comment can be made on the author's intention to provide an extensive account on Marxist politics as shaped from 19th century until 1989. creating doubts, from a reader's perspective, regarding its actual usefulness in examining the contemporary populist radical left.

That said, Damiani's research should not be disregarded. On the contrary, the book offers a much needed mapping of western European PRL parties, in an attempt to better grasp the intricacies of the relevant actors. To this end, the study engages with thought-provoking questions on the connection between left-wing populism and the radical left. It is also in this sense that despite the minor issues that the book features, Damiani's research is a noteworthy addition on the study of PRL parties and an essential companion for anyone who wants to understand the connection between left-wing populism and the radical left.