Populism and the recasting of the ideological landscape of liberal democracies

The upsurge in anti-establishment protests in Western liberal democracies in the early 21st century– a phenomenon typically labeled as ‘populism’ -- has profoundly altered the ideological landscape of these societies. The grievances against social, economic, political and cultural precarisation which these movements have formulated are an expression of social anxiety, itself generated by the intensified competitive pressures of globally integrated capitalism. As a result, the standard Left-Right ideological divide is being replaced by a new cleavage – a Risk-Opportunity divide shaped by conflicting attitudes towards the perceived and anticipated social effect of neoliberal globalization.