Populism, a meaningless buzzword or a meaningful label?
What is it about?
The words ‘populism’ and ‘populist’ are constantly used in contemporary public debate. However, these words can mean different things to different people. This paper examines how Spanish political figures used the words ‘populism’ and ‘populist’ on Twitter during the period of election campaigning and the formation of a left-wing coalition government at the end of 2019. It explores the meanings and functions of these words in the tweets produced by political actors across the whole political spectrum in a context in which political parties with opposite ideologies (left-wing and right-wing) can be labelled as populist.
Why is it important?
Scholars highlight the need to understand the meaning of ‘populism’ and 'populist' in political and media discourses. Why are these words so widely used by political and other actors? For what purpose are these words used by politicians themselves? Our analysis confirms that the meaning of 'populism' can be rather vague and variable. However, contrary to previous analyses, it also shows that (i) it is far from being random or meaningless, (ii) it can have different functions in discourse, (iii) it is associated with a concrete set of conceptualisations that vary depending on the author and the target of the use of the word, and on the political and communicative strategy of a political party. Finally, this paper suggests that a linguistic perspective on the study of such a contested concept as populism can offer new ways to understand its role in contemporary socio-political debate.