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COVID-19 and Populism: A Sui Generis Crisis

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Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe

Abstract

It is widely believed that populists benefit from crisis situations. This chapter discusses the literature on crises and populism from a theoretical perspective and provides a novel framework of analysis for addressing the study of the COVID-19 crisis in the light of its (de)politicization. This framework allows the study of the politicization of the COVID-19 issue by populists looking at the divide between the political and the non-political status of the issue, disputes about different stakes and their relative priority in managing the crisis, and issue-specific and policy-related contentions about COVID-19. The general research question is whether populists in Europe used the COVID-19 issue to gain centrality in the political field and/or to push forward new opposition lines. A further related question is to pinpoint whether populists reacted in a similar way across countries or whether they adapted their response according to their institutional role.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultures, Politics and Society—Collegio Carlo Alberto, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Giuliano Bobba

  2. Centre for Research on Mediations (CREM), University of Lorraine, Metz, France

    Nicolas Hubé

Authors
  1. Giuliano Bobba
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  2. Nicolas Hubé
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Correspondence to Giuliano Bobba .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultures, Politics and Society—Collegio Carlo Alberto, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Giuliano Bobba

  2. Centre for Research on Mediations (CREM), University of Lorraine, Metz, France

    Nicolas Hubé

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Bobba, G., Hubé, N. (2021). COVID-19 and Populism: A Sui Generis Crisis. In: Bobba, G., Hubé, N. (eds) Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66011-6_1

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