Abstract
This chapter revisits the relationship between politics, democracy and populism through the lens of the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Using the example of 2019 Chilean protests as illustration, the chapter examines different periods of political cycles and, it suggests that populism more clearly manifests on times preceding organic social change. The chapter provides a social diagnosis and concludes that current manifestations of populism are a symptom of a deep crisis that affects democracy and its modern grounds. The chapter concludes outlining the implications of this crisis for political education, particularly as educators might need to readjust to a situation of uncertainty and polarization.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The announcement of the new plebiscite did not satisfy everybody and some (reduced) protests continued until February 2020. The situation in Chile like in most places then became paralysed as a result of COVID-19, but Chileans voted to develop a new constitutions in October 2020.
- 3.
I wish to thank my colleague and friend Jesus Marolla for his support and advise whilst writing this chapter.
- 4.
See how Glynos and Howarth (2007) define “political logic” in p. 134.
- 5.
AFP stands for Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones, Chilean Pension System.
- 6.
For a good discussion on this, see Mudde (2010).
- 7.
See Arditi (2005, pp. 90–91).
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Sant, E. (2021). The Shadow of Democracy. In: Political Education in Times of Populism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76299-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76299-5_4
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