Hysteria in the squares: Approaching populism from a perspective of desire

Abstract

This paper explores the productive potential in the psychoanalytic concept of hysteria in terms of the study of populism. A Lacanian framework is adopted to broaden our understanding of the (dis)identification structures at stake in a populist logic, stressing the constitutive role desire bears in relation to social meaning-making processes. Against a background of public discontent – the “square protests” – this paper exploits the emancipatory potential within the discourse of the hysteric as a crucial radical investment in the displacement of predominant socio-symbolic boundaries, leading to the production of social knowledge.