Post-populism: explaining neo-liberal populism through the habitus

Abstract

This paper analyses the success of political leaders who combine a populist style with a neo-liberal agenda to win the support of social sectors that are among the most damaged by neo-liberal policies. The article claims that in countries where a populist movement succeeded in the past to include previously excluded social groups, a populist habitus develops that explains the support given by those same groups to leaders who emerge from those populist movements, even when they pursue neo-liberal policies. The paper compares Israel's Binyamin Netanyahu and Argentina's Carlos Menem to support this claim.