Someone saw it coming...

'there is no alternative' fuels those who say there is

The excerpt below encapsulates why I am hugely sceptical of / worried by arguments for ‘taking politics out’ of issues in my corner of the world, whether it be Responsible Investment, pension reform, infrastructure planning and financing or whatever. It doubles down on an approach that drives support for populists.

This was written in 2005.

[T]he rationalist model of democratic politics, with its emphasis on dialogue and rational deliberation, is particularly vulnerable when confronted with a populist politics offering collective identifications with a high affective content like 'the people'. In a context where the dominant discourse proclaims that there is no alternative to the current neo-liberal form of globalization and that we should accept its dictats, it is not surprising that a growing number of people are listening to those who proclaim that alternatives do exist and that they will give back to the people the power to decide. When democratic politics has lost its capacity to mobilize people around distinct political projects and when it limits itself to securing the necessary conditions for the smooth working of the market, the conditions are ripe for political demagogues to articulate popular frustration.

For some time the case of Britain seemed to provide a counter-example to such an evolution; however the recent success of the UK Independence Party in the 2004 European elections suggests that things might be changing. It is of course too early to predict the fate of such a party, and the British electoral system certainly does not facilitate the rise of third parties. But the dramatic surge in the share of the votes needs to be taken seriously. It is undeniable that all the conditions nowadays exist in Britain for a right-wing populist party to exploit the popular frustration. Since the move to the right of New Labour under the leadership of Tony Blair, many traditional Labour voters no longer feel represented by the party. The demands of an increasing proportion of the popular sectors have been left out of the political agenda and they could easily be articulated through a populist discourse by a skilful demagogue. This is what has already been happening in many European countries and we could easily witness a similar phenomenon in British politics.

It is high time to realize that, to a great extent, the success of right-wing populist parties comes from the fact that they articulate, albeit in a very problematic way, real democratic demands which are not taken into account by traditional parties. They also provide people with some form of hope, with the belief that things could be different. Of course it is an illusory hope, founded on false premises and unacceptable mechanisms of exclusion where xenophobia usually plays a central role. But when they are the only channels for the expression of political passions, their pretence to represent an alternative is very seductive.

For all the horrible stuff around Reform and its equivalents elsewhere you do repeatedly hear a desire for ‘change’ and the belief, or hope, that it is possible. It’s the same impulse that fed into Brexit. Their supporters don’t necessarily expect them to be successful, at least in the short term, but they expect them to have a go, to try and shake things up.

To beat it we need an equally hopeful alternative.