Populism in Latin America: Old and new populisms in Argentina and Brazil
| Author | Juan Grigera |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192512117701510 |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512117701510
International Political Science Review
2017, Vol. 38(4) 441 –455
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512117701510
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Populism in Latin America:
Old and new populisms in
Argentina and Brazil
Juan Grigera
University College London, UK
Abstract
There has been a renewed interest in populism in Latin America, sparked by the social mobilization against
neoliberalism usually referred to as the ‘Pink Tide’. Governments brought to power by the Pink Tide have
been successful in reconstructing the conditions of capital accumulation as well as incorporating a new set
of social movement demands. This article puts forward an interpretation of ‘Pink Tide neopopulism’ based
on a political economy approach. It argues that the two factors of a crisis of neoliberalism in the region and
the existence of social movements with unmet demands are not enough to explain the rise and demise of
populism. The commodity boom needs to be added as an enabling condition for these transformations. By
revisiting the debate in Latin America and proposing a different reading, the article redefines an overloaded
term and provides a new analytical viewpoint from which to understand the ‘historical task’ of populism in
Brazil and Argentina.
Keywords
Pink Tide neopopulism, political economy of populism, Lulism, Kirchnerism, South America
Introduction
In no other region of the world does populism and its discussion have such a long and rich political
and socioeconomic history as in Latin America, even if the rural Russian and North American
cases preceded it. In the past decade and a half, the coming to office of a series of centre-left
governments (such as Lula in Brazil, the Kirchners in Argentina or Rafael Correa in Ecuador) has
given new space (and meaning) to the term, both politically and academically.
This article proposes a reading of the latest wave of populism in Argentina and Brazil that
stresses its enabling conditions and its historical differences with the classical populism of the
post-Second World War period. It argues that the relationship between existing populisms in Latin
Corresponding author:
Juan Grigera, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Americas, University College London, Gower Street,
WC1E 6BT London, UK.
Email:j.grigera@ucl.ac.uk
701510IPS0010.1177/0192512117701510International Political Science ReviewGrigera
research-article2017
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