In this paper I want to leave behind the failed attempts to think about populism as ideology, strategy, style, or even discourse. I will focus on the ‘conceptual battles of politics’ and their potential to influence actors to pursue and effect specific ends. Reinhart Koselleck and his ideas about conceptual history will figure prominently in my discussion, as will his concept of asymmetrical combat-concept as a means of unleashing a theoretical and political war. The goal is to demonstrate that concepts (...) have taken the place of weapons of war among political actors. (shrink)

. Transparency and the European Union. Cultural Values: Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 387-392.

While early studies of populism, usually dated from the 1960s, were highly interdisciplinary, contemporary research in this field is dominated by political science and political theory. This current phase of research is narrowly focused on certain forms of political action and remarkably reluctant to pathologize the US case. Social theory plays at most a marginal role. Recent historicizations of this field have failed to recognize the significance of the prior ‘missing first phase’ of populism studies (1940–65) led by key sociological (...) figures among the New York Intellectuals and the Frankfurt School. Social theorization was prominent then and US populism’s contingent vulnerability to demagogic exploitation was a major research focus. This article provides an immanent critical reconstruction of these thinkers’ key social-theoretical insights, building to a schematization of ‘modern demagogy’. (shrink)

I offer a new cartography of ethical resistance. I argue that there is an uncharted interaction between managerial secrecy and organizational silence, which may exponentially increase the incidence of corruption in ways not yet understood. Current methods used to raise levels of moral conduct in business and government practice appear blind to this powerful duo. Extensive literature reviews of secrecy and silence scholarships form the background for an early stage conceptual layout of the co-production of secrecy and silence.

The contribution aims, in its first part, at framing the populist phe-nomenon from the point of view of historical and political evolution of two interrelated processes: the praise of the direct representation of the popular will and the criticism and de-legitimization of the elite. These processes find a sudden acceleration at the time of disinter-mediation, which clearly demonstrates its dual nature as an object of study between politics and communication. The ability of political leaders to bypass the traditional structures of (...) mediation (from Par-liament, in reference to political action, to the legacy media, in refer-ence to the relationship with the public) becomes over time directly proportional to their ability to adapt to the media logic. In the age of the hybrid media system, therefore, the strength of the populist leader lies in a careful use of old and new media, according to stra-tegic schemes and communicative styles that are summarized in the case studies selected in the second part of the contribution. (shrink)