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The Promise and Limits of Mouffe’s Left Populist Turn - A lecture by Dr. Gökhan Demir

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This article critically engages with Chantal Mouffe’s proposition for a left populist alternative, framing it as a strategy to counter the rise of right-wing populism and to articulate a progressive challenge to the prevailing hegemonic order. Mouffe argues that a left populist project could serve as a potent intervention within the neoliberal hegemonic crisis that emerged following the 2008 financial crisis. Her framework employs discursive strategies to demarcate a political boundary between the people and the oligarchy, directly contesting the structural inequalities fostered by neoliberal capitalism. The goal is to attain power by forming a collective will, thereby expanding democratic participation. However, this paper critiques Mouffe’s approach on four principal grounds: (1) its potential oversimplification of politics by reducing it to a discursive clash between competing populisms; (2) its neglect of political economy, particularly the role of class and capital relations in structuring contemporary societies; (3) its downplaying of the role of violence and coercion in establishing and maintaining hegemony; and (4) its lack of critical focus on the capitalist state’s role in reinforcing property relations and structures of exploitation that obstruct democratic transformation.

Gökhan Demir is a political theorist whose research focuses on political theory, contemporary social thought, and Turkish politics. His work critically examines the transformation of the state, the restructuring of democracy, and the rise of new authoritarian forms of rule. His research engages with debates on the crisis of democracy and civil society, the resurgence of populism(s), and the reconfiguration of state power under neoliberal and post-neoliberal conditions. Drawing on Marxist state theory, Gramscian analysis, and Foucauldian critiques of power, he explores Turkey’s recent political evolution. He held consecutive postdoctoral researcher positions at the University of Florence (2021-2022), the University of Padova (2022-2023), and the University of Kassel (2024-2025), working across departments of political science and social theory. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of the social sciences journal Praksis and is a Middle East Studies Association Global Academy Fellow.