A feast of populism, populism of a feast
- Paweł Konzal
- Jul 7, 2024
- 3 min read
Populism. Populist. Vague, poorly defined words repeated daily in election analyses. They lower the credibility of the opponent, overlooking the sources of social tensions. Does defeating extremism lead through class discourse?
Imagine a society sitting around a long table. At the top sits the "ruler" of the era - the king, president or prime minister. To the right and left sit those holding the most power after him. Then the richest with economic power. Next - the leaders & shapers of opinions, intellectual and aesthetic tastes. Behind them the middle class, the precariat, and finally the poor. Serving food starts with the ruler, waiters bring dishes according to the order of seating. Everyone will leave satiated if the waiters and food are plentiful.
Different countries mean different tables. Back in the 1990s, the differences between tables were huge. Those at the top of the table in China looked with envy at a middle-class meal in the US. Globalization has reduced the differences between tables, however, increasing the differences within each table. The feasts at the tops of the tables are closer to each other than the experience in the middle of any of them. The most dramatic example of inequality is life expectancy - the poorest in the US and France, for example, live 13-15 years less than the wealthiest citizens.
Tension rises if there is not enough food or it is served too late compared to the top of the table and expectations of majority. The length of the table makes it impossible to have a single conversation. Those sitting in the middle start guessing the topic of conversation at the other end. The guesses turn into a deaf phone call, this leads to distrust and conspiracy theories, uncertainty whether the food will reach everyone at all. There is a growing longing for a mythical past, with a single narrative, order and equality. A longing for a community sitting around a campfire. Advocates for turning the tables or getting rid of them altogether emerge.
When the community sits around the campfire, it turns out that although everyone is at an equal distance from the center, the distance is sizable. The amount of waiters is still the same. A proposal is made to throw out a certain group. When there are fewer of us then we will sit closer to the fire and get more food. So inevitably in this system there is exclusion of more groups that do not agree with the narrative spun around the campfire, minorities and so on. Part of the population initially - until the discrimination reaches them as well - feels an improvement in their position, access to services, respect, participation in the dominant narrative etc.
The current French elections are an example of this. The issue of migration will significantly affect the outcome despite the fact that net migration in 2014-2021 was next to 1989-1996 the lowest since 1960 (World Bank). To illustrate the difference: between 2014 and 2021, a net 13,000-26,000 people immigrated to France each year. Between 2000 and 2009, it was 100,000-155,000 people per year. The 1960s were 160,000-200,000 migrants per year. The last two years have been about 60,000 migrants per year (net). At the same time, per capita GDP has declined in 3 of the last 4 years, with inflation-related food insecurity affecting one in 12 people. We are reaching - at least on a perceptual level - a critical point where the table may be turned over.
In addition, there has been a change in the structure of the political scene and associated discourse. The centrist mass parties - Social Democracy and Christian Democrats - successfully created welfare states in the 20th century, something of a polygonal table. In the 21st century, however, the left has become the party of the metropolitan middle class; the center-right has evolved into a technocratic party of professionals, civil servants and entrepreneurs. The language of classism has disappeared from the debate. Class blindness, however, does not mean that the problems of table lengthening and growing inequality of access to services have disappeared, as the cited difference in life expectancy shows. If we don't want the void created in the center to be permanently filled by left and right extremism, we should open up to some of the reality and discourse associated with classism that we might instinctively associate with populism.
