Populist Identification in Public Discourse: Pakistanis Constructing Pakistaniat

The De- and Re-Democratization (DRD) Workgroup of the CEU Democracy Institute cordially invites you to the next presentation of its series "Illuminating Books on Democracy and Authoritarianism."
Book:

Ihsan Yilmaz, Fizza Batool: Populist Identification in Public Discourse. Pakistanis Constructing Pakistaniat (Palgrave Macmillan 2025)

Based on semi-structured interviews with ordinary citizens in Pakistan, this book analyses the complex relationship between populism, political identity, and historical experiences in Pakistan, highlighting how populist discourse influences and is influenced by varied interpretations of Pakistaniat - the identification with Pakistan. It introduces a novel theoretical framework for analysing populism in the public sphere, using Laclau's view of populism as a discursive logic and Panizza's definition as a mode of identification. This connection allows for a deeper understanding of how populist constructs form a collective identity amidst diverse demands, particularly through the concept of "the people" as an empty signifier. The book also examines the multiple meanings associated with Pakistani identity and their ties to the rise of populism, addressing gaps in existing literature regarding the demand side of populism and its impact on both politicians and the public.

Speaker:

Fizza Batool is a Global Forum Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute. She is an academic and policy researcher interested in Populism, Religious Nationalism, Comparative Politics, and Democratization. Being a pragmatist, she uses both qualitative and quantitative techniques in her works. Her recent work "Populist Discourse in Pakistani Politics" is the first comprehensive book on the populism of Pakistan.

Discussants:

Kirk A. Hawkins is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Brigham Young University. He received his bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish from Brigham Young University, USA and his PhD in political science from Duke University, USA. He teaches about comparative politics, especially of Latin America, with a special focus on political organization and political ideas. His initial studies focused on political parties and clientelism in Latin America, but his research on Venezuela led him to the study of populist governments around the globe in an effort to better measure and catalog their effects. More recently, he has focused on the study of affective polarization (a significant consequence of populism) and techniques of depolarization, especially by assessing the work of non-profits in the United States. He is currently on the Scholars Council of Braver Angels, a US non-profit engaged in depolarization. He is also the director of Team Populism, a scholarly network dedicated to the global study of populism and its consequences.

Murat Somer is a Global Forum Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute. He is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Ozyegin University, Istanbul. His research on polarization and de-polarization, religious and secular politics, ethnic conflicts, autocratization and democratization came out in books and journals such as Comparative Political Studies and Democratization. His recent publications include Polarizing Polities: A Global Threat to Democracy (2019, co-edited with Jennifer McCoy), and Return to Point Zero: The Turkish-Kurdish Question and How Politics and Ideas (Re)Make Empires, Nations and States (2022). Previously, he was Professor of Political Science and International relations at Koç University, Istanbul, and held visiting positions such as Democracy and Development Fellow at Princeton University Institute for International and Regional Studies (2010-11) and visiting scholar and lecturer at Sanford University Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies (2019). He has widely contributed to media, civil society and political parties on issues related to democracy, rule of law and human rights.

Chair:

Ebru Ece Ozbey works as a Global Forum Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute and an editor of its journal, the Review of Democracy. She is a doctoral researcher and lecturer at the University of Cologne, where she is pursuing her PhD in Comparative Politics through the IMPRS-SPCE program. She holds an MSc in European Studies and a BSc in International Relations. Her research focuses on populism, Euroscepticism, political competition, and radicalization, mainly in European democracies. An affiliate of the METU Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, she has also contributed to and published on European integration and EU-Turkey relations. Ece has held visiting positions at prestigious institutions in the US, the UK, and Chile. She is a founding member of OPUS Young Researchers Initiative on Populism and an active member of a variety of other research networks such as Team Populism and the FEPS Young Academics Network.