Abstract
The current surge of populism across Europe and beyond can be explained as a reaction not so much to the 2008 global financial crisis and the ensuing (and ongoing) economic troubles but rather to the previous two decades of neoliberal hegemony. Nonetheless, the nature of this reaction is deeply ambivalent.
On one hand we can describe the current wave of populism as a backlash against neoliberalism. Various demands of both right- and left-wing populist movements obviously clash head on with the doctrinaire principles of neoliberalism (e.g. anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and generally xenophobic and nationalistic tendencies, but also resistance against globalization and European integration, support of economic protectionism, or calls for the roll-back of economic reforms characteristic of the neoliberal era.) More importantly, though, the current wave of populism represents a reaction against the crisis of representative institution and hollowing-out of contemporary democracy that was caused by the neoliberal hegemony.
On the other hand, at least some forms of current populism represent direct continuation of tendencies inherently present in neoliberalism itself. Both because the neoliberal politics often contained a populist bent and because at least some form of the present populism to large extent carry on with the neoliberal agenda.
This paper will explore the ambivalent relationship between neoliberalism and populism tracing both the continuities and discontinuities between the two both at a general level and in the context of the political development of the Czech Republic.