Abstrakt
The paper will deal with the potentials and limits of left populism in Czechia, examining the legacy of leftist anti-communist dissent as well as the experience of employing populist logic by the Green Party. First focus will be on the sedimented discourses blocking the emergence of leftist populism (yet letting exclusionary forms of populism flourish).
In the works of prominent dissidents, such as Václav Havel, the actual signifier of "the people" was subverted, which left a deep impact on the understanding of popular subjectivity. After the collapse of the communist regime antagonism had been displaced from the political realm, leaving itself to be manifested in the moral register and in revived nationalism.
The paper will then examine the potential of populist discourse in Czech politics, scrutinizing the campaign of the Green party during their ultimately unsuccessful electoral campaign in 2017. Under the leadership of Matěj Stropnický, who would later cite Chantal Mouffe as his influence, the party made some strides towards left populism, but a split inside the party resulted in the promotion of rather institutional politics.
Discussion inside the party illustrates the dilemmas of employing populist discourse in post-communist context.