The contributions to this volume Politics, Social Movements and Extremism take serious the fact that populism is a symptom of the crisis of representation that is affecting parliamentary democracy. Right-wing populism skyrocketed to electoral success and is now part of the government in several European countries, but it also shaped the Brexit campaign and the US presidential election. In Southern Europe, left-wing populism transformed the classical two parties systems into ungovernable three fractions parliaments, whereas in Latin America it still presents an instable alternative to liberal democracy. The varying consequences of populist mobilisation so far consist in the maceration of the established borders of political culture, the distortion of legislation concerning migrants and migration, and the emergence of hybrid regimes bordering on and sometimes leaning towards dictatorship. Yet, in order to understand populism, innovative research approaches are required that need to be capable of overcoming stereotypes and conceptual dichotomies which are deeply rooted in the political debate. The chapters of this volume offer such new theoretical strategies for inquiring into the multi-faceted populist phenomenon. The chapters analyse its language, concepts and its relationship to social media in an innovative way, draw the contours of left- and right-wing populism and reconstruct its shifting delimitation to political extremism. Furthermore, they value the most significant aftermath of populist mobilisation on the institutional frame of parliamentary democracy from the limitation of the freedom of press, to the dismantling of the separation of powers, to the erosion of citizenship rights. This volume will be an invaluable reference for students and scholars in the field of political theory, political sociology and European Studies.

本卷中的《政治、社会运动与极端主义》一文严肃地指出，民粹主义是影响议会民主的代表权危机的一个症状。右翼民粹主义在选举中大获成功，现在是几个欧洲国家政府的一部分，但它也影响了英国脱欧运动和美国总统选举。在南欧，左翼民粹主义将传统的两党制转变为不可治理的三分法议会，而在拉丁美洲，它仍然是自由民主的一个不稳定的替代。到目前为止，民粹主义动员的不同后果包括：政治文化的既定边界被破坏，有关移民和移徙的立法被扭曲，以及出现了接近独裁的混合政权，有时甚至倾向于独裁政权。然而，为了理解民粹主义，需要有创新的研究方法，需要能够克服在政治辩论中根深蒂固的陈规定型观念和概念二分法。本卷各章为探究多面的民粹主义现象提供了这种新的理论策略。这些章节以创新的方式分析了其语言、概念及其与社交媒体的关系，勾勒出左翼和右翼民粹主义的轮廓，并重构了其与政治极端主义之间不断变化的界线。此外，他们还重视民粹主义动员对议会民主制度框架的最重要影响，包括对新闻自由的限制、对三权分立的瓦解以及对公民权利的侵蚀。本卷将成为政治理论、政治社会学和欧洲研究领域的学生和学者的宝贵参考资料。