The right, left, vertical, and horizontal by Francesco Sacca.

Hello everyone!

An odd title for this article I know but it does get the point across on the topics that I wish to discuss. In this post I will mainly be focusing on 2 sections of the material that we were assigned for this week, the podcast from NUPI (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs) and the writing created by Federico Finchelstein, titled From Fascism to Populism in History.

Firstly, in the podcast with Rogers Brubaker, there is one point in particular that should be discussed and that is his classification of the three sections and uses of populism. In the first section, Brubaker discusses the ordinary (and or working class) and how they are pitted against the elite (in which there is a suggestion to reorganize the political system), the second section is the sovereign portion, prioritizing “a politics of re-democratization”. The third classification that Brubaker gives is “ethnically bounded”, though in my opinion, this third section can include the elements of both section 1 and section 2, therefore this portion should be clarified more clearly as a separate entity.  Both the sovereign and the ordinary, despite their differences, can potentially be united under a unified body of ethnicity and or nationality (I will make this more clear and provide an example in class).

Secondly, this idea of a shared ethnicity and nationality through the social/political classes is not represented just once in this week’s material. In the text supplied from Federico, the theme continues when discussing the focuses and priorities of the far right, “populists on the right connect this populist intolerance of alternative political views with a conception of the people formed on the basis of ethnicity and country of origin. In short, right-wing populists are xenophobic.”. Through what is said here, it may be implied that fascist politicians attempt to inspire fear in those that are “ethnically bonded” through the use of the “imposing” outside world (an example is provided via this link where Donald Trump discusses Mexico and its connection with job availability in the United States. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/07/donald-trump-in-phoenix-mexicans-are-taking-our-jobs-and-killing-us.html).

I will be ready to discuss more in person but let this be a prelude to what I will bring up in person.