ITAL 3720

Contemporary Populism

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2018-2019 Catalog.

Populism today has never been more 'popular.'  From Turkey to India, to Italy, to the United States, populism and populist leaders appear to be in ascendence, which leads to some questions:  What exactly do we mean when we say populism and what can we do to resist?  In this course we will examine the term underpining populism, "popolo" and ask who or what is a people?  What relations of force does populism name and what practices-political, aesthetic, ethical-can combat it?  Readings will mainly come from the Italian tradition, though not only: Machiavelli, Marx, Gramsci, Bobbio, Foucault, Agamben, and Braidotti are featured as are a number of writings from European feminist thinkers working on the relation of patriarchy to populism.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: ITAL 2202 or permission of instructor.

Distribution Category (CA-AS)

When Offered Spring.

View Enrollment Information