The 16th Broadyard Workshop (博雅工作坊) of Peking University’s Institute of Area Studies, on the theme of “The Essence and Characteristics of Left-wing Populism in Latin America,” was held at Jingyuan Courtyard 2, PKU, on December 22. More than ten academics and scholars from domestic universities and research organizations attended the conference and engaged in in-depth discussions on topics about populism in Latin America.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, populism has once again swept the world and has been particularly active in Latin America. This “Pink Tide” in many Latin American countries has largely featured the revival of left-wing populist movements. Prof. Dong Jingsheng, from PKU’s Department of History, pointed out that in recent years, populism has been defined by more and more scholars as a discourse system or ideology. Different types of populism, to a certain extent, all please “the people,” accuse the “elites,” and believe that society is divided into two coessential but antagonistic camps -- “pure people” versus the “corrupt elites.” The factors that energize populism include the convergence of such factors as the ideology of the mainstream political forces, social dissatisfaction caused by increasing interest rates, the demonstration effect of other countries and anti-globalization sentiments. Populism can arise with different political positions and is dependent on different ideologies. For example, the European right-wing populism of the 21st century is largely attached to nationalism, while left-wing populism Latin American is largely attached to socialism.

Prof. Han Qi, from Nankai University, opined that populism in Latin America is a political phenomenon that has accompanied the transformation of Latin American society from a traditional agricultural society to a modern industrial society. The political appeal of populism in Latin America usually includes political openness, relying on the strength of the working class and the general public to develop the national economy, promoting the industrialization and modernization of the country while protecting the interests of both the middle class and the massive working class, and developing social welfare; its leaders are usually charismatic figures. Therefore, it is not appropriate to generalize populism in Latin America into common populism.

During the workshop, experts and scholars respectively introduced the history, current situation and manifestation of populism in different Latin American countries and analyzed Peronism in Argentina, Correa and Ecuador’s 21st century socialism; and Evo Morales and populism in Bolivia. Xu Shicheng, a research fellow from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, opined that since the end of the 20th century, despite the trend featuring the receding of the left wing and the advancing of the right wing, most Latin American countries are ruled by the left wing. Left-wing populism in Latin America, whether radical or moderate, features strongman politics in combination with democratic politics. In general, however, they have all adopted a series of political, economic and social reforms in response to their own development problems, and, in so doing, they have won to some extent the embrace of the public.

The experts and scholars at the workshop also engaged in-depth discussions on topics such as whether Latin American populism is a doctrine or a movement, whether it originated locally or from foreign countries, and whether populism is a tool of the ruling party or a carrier of democratic politics. The experts expressed their belief that populism in Latin America has far-reaching historical roots and traditions, and its course of development is persistent and demonstrates diversity and differences. There is also a lack of consensus among domestic and foreign academics on how to understand and evaluate populism in Latin America. In the future, with the further transformation of Latin American society, the pursuit of economic development and fairness and justice will still serve as an important driving force for the prevalence of populism in Latin America. Strengthening the construction of political systems is an important measure for Latin American countries to avoid the political decay caused by populism.