Radical Democracy, Populism and Desire
Regular price
€102.99
14 days return policy
Shipping & Delivery
A01=Thomas Zicman de Barros
Author_Thomas Zicman de Barros
Category=JPA
Category=JPHV
Category=QDTS
democratic theory
discourse theory
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
European politics
forthcoming
French politics
gilets jaunes
Political Identities
Populism
protest movements
Psychoanalysis and Politics
Radical Democracy
Yellow Vests Movement
Product details
- ISBN 9781399549882
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 31 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
The Yellow Vests movement (‘Les gilets jaunes’) occupied roundabouts across France in late 2018 and remains a puzzling phenomenon. Bringing together protestors across the political spectrum, the movement’s democratic character remains ambiguous. Was this populist uprising a radicalisation of democracy that gave voice to the excluded, or an undemocratic claim to speak for “the people” while entrenching hierarchies?
Radical Democracy, Populism and Desire articulates empirical analysis and theoretical reflection, using the Yellow Vests as a prism to rethink democratic theory. Drawing on psychosocial interviews with grassroots participants, it explores how identities were constructed, contested and steered within the movement. Thomás Zicman de Barros argues that the protests were driven by a desire for recognition and belonging, but that this desire could be mobilised in sharply different directions. By tracing these coexisting modes of identification, the book exposes the fraught and ambiguous ties between populism and democracy in contemporary politics.
Thomás Zicman de Barros is a Research Associate at the Centre for Political Research (CEVIPOF), Sciences Po.
