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Alex Yates

@alexyates2000.bsky.social
1.3K followers 2.2K following 52 posts

PhDing in Bath • Researching anti-populism • 'Moral panic breeds goose-stepping, can't just stand by rubbernecking' • he/him

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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
If housing has made life harder, this is for you. An online EU Citizens’ Assembly on housing is recruiting. Three paid evening sessions; five languages; open to anyone in the EU. Closes 31 Oct: methodsinnovation.questionpro.com/eu-ciembly.
methodsinnovation.questionpro.com
Participation in EU Citizens' Assembly on Housing - Enterprise Survey Software
Participation in EU Citizens' Assembly on Housing - Enterprise Survey Software
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Consequently, I argue that this fantasy acts as a form of discursive depoliticisation - by presenting certain issues as the domain of 'experts' rather than politics - and consolidates existing hirearchies of knowledge in an expression of epistemic snobbery. 🧵END www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Enjoying ‘Expertise’: A Critical Fantasy Study of Pro-‘Expert’ Anti-populism in UK and US Political Commentary
Anti-populist discourse often presents ‘populism’ as a threat to ‘expertise’, taking the side of ‘experts’ against their ‘populist’ opponents. However, the role of enjoyment in inciting identificat...
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I claim, for anti-populists, 'experts' are those who make politics feel safe in constrast to the disruptive politicisations of 'the populists' and the people (with the latter pair acting as thieves of enjoyment). 🧵3/
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
In this article I explore how anti-populists are affectively invested in 'experts' or, in other words, what promises of enjoyment 'expertise' makes to anti-populists. 🧵2/
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
📣New open access publication 📣 'Enjoying ‘Expertise’: A Critical Fantasy Study of Pro-‘Expert’ Anti-populism in UK and US Political Commentary', or, how anti-populists think 'the experts' can save us www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 🧵1/
tandfonline.com
Enjoying ‘Expertise’: A Critical Fantasy Study of Pro-‘Expert’ Anti-populism in UK and US Political Commentary
Anti-populist discourse often presents ‘populism’ as a threat to ‘expertise’, taking the side of ‘experts’ against their ‘populist’ opponents. However, the role of enjoyment in inciting identificat...
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Political Studies Review @psrjournal.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
🔔Online First! 🔔Open Access and Free to Read!🔓 A Cure for ‘Populism’? Diagnostic and Prognostic Framing in Anti-Populist Political Punditry You can read the full article here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... By @alexyates2000.bsky.social @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
journals.sagepub.com
A Cure for ‘Populism’? Diagnostic and Prognostic Framing in Anti-Populist Political Punditry - Alex Yates, 2026
Despite growing scholarly interest in anti-populism, the remedies proposed by anti-populists to counter ‘populism’ remain underexplored. I address this gap by e...
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European Journal of Political Research @ejprjournal.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
🆕 Is “right-wing populism” a myth? 🧚 @alexyates2000.bsky.social & @aurelmondon.com argue three reasons why the #Populist label is ill-fitting for #FarRight politics, calling for the more common use of precise but stigmatising signifiers
buff.ly
There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’: Reclaiming the emancipatory potential of populism in reactionary times | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core
There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’: Reclaiming the emancipatory potential of populism in reactionary times
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Funilly enough my co-author @aurelmondon.com and others have written against the polarization narrative as well: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
A critique of the polarisation narrative: expanding the limits of democracy, parties and political participation - Contemporary Political Theory
Contemporary Political Theory - Public discourse about polarisation has become one of the latest hypes in politics, whether it is in the political sphere proper, the media, or academia. Much like...
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Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 21/04/2026
#OpenAccess from @ejprjournal.bsky.social - There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’: Reclaiming the emancipatory potential of #populism in reactionary times - cup.org/3OnC5wz - @alexyates2000.bsky.social & @aurelmondon.com #FirstView
Logo for the European Journal of Political Research displaying the text "EJPR European Journal of Political Research" in cream letters on a blue background, accompanied by the hashtag "#OpenAccess".
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
thanks so much!
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
📣New article📣 'There is no such thing as 'right-wing populism.' Check it out below! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’: Reclaiming the emancipatory potential of populism in reactionary times | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core
There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’: Reclaiming the emancipatory potential of populism in reactionary times
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 03/04/2026
Although anti-populism has a place for ‘the people’ through nominally democratic processes of voting and peaceful protest against ‘populism’, it ultimately aims at the restoration of responsible elite rule: government for the people, rather than of or by them journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
This article shows how the meaning of ‘European values’ is produced in response to the perceived threat of ‘populism’ and highlights the ways in which anti-populist discourse can obscure the complicity of Europe's liberal mainstream in the very exclusions it attributes to ‘populist’ actors. 🧵 END
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
In turn, the Commission reinforces the fantasy that, because of its adherence to ‘European values’, it stands as a bulwark against exclusionary politics. 🧵 6/
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Consequently, this exceptionalisation conceals the EU's own exclusionary practices, particularly regarding migration policy, shifting attention away from the Union's failures to uphold its stated principles. 🧵 5/
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
‘Populism’ is exceptionalised as closed, divisive and reactionary, in contrast to the inclusionary nature of open, unifying and progressive ‘European values’. 🧵 4/
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
By combining collocation analysis with a discursive-architectonic approach to discourse analysis, I suggest that the Commission's anti-populism produces an inclusionary/exclusionary binary through a set of spatial metaphors. 🧵 3/
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
In this paper in @jcms-eu.bsky.social, I analyse the anti-populist discourse of the European Commission to see how they construct 'European values' by using 'populism' as their constitutive outside. 🧵 2/
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
📣New publication📣 '‘This Is Not Europe’: Investigating the Commission's Anti-Populist Articulation of ‘European Values’' or how the Commission constructs the threat of 'populism' to deflect from its own exclusionary policies and discourses onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧵 1/
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
‘This Is Not Europe’: Investigating the Commission's Anti‐Populist Articulation of ‘European Values’
Whilst ‘populism’ is often considered antithetical to ‘European values’, how this contrast shapes the very meaning of such ‘values’ remains underexplored. This article investigates the European Commi...
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
It's definitley most prominent there! I argue it is at work indirectly in the other frames as these support the atrophying liberal hegemony which has been unable to arrest the rise of the far right.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Good question! Focus on ideology, not the 'populist' discourse or style. The problem isn't 'populism', it's far-right racism and authoritarianism. In a nutshell, don't be anti-populist, be anti-fascist!
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I claim that these frames are demophobic in their mistrust of popular political participations and help to, counterintuitively, embolden reactionary politics by reproducing the very (‘populist’) far-right discourses on migration and nationhood which anti-populists claim to oppose. 🧵 END
Table of anti-populist frames.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Finally, the epistemic frame sees ‘populism’ as appealing to emotions over rationality. This means that voters must be educated on the dangers of ‘populism’, and anti-populist politicians must defend rationality and use plain language to win back ‘populism’-prone voters. 🧵 /6
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
The cultural frame accuses ‘populists’ of being nationalistic and xenophobic. The proposed solution is to control immigration and reclaim patriotism. 🧵 /5
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
In the economic frame, ‘populism’ is portrayed as economically irresponsible. For, anti-populists, economic growth and reduction in economic inequality are needed to defeat ‘populism’, though these policies must stay within the bounds of fiscally responsible spending. 🧵 /4
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
The political frame casts ‘populism’ as authoritarian, arguing that – in response – voters must elect ‘responsible’ and ‘measured’ politicians such that liberal-democratic norms are protected. 🧵 /3
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
In this paper I analyse a corpus of newspaper opinion pieces, academic books and popular non-fiction from the UK and US contexts (2014–2024). Through a mixed-methods frame analysis, I identify four dominant frames: political, economic, cultural and epistemic. 🧵 /2
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
📣New publication 📣 'A Cure for ‘Populism’? Diagnostic and Prognostic Framing in Anti-Populist Political Punditry' in @psrjournal.bsky.social. In this paper, I show how the 'cures' prescribed by anti-populists are elite-centric and embolden reactionary politics. 🧵 /1 doi.org/10.1177/1478...
doi.org
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
The Bath branch of @reacpolrn.bsky.social has put together a policy study on the progressive strategies needed to halt the mainstreaming of the far right. Check it out below 👇
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
This is sure to be a great event. For anyone interested in decolonial studies, feminist thought, democratic theory, psychoanalysis, or (anti-)populism make sure you sign up to this hybrid book launch below!
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
So excited about the launch of our two new publications at @reacpolrn.bsky.social. For critical interventions which deal with questions of resistance and strategy in the global reactionary moment, please consider submitting your work to Red Lines. reacpol.net/red-lines/
reacpol.net
Red Lines - Reactionary Politics Research Network
Red Lines is a space for critical dialogue on how to resist the rise of reactionary and fascist politics.
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 28/09/2025
It really shouldn't have to be said anymore but "populism" is not the threat, it's a diversion away from the threat and crucially from the systemic nature of the issue we are facing In doing so, it also legitimises the far right
Headline: Populist threat to rule of law a danger to UK working class, says attorney general

Richard Hermer to aim criticism at Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick at Labour conference event
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
It's not only Trump: The Home Office under Starmer and Cooper is tearing families apart just like ICE. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
UK Home Office tells parents their children should return to Brazil alone
While Ana Luiza Cabral Gouveia and Hugo Barbosa can remain, letter says sons, 11 and eight, must go back to Brazil
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
This was a pleasure to be involved with last year. Sign up for this free(!), hybrid summer school on critical approaches to the study of reactionary politics. Deadlines for applications 15th July.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Nope! This week has been a full-throated embrace by Starmer of the racism that has been immanent in mainstream discourse on migration for decades. 'Populism' has precisely nothing to do with it.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
"Instead of popular sovereignty, for anti-populism, democratic desires should be repressed for the common good: the return of depoliticised enjoyment for all."
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Reactionary Politics Research Network @reacpolrn.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Our statement on the UK Supreme Court's ruling on the Equality Act. We stand in solidarity with trans and non-binary people and believe that it is the responsibility of researchers to hold our institutions to account to defend trans equality and dignity. reacpol.net/supreme-cour...
reacpol.net
RPRN statement on the Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act - Reactionary Politics Research Network
The RPRN stands in solidarity with trans and non-binary people and believes that it is the responsibility of researchers and academics to hold our institutions to account to defend trans equality and ...
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Populism Specialist Group @populismpsa.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Our final #PSA25 panel—held in partnership with Italian Politics SG—wraps up with a sharp discussion on populism and economic elites. Chaired by Vladimir Borden, with papers by Adam Dinsmore, @lauramontecchio.bsky.social, @alexyates2000.bsky.social, Reid Kleinberg & Lorenzo Ghiduci.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
You can find the full article, which this blog is based on, below! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
If you haven't joined @reacpolrn.bsky.social already, you can sign up below. It's a great community of supportive scholars dedicated to the critical study of reactionary politics. reacpol.net
reacpol.net
Reacpol | Home - Reactionary Politics Research Network
The Reactionary Politics Research Network brings together researchers to study and tackle the rise of exclusionary, authoritarian and reactionary politics.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Check out my interview with @reacpolrn.bsky.social on my paper (co-authored w/ @aurelmondon.bsky.social) which looks at how anti-populist discourses construct their own versions of 'the people' and 'the elite' for post-democratic ends.
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 26/02/2025
This framing illustrates well how the Guardian editorial line rests on a mix of populist hype and anti-populism All ills are blamed on 'the people' which allows the Guardian and many of their readers to avoid reflecting on their own power and responsibility in the current political moment
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 26/01/2025
There is no choice but to take decisive and radical action if we are to turn the tide against the dystopian reactionary tech oligarchy @jfarkas.bsky.social and I in the @bylinetimes.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2025/01/26/t...
bylinetimes.com
Why It's Time to Fight Back Against the Dystopian Tech-Trump Oligarchy
Those who watched silently as reactionary tech bosses seized power in the US must now wake up and fight back, argues Johan Farkas and Aurelien Mondon
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Populism Specialist Group @populismpsa.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
📢New blog entry: What Should ‘Pluralism’ Mean in Populism Studies? Written by Alex Yates (alexyates2000.bsky.social). Based on Yate's recent article in journalpolitics.bsky.social entitled 'Pluralising pluralism in the study of populism'. Link below👇 www.psapopulism.org/blog/researc...
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 22/01/2025
Although anti-populism has a place for ‘the people’, it ultimately aims at the restoration of responsible elite rule: government for the people, rather than of or by them @alexyates2000.bsky.social and I in @bjpir.bsky.social
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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
📝 Don't miss this new BJPIR article! '‘Get off your high horse and vote for us’: The anti-populist construction of the elite and the people' by @alexyates2000.bsky.social & @aurelmondon.bsky.social 🔓 Find the full article in #OpenAccess here:
journals.sagepub.com
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
cheers George!
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
You can find the original article in @journalpolitics.bsky.social which this blog is based on here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Alex Yates @alexyates2000.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
📣 New blog for @populismpsa.bsky.social 📣 'What Should Pluralism Mean in Populism Studies?' In this blog, I encourage populism scholars to think more critically about pluralism and its relationship with left-wing populism. Check it out below! www.psapopulism.org/blog/researc...
psapopulism.org
Alex Yates: What Should 'Pluralism' Mean in Populism Studies?
What Should ‘Pluralism’ Mean in Populism Studies? Published on 21 January 2025 Alex Yates University of Bath A commonly made critique of populism, which pits ‘the people’ against ‘the elite’ is that i...
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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
📝 New BJPIR article out now! '‘Get off your high horse and vote for us’: The anti-populist construction of the elite and the people' by @alexyates2000.bsky.social & @aurelmondon.bsky.social 🔓 Find the full article in #OpenAccess here:
journals.sagepub.com
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