Techno-populism
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Techno-populism is either a populism in favor of
Etymology
There are four principal definitions of populism used in the social sciences today: structural, economic, political-institutional, and discursive. The structuralist approach to techno-populism emphasizes its social origins and associates it with certain stages of development, especially the attempt at industrialization in countries located at the periphery of the world economy. According to this view, populist regimes are those using cross-class coalitions and popular mobilization to support import-substituting industrialization. The economic approach to populism identifies it with policy outputs—specifically, shortsighted economic policies that appeal to the poor. And the political approach sees populism as a phenomenon rooted in the basic struggle over control of government, policy, and core values of the community. Lastly the discursive definition sees populism as a Manichaean discourse that identifies Good with a unified will of the people and Evil with a conspiring elite. This definition is more common to the study of populism in Western Europe and the United States but is largely unknown to mainstream political science because of its association with anti-positivist currents within postmodernism.
—Emiliana De Bladio and Michele Sorice[3]
The term techno-populism is either a
The commonly held definition of technology is "the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry[10]", while the definition of populism that is held by most academics is "a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups".[11] In relation to these two definitions, techno-populism has been described as a "political ideology that appeals to a group of people whom are concerned about their lack of power and interaction with their nations political and economic discourse that is presented through technological knowledge.[12] Techno-populism can be defined as a singular, confusing ideology with various uses in academia, with some academics rejecting the term, and others using it to analyze the growth of populist speech online.[13]
Technocratic populism
Technocratic populism is a combination of technocracy and populism that connects voters to leaders via expertise, and is output-oriented.
Technological populism
Technological populism is diagnosed in the case of blockchain platforms, which use the narrative of empowering ordinary people through decentralized decision-making process, facilitating anonymity of transactions, enabling trust without third parties and combating the monopoly of the financial system regarding money supply.[17] Technological populism does not separate politics and technology, denies confidence in experts and moves technological decision making into public domain.[15][18] According to Marco Deseriis, techno-populism in the sense of technological populism is the belief that popular self-government is achievable by means of digital media:
Technopopulism is the belief that the "government of the people, by the people, for the people" (Lincoln 1953 [1863]) is achievable by means of information communications technology. ... Technopopulism can also be understood in Foucauldian terms as an emerging discourse (Foucault 1972), that is, as a body of knowledge, norms, attitudes, and practices that arise from the hybridization of two preexisting discourses: populism and technolibertarianism. Even though these discursive practices are historically separate, I contend that they have begun to converge after the global financial crisis of 2008 as widespread frustration at the ruling elites' mishandling of the crisis sparked international protest movements, and propelled a new generation of "technoparties" such as the Five Star Movement in Italy, Podemos in Spain, and the Pirate Party in Iceland.[19]
Some sources use the word cyber-populism as synonym for technological populism concerning with application of information technology for government and even identify two varieties of it: techno-
History
The combination of populism and technology to form techno-populism is a recent phenomenon to world economics and politics and has seen its developments from the end of the 20th century up to recent years. According to Daniele Caramani, "populism has been present in political processes since Plato's conception of politics and the Roman republic to the modern era. Even with the development of representative democracy and party governments after the National and Industrial Revolutions of the 19th century, populism and technocracy have continued to work in alignment with these ideals also".[22]
With the advent of the internet and its common use in the 21st century, techno-populist movements have been particularly been enabled to the spread of social media as independent coverage of populist movements can be shared quickly and seen by millions.[23] This has presented an ability for populist politics to access audience through the mass networking capabilities of social media which was previously unattainable before the digital age.[24] Communication and digital media provided by advances in technologies has also given new opportunities for political inclusion for citizens in participating in democratic processes and ultimately the creation of a new public sphere centered on discursive and participatory practices.[25]
Both populism and democracy are today widespread in different parts of the world, but due to developments in technology such as the Internet populist movements have all simultaneously developed some presence over communication on the internet despite differing issues in regional contexts.[7] It is worth noting that techno-populism is growing among all regions in the world, but that it has as much to do with the adoption of the internet over the past two decades as it does in the spread of populist ideologies. Daniele Caramani argues that "Techno-Populist mobilization is not restricted to regional areas but can be promoted on certain topics, which either intentionally or unintentionally are not being addressed by the establishment".[22]
Technocratic and technological populisms by region
North America
In the United States, techno-populism has seen development in the past decade due to a backlash against the
In Canada, only the Reform Party qualifies as a populist party whose initial and sustaining appeal was to "the people" as against "the elite". That the identities of both the people and the elite in Reform Party discourse were strikingly at odds with those understood in much of North American populist history and appeal has been vital to the Reform Party distinctive role in Canadian politics.[7] As it was dissolved in 2000, it did not use aspects of digital communication to further its political movement. A recent example of a techno-populist movement that has arisen over backlash from videos and reports spread on social media is the yellow vest protests in Canada. Various aspects of populist movements have continued to be present in both Canada's government and social movements in the past decade and the role of technology in connecting people to these causes has had a role in developing this trend.[citation needed]
Europe
In Europe, techno-populism is a movement of networked individuals which pursues and enacts citizens of a nation to play a critical role in conferring unity to a leading technocratic and leaderless political organisation".
Presently in Central Europe, the Italian National Alliance and
Whilst in Southern Europe, the techno-populist Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy has demonstrated its populist appeal by getting nearly "25 percent of the overall vote".[30] Similar to other populist parties, they rallied behind mobilizing "the people" to oppose what they saw as a "corrupt political class that did not put the will of the people ahead of their own self interests".[31] Italy's former Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, who led the country from 2018 to 2021 and later became M5S leader, has been often labeled as a techno-populist.[32]
Asia
Across Asia, the two main political systems consist of democracies and authoritarian states.[33] As central Asia and East Asia have maintained constant political order through providing autocratic or economic leadership in their countries, south eastern Asia has seen the greatest growth of populist and techno-populist mobilization.[34] It has been argued that "[w]hen the richer classes are looking for leadership change, they often support strongmen, such as military rulers, dedicated to preserving inequality and established elites. When autocratic-leaning populists win elections in Southeast Asia, the upper and upper-middle classes have often fought back by ousting populists via coups or de facto coups, in countries such as Thailand and the Philippines".[35] In the Middle East, the Arab Spring of 2011 was a movement that was techno-populist in its spread of political awareness, but it was not a populist movement more than it was a rebellion against authoritarian states.[citation needed]
Africa
Populist movements in Africa have primarily revolved around the abilities of African governments in solving crises of electricity and water, garbage collection, housing availability and affordable food. Since the early 2000s, Zambia's political scene has been transformed by an opposition party known as the Patriotic Front led by Michael Sata. Populist parties have also been present in presidential elections in Kenya, South Africa and Zambia by using the discontent of poor urban and rural populations to influence elections, but their use of digital media to expand their appeal is less pronounced than in other regions.[36]
Cyber-populism by region
North America
Techno-populism was present in the Tea Party movement that focused on primarily on producerism as a methodology in opposing "the elite". This movement was partisan against the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama.[201] It was considered a techno-populist movement because it was organised by "the people" with little political experience and the movement used social media to lower the costs associated with acquiring new political skills. The use of social media also created a democratic forum where individuals could discuss political ideas outside of party politics and also identify their active supporters. In political movements, increased communication and discourse can also be the downfall of techno-populist movements similar to how "Individuals who left the Florida Tea Party Movement (FTPM) attributed social media for their exit despite all of the respondents initially were excited by the open, network structure of social media because it maximized interaction among FTPM enthusiasts".[37]
Europe
Whilst also embodying the technocracy, the Five Star Movement sought to represent the views of the people through an online voting and debate portal for a direct style of democracy on the internet. In 2018, the Five Star Movement maintained seats in parliament and across the frontbench, but through mainly aligning themselves with a coalition of Matteo Salvini's League, another techno-populist party that appeals to Italian voters are discontent from increased immigration with Salvini's surging Italy-first agenda popularity online.[38] Some critics have since stated that "the setbacks afflicting the M5S show the problems facing unconventional, populist parties that are sprouting up across Europe in evolving from raucous protest movements into mature rulers".[39]
South America
Recent political cycles in South America have seen political outsiders leverage populism and anti-systemic appeal to approve policy programs and regime changes.[7] Regional insurgences of techno-populism in Latin America do not have a single political identity and occur on both the left and right of politics. Many leaders of these movements have been able to echo their political views online through appealing to techno-populism to then yield great variation and political uncertainty in levels of democratic processes. The advent of the Internet and social media has raised the voices of populist causes across the region presently including party systems in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.[7] Prominent examples of techno-populist leaders included Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Evo Morales in Bolivia ad Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.[40]
A techno-populist movement in South American politics includes the past Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his
Oceania
In Australia, a two-party system is still preferred, but since the
See also
References
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- ^ "Hubbub of the Cyber-Populism A Case Study of "8·12" Tianjin Port Explosion on Network Communication--《Journal of Chongqing Jiaotong University(Social Sciences Edition)》2016年01期". En.cnki.com.cn. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
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