Anti-politics or the triumph of postmodern populism in promotional cultures?

Framing Political Change: Can a Left Populism Disrupt the Rise of the Reactionary Right?; Comment on “Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames”

Solomon Benatar offers an important critique of the limited frame that sets the boundaries of much of what is referred to as ‘global health.’ In placing his comments within a criticism of increasing poverty (or certainly income and wealth inequalities) and the decline in our environmental commons, he locates our health inequities within the pathology of our present global economy. In that respe...

Postmodern Orientalized Terrorism: Don DeLillo’s The Names

The terrorism of obscurantism is one of the hallmarks of Don DeLillo’s The Names (1982), distinguishing it as one of the "difficult writings" in his canon. Terrorism, however, is not confined to the novel’s poetics of writing, it constitutes, as the arch-motif of the novel, its politics as well. Relying on the Orientalist bulk of knowledge about the Orient, DeLillo, in this novel, inaugurates a...

The Politics and Power of Populism: A Response to the Recent Commentaries

The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy

Recent years have witnessed the rise of populism and populist leaders, movements and policies in many pluralist liberal democracies, with Brexit and the election of Trump the two most recent high profile examples of this backlash against established political elites and the institutions that support them. This new populism is underpinned by a post-truth politics which is using social media as a...

“Enemies of the People?” Public Health in the Era of Populist Politics; Comment on “The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy”

In this commentary, we review the growth of populist politics, associated with exploitation of what has been termed fake news. We explore how certain words have been used in similar contexts historically, in particular the term “enemy of the people,” especially with regard to public health. We then set out 6 principles for public health professionals faced with these situations. First, using th...