POPULISM AND REGIONALISM: Of the People or of the Elite?

This chapter reviews the burgeoning research devoted to exploring the nexus between populism and regionalism. While the backlash against regional organisations initially seemed quintessential to the so-called ‘global rise of populism’ of the 2010s, recent literature in international relations and populist foreign policy has suggested that this relationship is less straightforward than originally assumed. The importance attributed to regionalism in the latest wave of populism has prompted scholars to delve into the different ways in which populist leaderships, from both the left and right, have reconfigured the ‘people-versus-elites’ antagonism at the regional level. To deepen our understanding of this intricate connection, the study distinguishes between two different approaches - ‘elite regionalism’ versus ‘People’s regionalism’ - and provides examples of their application across various regions, including Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa.