Populism, Media, and the Form of Society

How does populism understand society and the role of the media, and how can the relationship between populism and the media be interpreted from a perspective of social theory? This article compares an ideal-typical right-wing populist worldview to a social-theoretical perspective and populism is interpreted as a reaction to structures of modern society. It theorizes the ambiguous role of the media in a populist worldview, with regard to anti-media populism and the reaction of non-populist media to right-wing populism. Conclusions as to the more general links between populism and the media are drawn and the present analysis is contextualized as part of a more encompassing research program on this relationship.