New Left Review 82, July-August 2013 "The idea that populism works when regarded as a certain kind of rhetoric, applied in different ways in different situations, is appealing—but in truth, merely registers its polysemy and returns it to sender. However, there is a third possible line of attack. It is this: populism is not a self-definition. No one defines themselves as populist; it is an epithet pinned on you by your political enemies. In its most brutal form, ‘populist’ is simply an insult; in a more cultivated form, a term of disparagement. But if no one defines themselves as populist, then the term populism defines those who use it rather than those who are branded with it. As such, it is above all a useful hermeneutic tool for identifying and characterizing those political parties that accuse their opponents of populism." (ang. "populism" och "enkla lösningar": "Den amerikanske statsvetaren Hans-Georg Betz inkluderar i begreppet populism tron på det sunda förnuftet hos vanliga medborgare, tron på enkla lösningar på svåra problem, tron på att makthavare inte lyssnar på vanliga människor, tron på att dessa bär på en nedärvd visdom och tron på att det egna partiet för denna oartikulerade opinions talan." (Mikael Kosk, Hbl 2011-05-01, i rec. Av Lisa Bjurwalds bok EUropas skam.)