Can art be populist? And if so, how would we discern its populist quality? This chapter scrutinizes the relationships between different populisms and art, with a special focus on music. We explore the extent to which the arts are significant for understanding populist politics. This involves investigating the interconnection between populism and music, understood as a particular type of artistic practice. We divide research on populism and music into two main strands. On the one hand, music can be understood as a powerful means that populist political actors employ to pursue populist politics. On the other, music can be explored as a practice that diffuses populism regardless of its application by politicians.

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Schwenck, Anna and Mario Dunkel (2024): “Populism, Music and the Arts”, in: Yannis Stavrakakis and Giorgos Katsambekis (Eds.): Research Handbook on Populism. Cheltenham, pp. 516–526. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800379695.00058.