Populist Narratives from Below: Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party

Abstract

The election of Donald Trump and the rise of anti-immigrant parties throughout Europe have led many to define populism as exclusionary and anti-democratic. Yet inclusive, grassroots, and left-wing varieties of populism have also surged across the world in the same period. This paper aims to conceptualize left populism through the discourse of its supporters. I draw on interviews and observations with supporters of Bernie Sanders and members of Occupy Wall Street in Northern Michigan, gathered before and after the 2016 presidential campaign. I find that left-wing populists feel that it has become harder for the average American to live a decent life due to growing corporate influence on institutions. Like right populists, they are outraged at the failures of elites to acknowledge people’s lived realities. However, unlike right populists, they acknowledge that minority populations face unique challenges. Contrary to theorists who claim that populism is incompatible with pluralism, I show that the left populist narrative of oppression by the “1%” allows for both difference and unity within the “people”.