The Guardian

Why nativism, not populism, should be declared word of the year | Cas Mudde

The Cambridge Dictionary has got its definition and its application wrong. It conflates the term with the nativism of the radical right
‘Oddly enough, the Cambridge Dictionary’s definition is almost identical to the interpretation used by many populists themselves.’ Photograph: Cambridge Dictionary

Last week the Cambridge Dictionary declared populism its 2017 word of the year. In many ways, that makes perfect sense. Since Brexit and Trump, virtually every political event has been couched in terms of populism, from the Dutch parliamentary elections to the French presidential elections earlier this year. New media catchwords such as “fake news” are linked to populism.

However, it has become the buzzword of the year mostly because it is very often poorly defined and

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