Populism and the Politics of Energy Transition - Seminar Recap
On February 8th, 2024 OHPA hosted Dr. Kacper Szulecki for a seminar on the topic of Populism and the Politics of Energy Transition. Dr. Szulecki began by unpacking the term ”populism” itself, purporting that the broad terminology fails to accurately describe the political phenomenon as today it exists in such a high volume of contemporary sub-contexts. Populism’s roots reach back to the very invention of democracy, however its contemporary resurgence has also run parallel to another significant contemporary political movement – environmentalism. Dr. Szulecki furthered that environmentalism has become a component of the populist platform in many different nations, yet simultaneously environmental protection has also become the enemy of certain populist movements.
Dr. Szulecki elucidated that populists have taken positions on all sides of environmental protection debate. The reality is that populism combines with a broad variation of conventional “host” ideologies, which produces a variety of political actors. Thus included within these ideologies is right-wing authoritarian populism, which Dr. Szulecki argued has a strong connection with obstructionist climate policies. In particular, Poland has a strong connection between right-wing politics and nationalistic protectionism of its domestic coal supply and energy security. However, more broadly, populist rhetoric concerning the energy transition is mercurial and constantly shifting, leading Dr. Szulecki to conclude that the objectives of such movements is to delay the energy transition rather than reject it.
Dr. Szulecki finished by focusing on the future of the climate and what feasible mitigation action can be taken within this particular political arena. He described a “second wave” of populism which is poised to combat climate activism on a broad scale, as multiple interrelated political issues have become conflated to create the contemporary European populist playbook politicizing climate, migration and security concerns (e.g. in the Russo-Ukrainan war). All of these issues combine to fuel the populist platform, which, Dr. Szluecki argues, tries to position Green parties as villains within the contemporary political landscape.
The full talk as well as the subsequent discussion is available to view on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0vE9rMB-SY
