Populism Is not Hegemony: Towards a Re-Gramscianization of Ernesto Laclau

This paper critically explores the notions of populism and hegemony in Ernesto Laclau. Following the publication of On Populist Reason, the conceptual proximity between populism and hegemony hampers their respective explanatory and political purchase. I offer a fresh interpretation that clearly distinguishes them by reformulating the conceptions of time and space in Laclau. He problematically conceives time and space in the singular and antinomically. I propose to go back to Gramsci to pluralize the way in which they are conceptualized. The analytical and strategic upshot is that populism does not necessarily imply hegemony, and vice versa.