Populismo ed egemonia nel primo Laclau: un percorso genealogico e un raffronto temporale

The text aims to trace a genealogical itinerary of the concepts of populism and hegemony in the first part of Ernesto Laclau's work, corresponding to the phase in which his thought is still situared within a Marxist perimeter, however heterodox. Following the method of Quentin Skinner, the birth and evolution of the notions at stake are retraced, as well as the relationship with other key concepts of his theoretical scheme, such as hegemony, articulation and “the political”. At the same time, the theoretical and political stimuli that lead the Argentine thinker to formulate and revise the scope of the two notions are framed. The text also takes into consideration the years of Laclau's political-militant formation within the Peronist left and his very first writings on political economy in which the concept of populism does not appear. These first political and intellectual experiences constitute a decisive substrate for understanding Laclau's subsequent theoretical movements. Finally, taking a leap forward, an examination of the similarities and differences between the theory of populism developed in Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory of 1977 and that offered in On Populist Reason of 2005 is advanced.