The people,the elite,and the environment: Constructing populist and anti-populist frontiers in environmental politics

Abstract

This article develops a framework to analyse the contingent intersections between populism, anti-populism, and environmental politics. These intersections defy simple categorisation: left-wing populists champion climate justice while resisting specific green policies; right-wing populists deny climate change yet defend national landscapes; grassroots movements – from pipeline resistance to the Gilets Jaunes – deploy populism with divergent implications; anti-populist actors both defend and obstruct environmental protection. Actors hold ambiguous positions, shift stances, and form unexpected alliances. Building on scholarship that has increasingly recognised these complex interactions between (anti-)populism and environmental politics, we propose a systematic analytical framework. Drawing on discourse theory, we argue that neither populism nor anti-populism – understood as distinct modes of constructing political frontiers – predetermines environmental positions. Our framework crosses two dimensions: political logic (populism vs anti-populism) and stance towards environmentalist demands (supportive vs oppositional), yielding four articulations that synthesise existing insights into a coherent structure for empirical analysis and strategic reflection.