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“Neoliberalism is Fascism and Should Be Criminalized”: Bulgarian Populism as Left-Wing Radicalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2017

Venelin I. Ganev
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Abstract

The main argument presented in this essay is that the politics of Ataka, the most successful and influential populist party in Bulgaria, should be construed as a form of left-wing radicalism. Originally a nationalist formation, over the last decade Ataka has evolved into a broader social movement that blames free markets, neoliberalism, and US led neocolonialism for the country's misfortunes. Today its activists routinely assault liberal democracy as a political system unable to cope with the evils of capitalism, and seek to marginalize political actors and social constituencies identified as pro-western.

Type
Critical Forum: Global Populisms
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 76 , Supplement S1 , August 2017 , pp. S9 - S18
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 2017 

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