Populism and the manufactured crisis of British neoliberalism: the case of Brexit

Using the case of Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union, James Wood and Valentina Ausserladscheider challenge prevailing accounts explaining populism as political response to neoliberalism’s negative impact on voters. Using a descriptive analysis, they explain how the antagonistic ‘people’ vs. ‘elite’ relationship at the core of populism has been mobilised by opposing British political actors as a discursive frame to generate voter support for their own policies.