ABSTRACT
The evolution of Islamic populism is intertwined with an age of neoliberal globalisation that has been associated with extreme wealth disparities virtually all around the world. Islamic populism has stepped into the vacuum created by the demise of the Left in circumstances where the onslaught of neoliberalism has meant growing inequalities and precarity. Islamic populism can be seen as a variation in the more general phenomenon of the global rise of populist politics, which nevertheless always takes forms that are defined by the relevant social and historical context. The chapter looks in particular at the changing social and material circumstances that have transformed the social bases of Islamic populism and yet produced significantly dissimilar outcomes in different countries. It deals with tensions within contemporary Islamic populism as it addresses social contradictions that affect its broader constituencies in different ways. The contentious socio-economic problems that contribute to the political lexicon of Islamic populism are outlined.
