ABSTRACT
Nomi Claire Lazar illustrates how populist leaders commonly use what she calls a grand-cyclic conception of the flow of time. First, there is a glorious moment in the past, when the people were born and, through their superlative character, they rose to glory; then, some external force dragged the people down; finally, in this time of crisis the people need to trust the leader’s charisma to turn things around and achieve a better future. Stressing the importance of time, she discusses the storming of the Bastille and how revolutionary France created a new calendar, how successive Chinese leaders have dated and redated the birth of the Chinese people depending on the political needs of the moment, and how the pandemic and climate change offer the opportunity to capitalise on apocalyptic narratives.
