Introduction

In this introduction, the editors lay out the general framework of the volume. We first take up a series of recent developments within Europe, stressing the need to study the populist radical left in its own right. We broach, then, broadly used definitions of populism, dwelling on the discursive and ideational approaches, which the volume’s chapters mainly deploy. Finally, we locate the radical left in today’s Europe, explaining where populism and the radical left meet, and outlining then the structure of the volume and the nub of each chapter.