ABSTRACT
Here it is argued that a populist leader is also a non-hegemonic element, i.e. they should not be understood as a person that controls others. Neither should they be understood as an object of narcissistic identification. Instead, they should be conceived of as an ethical exemplar, in the sense of someone who demonstrates to their followers the very possibility of following an ethical ideal. Here I define ethics in the Lacanian sense, that of not giving way on one’s desire. Mutatis mutandis, the populist leader is one that does not give way on the social antagonism on which their very existence depends. The references here – apart from Jacques Lacan – are Alain Badiou, with his use of St. Paul as emblematic example of a popular leader, Freud’s idea of the ethics of the psychoanalyst (passing through Lacan’s discussion of sainthood, as well as Antigone), and Louis Althusser, who, it is hoped, will provide a theory of subjective identification beyond the imago.
