Anti-populism in action: a case study of the Remain argument during the EU referendum

Populism is a relatively popular discourse that poses a challenge to established political parties. However, most populist scholarship focuses on populist actors at the expense of the elites whom they oppose and the context within which populism becomes popular. This article explores the concept of anti-populism, which is to say the discourse used by the establishment to explicitly counter populism. It does so through a qualitative case study of the 2016 EU referendum that resulted in Brexit. Specifically, this article presents a discourse analysis of the argument against Brexit, as voiced by the Britain Stronger In Europe (Remain) campaign organization. Remain appropriated and reversed the three central populist categories of the people, the elite and ongoing crisis, arguing instead that Brexit would inaugurate the real crisis, the elite were the champions and protectors of the people, and the people themselves could not afford to vote against the will of the elite. These findings deepen our understanding of the EU referendum, demonstrate the utility of anti-populism as a concept, and suggest that anti-populism is a generalizable phenomenon that might be deployed by the elite wherever the establishment is undergoing a crisis.