Populism is often described as a form of politics in which populist politicians present themselves as advocates of the “ordinary people” against an “aloof establishment”. According to political scientist Jan-Werner Müller, populism is an anti-elitist ideology of demarcation.331
Whether this demarcation is justified depends on the actual situation. In some cases, sharp criticism of the establishment may be unjustified (see Narrative). In other cases, populist protests are directed against the established for understandable reasons.
In woke discourse, it hardly matters whether the populist criticism is accurate. Similar to “disinformation”, “hate speech”, or “racism”, the accusation of populism is used to defend woke goals: hardly anyone (at least within the establishment) wants to be labelled a populist who spreads dangerous conspiracy theories.
In part, the panic about allegedly dangerous populism is quite understandable. Woke activists often derive their legitimacy from self-chosen narratives; only rarely from broad grassroots democratic consent.332 This is not without reason: despite enormous media support, woke viewpoints are so unpopular with the broader population that it is unclear whether there is actually sufficient grassroots democratic support. This contrast with the will of the majority often leads to elitist demarcations: the uneducated masses are to be re-educated and patronised until they abandon their outdated problematic ideas (see False Consciousness, Disinformation, and Socialisation).