The People Are Not One - Populism, Socialism, and Class Theory

Aug 6, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn

The People Are Not One examines how inherited political traditions and socialist practice diverge from contemporary class struggle, arguing that a recurring mismatch persists in new historical forms. It focuses on the “populist drift” in socialist politics, where class conflict is framed through populist categories that serve liberal interests. The book proposes a twofold task: explain how post-Marxists and Democratic Socialists adopted populist methods and limitations, and build rigorous Marxist alternatives grounded in empirical analysis of working-class fragmentation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages107

Reading Time4 h 30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Neoliberalism and the Populist Horizon

Populism and Socialism After Mass Politics

Populism, Class Theory, and the Managerial Elite

Post-Marxism’s Populist Turn

Left Populism: The Dead End of Democratic Party Politics

The Economics of Class Fragmentation

Confronting Lumpenization and Atomization

The Populist Drift and the Lopsided Merger Thesis

Strategic Directions for Socialism Beyond Left Populism

Bibliography

First published by Revol Press 2026 Revol Press, Oulu, Finland Text copyright © 2026 by Daniel Tutt and C. Derick Varn [Cover artwork: Andrew Cooper | andrewcooper-unseen.org](Cover artwork: Andrew Cooper | andrewcooper-unseen.org)[ ](Cover artwork: Andrew Cooper | andrewcooper-unseen.org)[All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical reviews or](All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical reviews or)[ ](All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical reviews or)articles, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. First edition Print: ISBN 978-952-65459-8-1 ebook: ISBN 978-952-65459-9-8 [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Contents Introduction 1. Neoliberalism and the Populist Horizon 2. Populism and Socialism After Mass Politics 3. Populism, Class Theory, and the Managerial Elite 4. Post-Marxism’s Populist Turn 5. Left Populism: The Dead End of Democratic Party Politics 6. The Economics of Class Fragmentation 7. Confronting Lumpenization and Atomization 8. The Populist Drift and the Lopsided Merger Thesis 9. Strategic Directions for Socialism Beyond Left Populism Bibliography [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) To the memory ofAsad Haider—comrade, socialist, and brilliant theorist of emancipation. [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) “The horizon of the possible—and the necessary—is not the quixotic project of becoming a ‘loyal’ fringe of one or another of the capitalist parties, but the fight to build an independent left politics that has real and effective social anchorage.” —Mike Davis, Prisoners of the American Dream [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Introduction In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte , Marx identifies a profound disjunction between inherited political traditions and the exigencies of the present class struggle, insisting that “the revolution of the nineteenth century must let the dead bury their dead in order to arrive at its own content.” 1 The task of socialist practice is not the ritual repetition of received formulas but a ruthless critique of those traditions that “weigh like a nightmare on the brains of the living.” 2 This recurring mismatch between theory and practice seems to reassert itself across historical moments inever new forms. It recalls what Marx and Engels criticized as “True Socialism” in The Communist Manifesto during the revolutions of 1848: a tendency to translate real class antagonisms into abstract moral appeals, a tendency they argue is exacerbated by the disconnect between the theorist and the working class. 3 The True Socialists developed a repertoire of revolutionary theory that was ultimately beholden to status quo liberal imperatives because it was formulated in isolation from the proletariat. 4 Kautsky would later call for the “merger thesis” to address this gap, namely the need to fuse intellectuals and workers in common cause. In our own moment, we confront a similar disjunction between inherited traditions and the demands of the present. Among its many symptoms, the most egregious is the growing tendency to conceive class struggle almost exclusively through a populist framework. The populist drift in contemporary socialist politics refers to a tendency to conceive of class conflict in terms that ultimately serve liberal interests, reducing the working class to an abstract and Manichean symbol rather than a historically concrete social force. This “populist” drift is inherently class collaborationist and often sees the actors of history as outside of the working class or the labor movement, or it relies on a mythical conception of the working class that fails to account for class antagonisms and fra

FAQs

What is the main argument about populism in socialist politics?

The book argues that populism on both the right and left obscures real class antagonisms by projecting a false unity of “the people,” reducing the working class to an abstract moral category.

Why does the book claim there is a disconnect between theory and practice?

It describes a recurring mismatch where inherited traditions and revolutionary theory fail to engage class reality, including tendencies found in historical critiques like “True Socialism.”

What does the book propose as the core tasks for addressing the left’s embrace of populism?

It calls for (1) a theoretical account of how post-Marxists and Democratic Socialists adopted populist class analysis and the limits it imposed, and (2) construction of strong Marxist alternatives rooted in rigorous empirical analysis of working-class fragmentation.

Aug 6, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn