Left Populism and ‘Another Europe’: Europeanization, International Sovereigntism and Transnationalism

In a situation that echoes Eurocommunism in the 70s, left populism tries to build ‘another Europe,’ based on social principles and against the politics of austerity. Left populism responds to the challenge of imagining another Europe, promoted mainly by Southern European countries, in two phases: the first one ends with Syriza in government accepting the third Memorandum with the European Union, and the second one, as a consequence of that political ‘defeat,’ begins with the proposal of alternatives to promote another Europe. The first phase is characterized by a process of Europeanization when the left joins forces around Tsipras as candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission and the subsequent expected ‘domino effect’ in Europe after the electoral victory of Syriza. The second phase aims to overcome the limitations reflected by Syriza’s experience and develops into two different directions: international sovereigntism, as concretized in the Plan B adopted by several left populist parties, and transnationalism with the foundation of DiEM25, led by Yanis Varoufakis. While Plan B defends national sovereignty and international cooperation against the European neoliberal project, DiEM25 wants to create a transnational political subject and democratize the European Union.