Anti-elitism

Social and political movements

Those who find themselves oppressed by their ruling body often hold disdain towards the government or existing social order for various injustices or inequalities. Others may hold envy for those in power, or even wish for said power to not exist. Depending upon the extent of perceived injustices, as well as the tolerance of the people to accept their conditions, anti-elitism may erupt into mass actions such as, protest, rebellion, revolution, or anomie.

Historically, anti-elitist political personalities have often been accused of being demagogues or populists, either on the Left or Right of the political spectrum.

Hitler's "original targets, for example, weren't the impoverished Jews of Eastern Europe, who suffered immeasurably during the Holocaust. It was the class of literate, educated, and established Jews in urban centres — the elites of their place and time.", argues Adam Gopnik, from The New Yorker. More recently, Donald Trump's political project has been described as that of an "anti-elite elite"; as were various political French and British movements.

Political movements and groups that present anti-elitist features have been identified in various countries, including Turkey, the United States, France, Greece, Poland, and Ukraine.

In the media

According to a 2021 article by Elaine Glaser in the Political Quarterly, "Anti-elitism is now ubiquitous even in mainstream broadsheet commentary. Because it failed to predict the financial crash and the Brexit vote, the political and journalistic 'establishment' has internalised the charge of fatal complacency, and proponents of austerity have pointed to the poshness of much British arts and culture (itself the product of neoliberal policies) to cast them as luxuries we cannot afford."

References

References

1. Sartori, Giovanni. (1978). "Anti-Elitism Revisited". Government and Opposition.
2. (2023). "The Cultural Politics of Anti-Elitism". [[Taylor & Francis]].
3. (2020-09-02). "Left Behind Voters, Anti-Elitism and Popular Will".
4. "Anti-elitism toward wealth elites in communication".
5. Pacześniak, Anna. (2024-10-01). "The anti-elitist strategy of political parties as a populist tool to (re)gain electoral support". Journal of Contemporary European Studies.
6. (2016). "Populism, Media and Education".
7. Corichi, Jacob Poushter, Moira Fagan and Manolo. (2025-10-15). "Appendix A: Classifying European political parties".
8. Otjes, Simon. (2024-07-01). "Local political space: Localism, the left-right dimension and anti-elitism". Party Politics.
9. (2025-05-12). "We, the ... elites? Anti-elitism of governing populist parties in Poland, Greece, and Ukraine". Journal of Contemporary European Studies.
10. Polk, Jonathan. (2017). "Explaining the salience of anti-elitism and reducing political corruption for political parties in Europe with the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey data". [[Research & Politics]].
11. "Where does today's anti-elitism come from? Antisemitism, says Adam Gopnik". [[CBC Radio]].
12. (2025-01-28). "Trump 2.0: the rise of an 'anti-elite' elite in US politics".
13. (22 April 2022). "Opinion | Présidentielle : Le triomphe des 'élites anti-élite'". Les Echos.
14. Lewis, Helen. (2016-08-18). "Welcome to Britain, where even the anti-elitist movements are led by elites".
15. Gürpinar, Doğan. (2013-05-01). "The Reinvention of Kemalism: Between Elitism, Anti-Elitism and Anti-Intellectualism". Middle Eastern Studies.
16. (2022-04-03). "White Identity, Anti-Elitism, and Opposition to COVID-19 Restrictions in the United States". Representation.
17. (2022-05-23). "L'élite « de l'anti-élitisme », un paradoxe français - Université de Montpellier".
18. Thiers, Éric. (2017-05-10). "L'anti-élitisme: une passion française?". Pouvoirs.
19. "In Defence of 'Elitism'".