Skip to content
review July 2026

What does populism look like?

Review by Jack Dean
A nighttime demonstration bathed in intense red light from flares and smoke. A large flag on a pole waves prominently in the upper half of the frame, silhouetted against a glowing red haze. Below, a crowd of people is barely visible in silhouette, holding more flags and banners, with a bright burst of flame from a flare near the bottom center. The overall scene is dark and dramatic, dominated by deep reds and blacks.
The Aesthetics of Populism (Brill, 2025), edited by Leszek Koczanowicz, Michał Stambulski, Wojciech Ufel, and Rafał Włodarczyk, explores not only what populism says and does, but what it looks like in the case of post-Communist Poland. Jack Dean writes that the book represents a fantastic starting point for a burgeoning field.
Books available for review

CEU Review of Books Podcast Series

Sign up for our Newsletter