While the right is harnessing populist rhetoric to great effect, the left's attempts have been much less successful. The Syriza government in Greece and Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party in Britain have both failed to change the neoliberal status quo and introduce democratic socialism in their countries. Other movements however, like the Spanish party Podemos, have seen greater gains and are now in government in Spain. In this book, Marina Prentoulis evaluates the transformational process of left populism across grassroots, national and European levels and asks what we can do to better harness the power of broad-based, popular left politics. Bringing a wealth of experience in political organizing, she argues that left populism is a political logic that brings together isolated demands against a common enemy with an egalitarian pluralism that could transform economic and political institutions in a radical democratic direction. But each party does this differently, and the key to understanding where to go from here lies in a serious analysis of the roots of each movement's base, the forms of party organization, and the particular national contexts. Avoiding reductive terms like 'pasokification', this is a clear and holistic approach to left populism that will inform anyone wanting to understand and move forward positively in a bleak time for the Left in Europe. ‘Rigorously reflecting on the choreography of contemporary left-wing experiments flirting with left populism in crisis-ridden Europe, Prentoulis offers a challenging first assessment of its political advances, limitations and potential for left strategy’ -- Yannis Stavrakakis, Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece ‘An outstanding contribution to understand the shortcomings and yet potentials of the left populist experience … explains what left populism modestly achieved but also points very convincingly to what it has to do in the future to promote the values of equality, social justice and internationalism’ -- Óscar García Agustín, Associate Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark ‘An important, timely appraisal of the European left, one that will inform and inspire activists’ -- Manuel Cortes, General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) ‘It’s been a dramatic decade for left-wing political projects in Greece, Spain, and the UK. Through personal experience, a wealth of interviews and analysis, Prentoulis pulls together an assessment which is vital for anyone who wants to understand the post-crash upsurge of radical politics in Europe’ -- Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice Now ‘Rigorously reflecting on the choreography of contemporary left-wing experiments flirting with left populism in crisis-ridden Europe, Prentoulis offers a challenging first assessment of its political advances, limitations and potential for left strategy’ ‘An outstanding contribution to understand the shortcomings and yet potentials of the left populist experience … explains what left populism modestly achieved but also points very convincingly to what it has to do in the future to promote the values of equality, social justice and internationalism’ ‘An important, timely appraisal of the European left, one that will inform and inspire activists’ ‘It’s been a dramatic decade for left-wing political projects in Greece, Spain, and the UK. Through personal experience, a wealth of interviews and analysis, Prentoulis pulls together an assessment which is vital for anyone who wants to understand the post-crash upsurge of radical politics in Europe’ Marina Prentoulis is Senior Lecturer in Media and Politics at the University of East Anglia. She has been the UK spokesperson of Syriza and has given numerous interviews on British and international media including BBC’s Newsnight, the Andrew Marr Show as well as CNN and Sky News.