18. Popular Sovereignty and (Non)recognition in Venezuela: On the Coming into Political Being of ‘el Pueblo’

Many political scientists conceptualise populism as paradigmatically encapsulated by the charismatic populist leader. Their political strategy aims, according to this conceptualisation, to construct two antagonistic blocks by claiming to represent ‘the people’ against the members of the elite who belong to the establishment, and consequently, they produce division in society. In such a characterization of ‘the people,’ political scientists frequently forget that populist leaders rally their bases against former divisions: and often with those who were excluded from being political subjects against the confines of political subjecthood and citizenship in previous periods. To theorize the relationship between historic divisions and populism and to engage with the otherwise homogenised people/el pueblo, we examine how supporters of Chávez articulate their social/political struggles as epistemic/ontological struggles. Using this theoretical framework, we raise questions as to the (ab)use of populism studies for engaging with el pueblo as an object instead of as a subject coming into contradictory political being.