Left-wing populism in the context of "Centrism"

An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958 by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda. Antiestablishmentarianism (or anti-establishmentarianism) is an expression for such a political philosophy. Anti-establishment positions vary depending on political orientation. For example, during the protests of 1968, anti-establishment positions generally emerged from left-wing, socialist, and anarchist circles. In the 2010s, however, anti-establishment positions generally emerged from right-wing populist circles.

Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems.

Autarky as an ideology or economic approach has been attempted by a range of political ideologies and movements, particularly leftist ones like African socialism, mutualism, war communism, communalism, swadeshi, syndicalism (especially anarcho-syndicalism), and left-wing populism, generally in an effort to build alternative economic structures or to control resources against structures a particular movement views as hostile. However, some right-wing ones, like nationalism, conservatism, and anti-globalism, along with even some centrist movements, have also adopted autarky, generally on a more limited scale, to develop a particular industry, to gain independence from other national entities or to preserve part of an existing social order.

The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (Greek: Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, romanized: Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA (/ˈsɪrɪzə/ SIH-rih-zə; Greek: ΣΥΡΙΖΑ [ˈsiriza]; a pun on the Greek adverb σύρριζα, meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a centre-left and former left-wing political party in Greece. It was founded in 2004 as a political coalition of left-wing and radical left parties, and registered as a political party in 2012.

A democratic socialist, progressive party, Syriza holds a pro-European stance. Syriza also advocates for alter-globalisation, LGBT rights, and secularism. In the past, SYRIZA was described as a typical left-wing populist party, but this was disputed after its government term and its recent opposition.

The Five Star Movement (Italian: Movimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle], M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The M5S is primarily described as populist of the syncretic kind, due to its long-time indifference to the left–right political spectrum, although it has also been variously considered as left-wing or right-wing populist. The party has been a proponent of green politics and direct democracy; since 2022, it has started a shift toward the political left and also espoused social-democratic and progressive policies. Furthermore, following an online vote held in November 2024, party members themselves decided to identify as "independent progressives".

In the 2013 general election, the M5S obtained 25.6% of the vote, but rejected a proposed coalition government with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and joined the opposition. In 2016 M5S' Chiara Appendino and Virginia Raggi were elected mayors of Turin and Rome, respectively. The M5S supported the successful "no" vote in the 2016 constitutional referendum. In the 2018 general election, the M5S, led by Luigi Di Maio, became the largest party with 32.7% and successfully formed a government headed by M5S-backed independent Giuseppe Conte together with the League. After the 2019 government collapsed, the party formed a new government with the PD, with Conte remaining prime minister until the 2021 government crisis, which resulted in the formation of the Draghi government. Since 2019 the M5S has occasionally sided with the centre-left coalition in regional and local elections, but not yet in general elections. In the 2022 general election, the party suffered a substantial setback, was reduced to 15.4% and joined the opposition to the Meloni government. In the 2024 Sardinian regional election, M5S' Alessandra Todde was elected president of Sardinia, the party's first regional president, at the head of a centre-left coalition.

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist and progressive movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics. It began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, and lasted for fifty-nine days—from September 17 to November 15, 2011.

The motivations for Occupy Wall Street largely resulted from public distrust in the private sector during the aftermath of the Great Recession in the United States. There were many particular points of interest leading up to the Occupy movement that angered populist and left-wing groups. For instance, the 2008 bank bailouts under the George W. Bush administration utilized congressionally appropriated taxpayer funds to create the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which purchased toxic assets from failing banks and financial institutions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC in January 2010 allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts on independent political expenditures without government regulation. This angered many populist and left-wing groups that viewed the ruling as a way for moneyed interests to corrupt public institutions and legislative bodies, such as the United States Congress.

uMkhonto weSizwe Party (Zulu for 'Spear of the Nation' Party'), abbreviated as MKP, and often referred to as the MK Party, is a South African left-wing populist political party founded in December 2023. The party is named after uMkhonto weSizwe (shortened to MK), the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC) which was active during the apartheid regime in South Africa and disbanded after Nelson Mandela's release in the early 1990s. However, the ANC has threatened legal action over the usage of the name, and the formation has been criticised by original MK veterans.

The party rose to prominence in December 2023, when former president Jacob Zuma announced that, while planning to remain a lifelong member of the ANC, he would not be campaigning for the ANC in the 2024 South African general election, and would instead be voting for MK. He stated that "I cannot and will not" campaign for the ANC of current president Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma's successor, and that to do so would be a "betrayal".