Populism is one of the most widely used terms in relation to the current global political landscape. The rise and success of so-called populists seems to be responding to the widespread desire for easy solutions to the increasingly complex challenges our world is facing today and the demand for an alleged vox populi to be heard. At the same time, we are facing a global backlash against human rights. By linking these phenomena from different perspectives, this volume, edited by Gerald L. Neuman, makes a very timely and relevant contribution to the literature and discourse.

The book comprises 11 chapters and both opens and closes with contributions by the editor, who undertakes an analysis of the ‘Populist Threats to the International Human Rights System’ (Chapter 1) and the potential ‘Human Rights Responses to the Populist Challenge’ (Chapter 11). Neuman starts by setting out the definition he applies to populism – the ‘ideational approach’ – highlighting an exclusionary notion of the people as its key element (the reader will encounter this approach again throughout the book). Furthermore, the first chapter explains how populist governments undermine the international human rights system either from the inside or the outside (e.g. by withdrawing from the relevant bodies, their rules and control); by withdrawing financial support; by overtly attacking them; or by becoming part of the system, taking over strategic positions and pursuing their agenda. Resuming this line of argumentation, the last chapter proposes potential answers to these threats, for example, that institutions should not try to make populism in itself an element of a human rights violation, but should instead focus on actual human rights violations in their respective areas of competence. Moreover, the author makes a very important point by calling for closer cooperation between international human rights bodies and local actors and networks, as the latter may encounter more acceptance among the population.

Between the first and the last chapter, the volume takes the reader through a variety of topics relating to populism and human rights.