‘Populism […] has come to dominate democratic politics’ (p. 39). In recent years, rising populist movements, authoritarian regimes and shifts away from pluralism have undisputedly dominated the European political landscape. These trends pose imminent risks to democracy, its (liberal) values and institutions, the rule of law – and ultimately – human rights. European Populism and Human Rights is a comprehensive and valuable compendium that seeks to explore this political and legal tension between far-right populism, democracy and the existing human rights framework. The particular research interest hence lies in providing an understanding of the multifaceted phenomenon of populism, the ways it can potentially affect human rights in theory and practice and the extent to which instruments like the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) provide safeguards against such developments. While the analysis mainly focuses on legal aspects of this complex interrelation, the authors frequently also refer to interdisciplinary concepts and methodologies.

The collection, edited by Jure Vidmar, contains individual contributions from numerous renowned experts in the field of public international law and was published as a part of the International Studies in Human Rights series (Vol. 130). It is noteworthy that important impulses for the book stem from a congress held at the University of Maastricht in 2018, where some of the respective authors took part in panel discussions on ‘Populism, Nationalism and Human Rights’.

In terms of structure, the book comprises 13 chapters and is subdivided into three parts, each addressing different levels of the analysis. Following an introductory contribution by the editor on ‘Democracy and the European Public Order’ (p. 1), the first part of the book is dedicated to the ambiguous notion of populism by framing it as a ‘human rights problem’ (p. 27) and considering its potential effects on democratic consolidation (chapters two to five). Part II theoretically addresses the effects, opportunities and existing political strategies of (transnational) populism in the context of human rights (chapters six to eight).