Articles by Ilana Hartikainen

November 13, 2025

🔮 Banana populism: when politics gets absurd (and why it works)

Ilana Hartikainen
Why did Viktor Orbán bring pickles to Parliament? What made Kamala Harris lean into 'brat summer'? And why do politicians flood social media with pets, food, and everyday objects? Ilana Hartikainen and Zea Szebeni argue these aren't random quirks: they're examples of 'banana populism', where politicians build powerful emotional connections with voters through whimsical, mundane imagery
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February 21, 2024

🔮 Populism research demands more nuance: enter tribalism

Ilana Hartikainen
Tribalism has emerged as a key term in political discussions — often used, but not clearly defined. Ilana Hartikainen and Zea Szebeni propose reconceptualising ‘tribalism’ to differentiate forms of political mobilisation. Tribalism, they argue, forms exclusive groups around shared values — and it’s gone global
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photograph of Ilana Hartikainen
Ilana Hartikainen
Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki

Ilana's research explores the intersection of collective memory and democracy, with a particular focus on populist memory politics.

Within this framework, she is also interested in pseudohistory, conspiratorial memory, and visual politics.

Blurring Histories: King Svätopluk I and the Shaping of Slovak Identity through Pseudohistory and Slow Memory
In Slovak Ethnology, 2024

@lanihart.bsky.social

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THE EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH
Advancing Political Science
© 2025 European Consortium for Political Research. The ECPR is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) number 1167403 ECPR, Harbour House, 6-8 Hythe Quay, Colchester, CO2 8JF, United Kingdom.
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