In this chapter the ideational roots of the populist ideas are traced back to thinkers like Rousseau, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Carl Schmitt, later to be developed within post-modernism and critical theory. Identity politics, as a politics of resentment and recognition, and as a function of meaning, community, and virtue are discussed and analyzed. I argue that populism, on both the left and the right, is a kind of collectivistic identity politics that appeals to the ‘people’ by constructing narratives that give a sense of belonging and by offering a purpose and meaning.