This reconstructed psychological theory is also used to evaluate populist movements that aim at social and psychological emancipation. Ratner posits that populism is inadequate to solve social and psychological problems because it misunderstands the nature of society and what it takes to improve society and psychology. This is demonstrated through wide-ranging examples including populist feminism, populist socialism, and populist distortions of liberation psychology and cultural-historical psychology. This lively critique opens a pathway for academic across the social sciences concerned with how their disciplines can be oriented toward understanding and solving social- psychological problems, and will appeal to wide readership including policy makers, and social activists.