11/26/2018
In this measured analysis of how Donald Trump became U.S. president, social studies professors McVeigh (The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan) and Estep compare the sociopolitical conditions of the 1920s and the early 2000s to examine conditions that foment white nationalist movements. Like the Klan of the 1920s, the authors argue, Trump managed to link “the economic grievances of millions of white middle-class Americans to racial, ethnic, and religious resentments.” The core of this study is a county-level statistical analysis of factors influencing Trump’s performance in the 2016 primaries and general election. This is paired with a comparison of Klan materials and Trump’s speeches and tweets, highlighting eerie similarities between their rhetorical appeals to white Americans, often regarding supposedly dangerous “foreign elements” and putative corruption in mainstream politics. By attacking the mainstream press and enclosing supporters in a cocoon of favorable information, Trump and the Klan provided targets for resentment to white Americans who had lost political and economic standing due to changing voter demographics and economic hardship. McVeigh and Estep keep their study accessible, confining the regression analyses to one chapter and an appendix. Their carefully plotted argument persuasively concludes that segregation, rather than pure prejudice, allows white nationalism to flourish. Erudite and surprisingly evenhanded, this study makes a substantial contribution to understanding an increasingly polarized country. (Jan.)
Through a clear and dispassionate comparison of the ascendance of the Klan in the 1920s and Trump in 2016, McVeigh and Estep trace the roots of white nationalism in American politics. They show how opportunistic leaders combined race, economics, culture, and religion to mobilize white resentment. The Politics of Losing is the best book to account for the rise of Trumpism that I have read.
The tactics of cultural resentment that brought Donald Trump to the White House are not new. As McVeigh and Estep show, eerily similar strategies propelled the explosive rise of the racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan a century earlier. A brilliant, must-read book on the dangerous appeal of white nationalism in American politics.
Something different, more ambitious and more valuable. The Politics of Losing is...a case study of what happens when a once marginal movement takes over a mainstream political party.
Engaging and approachable . . . This book would make a useful and timely addition to undergraduate and graduate courses on social movements, political sociology, race, or comparative and historical methods.
2018-11-13
Two sociologists examine the election of Donald Trump in the context of how the Ku Klux Klan won extensive support in the United States during three different historical periods.
In this academic research-based yet approachable narrative, McVeigh (Sociology/Univ. of Notre Dame; The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan: Right-Wing Movements and National Politics, 2009, etc.), the director for the Center for the Study of Social Movements, and Estep (Cultural and Social Studies/Creighton Univ.) note that while the ascendancy of the KKK occurred during different socio-economic conditions than those of 2016, the similarities between the KKK's successful appeals to white nationalism and Trump's tactics are inescapable, and they provide important insights into the hard-wired hatreds of American politics. Most of the authors' findings revolve around what they call "structural changes" occurring across the nation, which provided an agenda for white nationalist opportunists to gain support from citizens who did not view themselves as extreme racists. However, an ancillary insight from the research might surprise some readers: Just as Trump has monetized the presidency for his personal benefit, many KKK leaders kept much of the money they raised, enriching themselves at the expense of their ostensible cause. In the 1920s, KKK Grand Dragon David Curtis Stephenson, a notorious womanizer, lost his standing after kidnapping, raping, and murdering a woman. The authors write compellingly about the conditions of the three eras of KKK popularity—just after the Civil War, during the 1920s, and again from the 1960s forward—times when white Protestants in all parts of the nation felt threatened by immigrants, Jews, Catholics, blacks, and other nonwhite segments of the population. As is well-known, Trump has shifted the focus of hatred and fear south of the border, to Mexico and other Latin American countries. After cogently mining history, McVeigh and Estep look at the possible future of white nationalism across the disunited U.S.
A welcome addition to the literature on white supremacy, which sadly shows few signs of going away.
In documenting the remarkable parallels between the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, and the rise of Trumpian politics today, McVeigh and Estep demonstrate how white nationalism periodically links with economic grievances to shape electoral outcomes. Elegantly written, exquisitely researched, and powerfully argued, The Politics of Losing is essential reading for those who wish to understand the historical origins of our current, racially charged political climate—and how to change it.
A fascinating read, combining deep knowledge of the history of the Klan with a careful postmortem of primary votes for Trump. Its analysis is evenhanded and sophisticated.
McVeigh and Estep’s book makes an important contribution to our understanding of white nationalism, its endurance in American politics, and the conditions that brought it back into the mainstream with the election of Donald Trump. Using the 1920s Klan as a reference point, the authors show how declines in the standing of whites (political, economic, and status-based) have often produced sizable populations open to racist appeals, spawning political movements and fracturing enduring electoral coalitions.
The Politics of Losing not only provides an incredibly rich diagnosis for the current troubles within American democracy but also offers a much-needed and well-reasoned exit.
In addition to its topical appeal, The Politics of Losing is eminently readable. The authors explain social science tools and concepts (e.g., regression analysis, social movement theory) and significant history (e.g., the Black Codes, Republican Party issue shifts) in a way that is especially useful in the undergraduate classroom.
