Globalization, Populism, Conspiracism

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Trump’s populist use of ethno-nationalist and popular resentment generated by neoliberal globalization, which not very long ago was touted by liberal pundits and politicians as inevitable and irresistible. The first and last parts draw on secondary analysis to show how during the election campaign and his first 14 months in office Trump traded upon ethno-nationalism. An ecological analysis of the Trump vote in primaries and the general election shows that one key source of Trump support were voters in socially and economically distressed communities, much like those that have supported right-wing, hypernationalist, anti-globalization votes in other countries. This chapter also warns against conflating the common trope promoted by pro-globalization pundits, who conflate the populist appeal of Sanders and Trump. Sanders voters tend to reject neoliberal globalization but also generally eschew the ethno-nationalism and the nativist attitudes typical of the paranoid style.