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Bezig met laden... The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker (Chicago Studies in American Politics)door Katherine J. Cramer
   University Presses (40) Bezig met laden...
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Onderdeel van de reeks(en)
Since the election of Scott Walker, Wisconsin has been seen as ground zero for debates about the appropriate role of government in the wake of the Great Recession. In a time of rising inequality, Walker not only survived a bitterly contested recall that brought thousands of protesters to Capitol Square, he was subsequently reelected. How could this happen? How is it that the very people who stand to benefit from strong government services not only vote against the candidates who support those services but are vehemently against the very idea of big government? With The Politics of Resentment, Katherine J. Cramer uncovers an oft-overlooked piece of the puzzle: rural political consciousness and the resentment of the "liberal elite." Rural voters are distrustful that politicians will respect the distinct values of their communities and allocate a fair share of resources. What can look like disagreements about basic political principles are therefore actually rooted in something even more fundamental: who we are as people and how closely a candidate's social identity matches our own. Using Scott Walker and Wisconsin's prominent and protracted debate about the appropriate role of government, Cramer illuminates the contours of rural consciousness, showing how place-based identities profoundly influence how people understand politics, regardless of whether urban politicians and their supporters really do shortchange or look down on those living in the country. The Politics of Resentment shows that rural resentment--no less than partisanship, race, or class--plays a major role in dividing America against itself. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)977.5History and Geography North America Midwestern U.S. WisconsinLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (4)
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I grew up in a very small town in New York state, so a lot of the conversations I read about in this book sounded familiar to me. While this book is specific to Wisconsin, I think it probably would hold up in a lot of rural areas. The thought is that the people in the Big City don't care about the rural areas, the rural folks don't see any return on their tax money, so they feel disconnected from the political process. The elites have captured this by turning the animus toward public employees rather than on them, the people with all of the power and money (who, believe me, are not public employees, for the most part).
While reading this book I decided to do some research on act 10. The Wisconsin State Journal reports, 10 years later, that inequality in school districts has increased since Walker's policies were implemented. So again, elites disguising themselves as common people all about ordinary folks were able to tap into that resentment and rural consciousness to get policies enacted that were not helpful to anybody but those who were already in the elite. Meanwhile the people of Wisconsin lose.
Most poignant in this book was the quote at the end: "My fear is that democracy will always tend toward a politics of resentment, in which savvy politicians figure out ways to amass coalitions by tapping into our deepest and most salient social divides: race, class, culture, place. This does not exactly make for a pleasant public life. When we get to a point where we do not actually have a public life, when we turn away from politics because it brings resentment rather than hope to the surface, democracy ceases to exist." Case in point: Trump's presidency.
Of course, we have Wisconsin to thank for the election of Joe Biden as our 46th president. Once again showing what this book described: there's more to people than just the red/blue divide. Smart Democrats should realize that and start doing something about it. (