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Trump victory comes with a silver lining for the world’s progressives
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What Lies Ahead

by Fred Block on November 16, 2016

What Lies Ahead

Fred Block | November 16, 2016

Tags: Trump
Trump
| 0 296

With Steve Bannon’s appointment as White House Chief Strategist, Trump has signaled a war on his domestic opponents.   In a polarized polity in which a majority of the electorate and a larger majority of the population rejects his views, Trump has a very narrow path to success as a President.    An understanding of that path must shape the strategies that we use to resist him.

Trump’s rise was driven by what Josh Marshall labeled as “dominance politics”.  With both Clinton and his Republican opponents, Trump did not argue for the superiority of his policy positions.  He focused instead on demeaning his opponents.  “Low energy” Jeb, “little Marco”, and “lock her up” were not gimmicks; they were the core of Trump’s campaign designed to persuade voters that he had the abundance of testosterone needed to deliver the change that many voters want.

This means that Trump as President cannot tolerate the kinds of defeats that are likely as Congress, the courts, and the public weigh in on disputed policies.  When the toughest guy in town sends a budget to Congress and it is “dead on arrival”, he is obviously not so macho.   The danger is great that he will lose the aura of power that has been the core of his brand.

But while big defeats represent a huge threat, opposition does not.  On the contrary, leaders of this type increase their support by overpowering those that his supporters already despise including feminists, racial minorities, and environmentalists.   One can see this in the case of Ronald Reagan whose Hollywood apprenticeship allowed him to perform a more genial version of dominance politics.

When Reagan was Governor of California in the 1970’s, we had big demonstrations against him, complete with chants of “Fuck Reagan”.  But Reagan then used his success in defeating the Left to solidify the support that took him to the White House.

Once in the Presidency, Reagan made sure to eviscerate his first major opponents.  PATCO, the union of air traffic controllers, went out on strike and Reagan literally fired all the controllers who refused to return to work by a certain time.  The signal was very powerful; opposing Reagan was going to be costly and dangerous.

Trump and Brannon know this history and they have an added weapon.  Legislation passed after 9/11 gives the government broad anti-terror powers that could be mobilized against domestic opponents.  For example, organizers of mass civil disobedience to protest Trump’s environmental policies could face long prison sentences for domestic terrorism.  Unless the courts acted quickly to block such moves, the signal would be even stronger than Reagan’s action against PATCO.

There are ways to defeat Trump’s dominance politics, but it will take smart tactics and smart strategies.  Most critically, we need to start building the broadest coalition possible to protect free speech and the right to peaceful protest, including civil disobedience.  Our nation literally started with acts of disobedience in Boston  Harbor, and we must preserve that weapon of dissent.

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Author: Fred Block

Fred Block is Research Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Davis. His recent work has focused on documenting the substantial role that the U.S. government plays in technology development across the civilian economy. During the last thirty years while policymakers and pundits were singing the praises of "free markets", the reality was that the public sector significantly expanded its efforts to move research breakthroughs from the laboratory to the market. His book, State of Innovation: The U.S. Government's Role in Technology Development, co-edited with Matthew R. Keller (Paradigm Publishers) contains a series of case studies that document different dimensions of this recently constructed innovation system. His book , The Power of Market Fundamentalism: Karl Polanyi’s Critique, is written with Margaret R. Somers and published by Harvard Press. This book seeks to explain and critique the market fundamentalist worldview that has dominated our politics for the last thirty years. His current research centers on the kinds of financial reforms and new institutions required to supports innovation in this new context of public-private collaboration. His earlier books include The Origins of International Economic Disorder (1977), Postindustrial Possibilities (1990), and The Vampire State(1996).

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  • Home
  • About
  • Manchester University Press Book Series
  • Past & Present Reading Group
  • A Political Economy of Australian Capitalism
  • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • JAPE Issues
    • JAPE Submission Guidelines
    • JAPE Young Scholar Award
  • Australian IPE Network (AIPEN)
  • Forums
    • Forums
    • Debating Anatomies of Revolution
    • Debating Debtfare States
    • Debating Economic Ideas in Political Time
    • Debating Mass Strikes and Social Movements in Brazil and India
    • Debating Social Movements in Latin America
    • Debating The Making of Modern Finance
    • Debating War and Social Change in Modern Europe
    • Feminist Global “Secureconomy”
    • Gendered Circuits of Labour and Violence in Global Crises
    • Scandalous Economics
    • The Military Roots of Neoliberal Governance
    • Politicising artistic pedagogies
  • Literary Geographies of Political Economy
  • Pedagogy
    • Five Minute Honours Theses
    • Piketty Forum
    • Radical Economics Pedagogy
    • Unconventional Wisdom
    • Journal Club
    • Marxism Reading Group
  • Wheelwright Lecture
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Links
    • Political Economy At Sydney
    • PHD in Political Economy
    • Master of Political Economy
    • Centre for Future Work
    • Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ)
    • Climate Justice Research Centre (UTS)
 

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