On the Question of Truth in the Era of Trump

Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-39127-7
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 5, 158 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 396 g

Reihe: Critical Media Literacies Series

Using a range of critical perspectives, On the Question of Truth in the Era of Trump closely examines notions of “truth in crisis” leading up to and after the election of Donald Trump. The authors explore how truth is constructed along the lines of race, social class, and gender as filtered through the self-referential characteristics of social media in particular. The authors assert that the US left has shown itself inadequate to the task of confronting right wing ideologies, which have only intensified since the 2016 election, resulting in increased mobilization of white supremacist and nationalist groups.

Whether underestimating Trump by downplaying the threat of his candidacy during the primaries, trivializing the concerns of women and minorities as “identity politics,” or rushing to prioritize the free speech rights of the far-right, left academics and the media have found themselves unable to use their traditional arsenal of evidence, rational discourse, and appeals to diversity of viewpoints.

The authors assert that political resistance to the right is not a matter of playful use of signs and symbols or discourse alone and has to be fought directly and in solidarity. At this point, it is clear that Trump and his supporters have not just deployed relativism as a form of strategy, but have fully weaponized it against their perceived enemies: women, immigrants, minorities, LGBTQ people along with educational, scientific, and journalistic institutions. It is hoped that this in-depth, critical dissection of truth in the current political reality will assist in the project of resistance.

Contributors are: Faith Agostinone-Wilson, Mike Cole, Jeremy T. Godwin, Jones Irwin, Austin Pickup, Daniel Ian Rubin, and Eric C. Sheffield.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Agostinone-Wilson, Faith

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politische Propaganda & Kampagnen, Politik & Medien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword: The (Not so) Strange Rise of Donald J. Trump

Mike Cole

Notes on Contributors

1. Introduction

Faith Agostinone-Wilson

2. Endless Babbling and the Contradictory Nature of Truth in the Rise of Trump

Austin Pickup

3. Post-Truth in the Age of Trump: Ideology from Right to Left after Fascism and Althusser

Jones Irwin

4. Twitter and Trumpism: Epistemological Concerns in the Post-Truth Era

Eric C. Sheffield

5. The Populist Masquerade of Attributing Trump’s Win to “Economic Anxiety” among White Voters

Faith Agostinone-Wilson

6. The Gospel According to White Christian Nationalism: Religion, Race, and Nation in the Trump Era

Jeremy T. Godwin

7. White Stupidification and the Need for Dialectical Thought in the Age of Trump

Daniel Ian Rubin

8. Conclusion

Faith Agostinone-Wilson

9. Afterword: Ecological Catastrophe in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Case for Eco-Socialism and the Role of the Media

Mike Cole

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Faith Agostinone Wilson, Ed.D. (1998), Oklahoma State University, is Professor of Education at Aurora University. Her recent books include Enough Already! A Socialist Feminist Response to the Re-emergence of Right-Wing Populism and Fascism in Media (Brill Sense, 2020) and Handbook for Undergraduate Research Advisors (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).