SOCI 229
Far Right Populists, Trumpism, and the Sociology of Exclusionary Politics
Amherst College
Key Information
Instructor
Location
Time
Fall 2024 — Mondays and Wednesdays — 2:00 PM to 3:20 PM
Office Hours
Fridays from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Morgan Hall (Room 203 A) or during an Open Meeting Slot
All meetings, even during office hours, must be scheduled in advance via Google Calendar.
Course Description
The early 21st century has been marked by the convergence of populism, ethno-nationalism, and authoritarianism in all corners of the world. Exclusionary movements have emerged to challenge cultural and intellectual currents in world society that were, at one point, viewed as inevitable agents of progress that would usher in a world liberated from the divisive and demagogic forces that produced immense human suffering and countless theaters of war in the 20th century. Today, the pendulum appears to be swinging back in the other direction. The far right represents the fastest growing party family in Europe and is translating mass disaffection and cultural anxieties around immigration into electoral victories and political power. Narratives of national decline and revival are giving new life to restrictive strains of nationalism in India and the United States, the two largest democracies in the world. Elsewhere, exclusionary political movements in Latin America, the Middle East and beyond are threatening the democratic norms and institutions that sustained the world system in the postwar period. To make sense of these developments, this course will critically examine the rise of Trumpism, anti-“wokeness,” the European far right, and other exclusionary movements around the world by marshaling theoretical insights and empirical evidence from political sociology, cultural sociology, and the broader study of comparative politics.
Structure
Design of Synchronous Class Sessions
Most classes will follow a simple structure. I will begin with a lecture that goes through some of our assigned readings and summarizes conversations from our online discussion board (more on that later).1 Then, I will toss the baton over to all of you. You will get into small groups (comprised of 3 to 4 students) and provide answers to the prompts highlighted in the screen before you. These group discussions will only last about 20-30 minutes, but they are vital—i.e., they will set the stage for our plenary discussions and serve as a key indicator of your participation grade for the course. To end each synchronous session, we will get together as a broader collective and discuss the themes that emerged during group discussions.
Distribution of Topics & Readings
This course is meant to be a slow burn. We will not discuss contemporary political movements in detail (e.g., the rising tide of the far right in Europe) until we have critically wrestled with the “basics.” With this in mind, Part I will introduce you to some of building blocks of exclusionary politics in the modern world, including—but not limited to—populism, exclusionary nationalism, authoritarianism, and fascism. Next, Part II will delve into the supply and demand of Trumpism—a phenomenon that is, at once, characteristically American in its inheritance of tropes, frames and motifs that have long lingered in the social and cultural underbelly of American society, but also a reflection of illiberal forces that have emerged in countries around the world. To drive this point home, Part III shifts analytic focus to political developments outside the United States—from the rise of the National Rally in France to the illiberal machinations of Bharatiya Janata Party in India and the radicalization of Likud in Israel. With a deeper understanding of the transnational character of exclusionary politics, we will end this class by “returning” to America in Part IV. Specifically, we will adjudicate American-styled debates about political polarization and the so-called culture war, with an eye to how higher education serves as a battleground for cultural contestation and moralized claims-making.
Readings
All course readings are available via the mystifying power of Moodle. As you plan for the semester, it may be useful to bookmark the eReserves page on our course website. New readings may be introduced as the world around us evolves, whether through the incremental march of science or via social, economic and political shocks that need to be reckoned with.
Evaluations
A Bird’s Eye View
| Task | Description | Weight | Deadline or Evaluative Time Horizon |
|---|---|---|---|
Response Memos |
On a weekly basis, students will engage with—and respond to—questions posed on our Moodle Discussion Board. Responses must be between 250-400 words, or a penalty will be applied. |
10% |
8:00 PM on Mondays. Evaluated from Week 3 onwards. |
Participation |
Students must actively participate in class discussions by raising their hand to share their thoughts or meaningfully contributing to small group conversations. |
10% |
Evaluated during class sessions throughout the term. |
Midterm Paper |
Students may work individually or in groups of 2 to 3 to submit a short paper (10 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font) summarizing at least one major topic from Part I of the course. To earn an A, the paper should analyze at least two major topics and explore their connections. Students choosing to work in groups must meet with me—both before and after the due date—to discuss how the work will be or has been divided. Other expectations are detailed here. |
30% |
Friday, October 25th at 8:00 PM |
Final Paper Proposal |
Students are required to submit a term paper on a topic of their choice, subject to my approval as the course instructor. The chosen topic must be related to the politics of exclusion as conceptualized in this class. To streamline this process, students should first submit a brief (3-5 page) proposal that outlines their selected topic, explains its relevance to the course, and highlights the key arguments they intend to advance. Other expectations are detailed here. |
10% |
Friday, November 22nd at 8:00 PM. |
Final Paper |
As noted in the cell above, your term paper must focus on a topic related to exclusionary politics and must be approved by me, the course instructor. Papers should be 10-20 pages long, double-spaced, and written in 12-point font. Other stylistic conventions and expectations will be detailed in the rubric, which will be uploaded after midterm. |
40% |
Wednesday, December 11th at 8:00 PM. |
Guidelines for Key Deliverables
The Midterm Paper
Final Paper Proposal
Norms, Rules & Regulations
Please review the Amherst College Honor Code, which can be accessed in its entirety here.
Violations of the Honor Code will be promptly reported to the Dean of Students. As Section 1.1 of the Honor Code indicates, plagiarism is a serious offense. In most cases, students who plagiarize the work of others will fail this class and may face additional disciplinary penalties. Moreover, as detailed in Sections 1.2 to 1.4 of the Honor Code, students must respect others in the classroom, including those whose views deviate from their own. Failure to do so will prompt disciplinary action.
There is no reason to pretend like generative artificial intelligence (GAI) does not exist in the world out there. These systems have arrived, and they may revolutionize how higher education “works.” With this in mind, you are free to use ChatGPT and its analogues for class assignments—but you have to cite the GAI you are using. Failure to do so amounts to plagiarism.
To reiterate:
If you use a GAI tool (like ChatGPT) and do not cite it, it is a form of plagiarism.
You are expected to attend each and every class. If you do not, you will lose points for participation. That said, I am aware that you are all human beings whose lives are often fraught with uncertainty. If something comes up, please let me know and I will do my best to be as accommodating as possible. Extended absences may, however, require additional documentation (e.g., note from a physician).
In my experience, students generally use laptops and tablets to shop online or browse Twitter and TikTok, not to take notes or streamline learning. However, I have—rather begrudgingly—lifted the ban on laptops and tablets in class. If I see anyone contravening our social contract (i.e., browsing the web in lieu of paying attention), the ban may very well be reinstated.
On weekdays and non-holidays, I will respond to e-mails within 48 hours. If I fail to meet this standard, please send me a follow-up message. On weekends3 and holidays, I will not respond to e-mails unless you have an emergency. If you do, please include EMERGENCY in the subject line.
Assignments must be submitted on time. A late submission will result in a penalty of 5% for each day beyond the deadline.4 However, as noted, I am well aware that life can present unexpected challenges. If you anticipate missing a deadline or are in the midst of an emergency, please inform me as soon as possible. Extensions may be granted on a case-by-case basis.
Accessibility and Accommodations
If you require accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Services as soon as possible and submit an application through the new AIM Portal. More generally, if you have any suggestions about how this class can be more accessible and inclusive, please let me know via e-mail or during office hours.
Weekly Schedule
As noted, all readings can be accessed via the eReserves page on our course website.
Readings highlighted below are recommended but optional.
Part I: Theoretical Foundations
Week 1: The Politics of Exclusion — September 4th
The Far Right Today (Mudde 2019)
- Introduction
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
The Sociology of the Radical Right (Rydgren 2007)
Ethno-Nationalist Populism and the Mobilization of Collective Resentment (Bonikowski 2017)
Week 2: Populism — September 9th & September 11th
Populism: A Very Short Introduction (Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser 2017)
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
The Populist Zeitgeist (Mudde 2004)
Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy (Canovan 1999)
When the Whole Is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts: On the Conceptualization and Measurement of Populist Attitudes and Other Multidimensional Constructs (Wuttke, Schimpf, and Schoen 2020)
Week 3: Nationalism — September 16th & September 18th
Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe (Brubaker 1996)
- Chapter 1
Nationalism in Settled Times (Bonikowski 2016)
How Legacies of Geopolitical Trauma Shape Popular Nationalism Today (Soehl and Karim 2021)
The Partisan Sorting of “America”: How Nationalist Cleavages Shaped the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election (Bonikowski, Feinstein, and Bock 2021)
Week 5: Fascism — September 30th & October 2nd
What Makes Fascism Fascist? (Ganz 2022)
Fascists (Mann 2004)
- Chapter 1
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them (Stanley 2018)
- Chapter 1
Fascism and Populism: Are They Useful Categories for Comparative Sociological Analysis? (Berezin 2019)
Week 6: The Politics of Gender and Sexuality — October 7th & October 9th
Why Is the Idea of ‘Gender’ Provoking Backlash the World Over? (Butler 2021)
Is Democracy Bad for LGBT+ Rights? (Velasco, Baral, and Tang 2024)
Who’s Afraid of Gender? (Butler 2024)
- Chapter 1
Transnational Backlash and the Deinstitutionalization of Liberal Norms: LGBT+ Rights in a Contested World (Velasco 2023)
Week 7: Boundaries — October 16th
Contraction as a Response to Group Threat: Demographic Decline and Whites’ Classification of People Who Are Ambiguously White (Abascal 2020)
Politics of Boundary Consolidation: Income Inequality, Ethnonationalism, and Radical-Right Voting (Lukk 2024)
Us and Them: Black-White Relations in the Wake of Hispanic Population Growth (Abascal 2015)
Part II: Trumpism
Week 8: The Supply Side of Trumpism —
Far Right in America (Mudde 2018)
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 26
Trumpism and American Democracy: History, Comparison, and the Predicament of Liberal Democracy in the United States (Lieberman et al. 2017)
Donald J. Trump and the Rhetoric of Ressentiment (Kelly 2020)
Politics as Usual? Measuring Populism, Nationalism, and Authoritarianism in U.S. Presidential Campaigns (1952–2020) with Neural Language Models (Bonikowski, Luo, and Stuhler 2022)
Your midterm papers are due by 8:00 PM on Friday, October 25th.
NOTE: Those who submit paper by this date will receive grades before those who submit their paper the following week.
Week 9: The Demand Side of Trumpism — October 28th & October 30th
Strangers in Their Own Land (Hochschild 2016)
- Chapter 15
White Identity Politics (Jardina 2019)
- Chapter 1
Activating Animus: The Uniquely Social Roots of Trump Support (Mason, Wronski, and Kane 2021)
Racism in Trump’s America: Reflections on Culture, Sociology, and the 2016 Us Presidential Election (Bobo 2017)
Misogynistic Men Online: How the Red Pill Helped Elect Trump (Dignam and Rohlinger 2019)
Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election (Whitehead, Perry, and Baker 2018)
The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue: Proclaiming the Deeper Truth about Political Illegitimacy (Hahl, Kim, and Zuckerman Sivan 2018)
Your midterm papers are due by 8:00 PM on Friday, November 1st.
NOTE: Those who submit their paper by this date will receive grades after those who met the previous deadline.
Week 10: Trump and the Fascism Debate — November 4th & November 6th
What Was the Fascism Debate? (Greenberg 2021)
Why We Can’t Stop Arguing About Whether Trump Is a Fascist (Marantz 2024)
Making Sense of the Fascism Debate (Steinmetz-Jenkins 2024)
Part III: Moving Beyond the United States
Week 11: Europe’s Far Right — November 11th & November 13th
Far Right Parties in Europe (Golder 2016)
Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe (Mudde 2007)
- Chapter 1
Horror Vacui: Racial Misalignment, Symbolic Repair, and Imperial Legitimation in German National Socialist Portrait Photography (Skarpelis 2023)
Week 12: India, Brazil, Turkey, Israel — November 18th & November 20th
Hindu Nationalism and the New Jim Crow (Varshney and Staggs 2024)
Demographic Polarization and the Rise of the Far Right: Brazil’s 2018 Presidential Election (Layton et al. 2021)
Turkey at the Crossroads? (Tuğal 2021)
Why Israeli Democracy Is in Crisis (Gidron 2023)
Your final paper proposals are due by 8:00 PM on Friday, November 22nd.
Week 13: Thanksgiving Break
Part IV: A Return to the United States
Week 14: Polarization in America — December 2nd & December 4th
The Origins and Consequences of Affective Polarization in the United States (Iyengar et al. 2019)
Pluralistic Collapse: The “Oil Spill” Model of Mass Opinion Polarization (DellaPosta 2020)
Week 15: The Culture War and “Wokeness” — December 9th & December 11th
College and the “Culture War”: Assessing Higher Education’s Influence on Moral Attitudes (Broćić and Miles 2021)
What Do We Mean When We Say “Culture War?” (Nwanevu 2022)
The Emerging Bipartisan Wokeness (Harper 2024)
A History of “Wokeness” (Romano 2020)
Your term papers are due by 8:00 PM on Wednesday, December 11th.
Should be up within 24 hours of a class session.
Part I: Theoretical Foundations
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Part II: Trumpism
Week 9
Week 10
Part III: Moving Beyond the United States
Week 11
Week 12
Recommended Readings
Just to drive the point home: underlined readings are recommended but optional.
References
Footnotes
In an ideal world, my lectures would all be short and to-the-point, but these things are difficult to predict.↩︎
See the Weekly Schedule for more information.↩︎
Concretely, Fridays after 5:00 PM.↩︎
If an assignment is due at 8:00 PM and you submit it at 11:00 PM, you will be considered late.↩︎