Explaining the triumph of Trumpism

On Oct. 13, students and faculty alike came together in Miller Forum in search of the answer to one very specific question: how has the unprecedented ideology stemming from a certain presidential candidate become so popular?

In her talk, “Explaining the Trump Phenomenon: Recent Social Transformations, New Influence Elites, and the Rise of the Anti-Establishment,” political anthropologist and author Janine Wedel attempted to answer that very question. She weaved together her research from around the world to craft a tapestry depicting a tired populace and the “outsider” candidates who seemingly emerge to support it. The U.S. is by no means a unique nation in this respect, Wedel says, as it joins a plethora of others who are all struggling to handle this lasting political outlook.

Rebekah Nachman ’20, summarized Wedel’s main thesis as such: “Our political system is corrupt and although Trump may finally see his end, his supporters are not going to disappear.”

Frequently utilizing the term “Trumpism” to describe the political and social views of the man himself, Wedel continued on to describe the various echoes of “anti- establishment, anti-system” views around the world. Similar German and French figureheads have emerged as major names in the political game, and in Austria, neither traditional party made it to the final ballot; only the far left and the far right parties found success, indicating that the Trumpist plane of thinking is by no means unique to this country or election.

Meray Faragalla ‘20, found that she shared Wedel’s point of view.

“I agree with the fact that Trumpism is here to stay,” said Faragalla. “In fact, there are many examples of Trumpism in history where a strong leader gained support by claiming a country was not as great as it used to be and blaming this issue on scapegoats. It’s kind of disappointing that history is repeating itself.”

As Wedel expanded on the origins of this cyclical dissatisfaction with traditional politics, she discussed the recently identified a breed of “shadow elites” who network all possible aspects of government, media, and business together around the world, expanding their power in virtually undetectable ways; hence, they work in the “shadows.” Those who used to proudly call themselves lobbyists, military men, or officeholders can now act as all three without the telltale label. This creates a slippery underground revolving door of corruption.

Mahsheed Mahjor ’17, came away from the talk with this nebulous concept echoing in her mind.

“I think the most prominent point that the speaker made was that one should be aware of the way in which the elites and big corporations and ‘money’ in general are involved in politics, and what impact these factors have on the public policies that are being made,” Mahjor said. “An active and educated citizen must know these complicated relationships and not fall for what simply [the] media portrays.”

Wedel then circled back to a discussion of Trumpism, stating that its appeal lies in the breaking of traditional norms into taboos in public speech (see: Eric Trump’s comments on refugees and skittles); this philosophy transforms the man into a subhuman figure to some and a superhuman figure to others.

By the speech’s end, many audience members, including Nachman, seemed to have similar opinions about Wedel’s message.

“The tone left at the end of the talk seemed to lack hope,” said Nachman. “It was discouraging to me to hear about all the ways in which our political system is broken without much focus on how we can fix anything.”

Hopeful or not, Janine Wedel’s talk certainly informed its listeners about the current issues behind the scenes of this election. And, regardless of whether Trumpist ideals triumph, they will certainly linger for as long as people can find some aspect of government to be unhappy about.