May 1
Approaching Political Polarization Anthropologically: Schismogenesis, Dysrecognition, and Monster-making in the age of Trump
Prof. Greg Thompson, Brigham Young University
Academics, journalists, and everyday citizens have noted an increase in political polarization in the last twenty or so years, with an apparent acceleration happening 8 years ago when Donald J. Trump entered the political scene. In this paper, I consider political polarization and the Trumpian movement from an anthropological perspective. Rather than passing judgment on the movement, I seek to understand the logic of Trump’s movement on its own terms and to explore how it makes sense to so many Americans — enough to get him elected President and make him the Republican nominee for the upcoming election. Using recordings taken from the news and elsewhere along with my own experiences as a political blue dot in a red sea, I point to one cause of this polarization — a structure of interaction in which liberals and conservatives interact with each other in a manner that is both predictable and consequential. One consequence of this predictable structure of interaction is the intensifying polarization that potentially makes people on each side appear to those on the other side as monsters. In concluding, I point to some possible ways to disrupt this dialectic of monster-making.