| Synopsis: |
Donald Trump has overseen a new culture of cruelty in America, producing an irrational, anxious and reactionary political climate. However, the story of modern American politics is much broader, and more frightening, than Trump. Looking beyond the chaos and hyperactivity that most people assign to Trump's psychology or incompetence, Lawrence Grossberg locates Trump's hypnotic nationalism and illiberalism in the wider history of post-World War II conservatism.Under the Cover of Chaos shows that much of Trump's style and agenda is a continuation of older practices and commitments. The chaos many have observed as a key aspect of contemporary politics is not accidental, but is in fact the result of a struggle between two opposed forms of conservatism: the new right and a reactionary right, which have always been antagonistic. What is new, however, is the public legitimisation and successful entrance into mainstream politics of the reactionary right, which embraces chaos as a political strategy.Grossberg also identifies the political culture as an `affective landscape': he analyses the `mood' of the country in order to highlight how it has shaped the politics of both Trump and much of the opposition to Trump. Finally, he projects a possible nightmare future scenario: a vision of popular corporatocracy, built on a dismantling of modern politics in favour of nation without a state. |