Charles Postel: "Populism vs. Trumpism: The Urban-Rural Divide in the History of American Political Thought"

Charles Postel*

Abstract:

In an extraordinary development, two candidates claiming to represent neglected rural America are running for vice president in the 2024 U.S. election. JD Vance, a self-styled "hillbilly" with ties to Appalachia, is a leading ideologue of the right-wing and authoritarian vision of the MAGA movement or Trumpism. Tim Walz, the surprise pick of presidential candidate Kamala Harris, was born on a farm in Nebraska and for many years taught high school in the old Populist strongholds of the Great Plains; he is currently the progressive Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor of Minnesota. The two men articulate sharply divergent versions of rural politics. Both versions have deep roots in the history of American political thought. Exploring this history sheds light on the explosive nature of the present electoral campaign, and on the emergence of a sharp rural-urban divide in U.S. politics.

_{*) Charles Postel's research focuses on populism and social and political movements in the United States. His award-winning books, The Populist Vision and Equality: An American Dilemma, 1866-1896, tell the history of the farmer-labor Populist movement of the late 19th century. He has also published research on the right-wing and conservative movements of the 21st century. He is a professor of history at San Francisco State University.}