Trump’s electoral speeches and his appeal to the American white working class

Authors

Michele Lamont
Bo Yun Park, Jepson School of Leadership, University of RichmondFollow
Elena Ayala-Hurtado

DOI

10.1111/1468-4446.12315

Abstract

This paper contributes to the study of social change by considering boundary work as a dimension of cultural change. Drawing on the computer-assisted qualitative analysis of 73 formal speeches made by Donald Trump during the 2016 electoral campaign, we argue that his political rhetoric, which led to his presidential victory, addressed the white working class’s concern with their declining position in the national pecking order. He addressed this group’s concern by raising their moral status, that is, by (1) emphatically describing them as hard-working Americans who are victims of globalization; (2) voicing their concerns about ‘people above’ (professionals, the rich, and politicians); (3) drawing strong moral boundaries toward undocumented immigrants, refugees, and Muslims; (4) presenting African Americans and (legal) Hispanic Americans as workers who also deserve jobs; (5) stressing the role of working-class men as protectors of women and LGBTQ people. This particular case study of the role of boundary work in political rhetoric provides a novel, distinctively sociological approach for capturing dynamics of social change.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2017, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12315

The definitive version is available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12315

Recommended Citation

Lamont, M., Park, B.Y. and Ayala-Hurtado, E. (2017), Trump's electoral speeches and his appeal to the American white working class. The British Journal of Sociology, 68: S153-S180. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12315