The Historian and the Shift to the Right

Many people regard the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States with dismay and fear. This session will offer a chance to discuss and debate its historical and global context and implications.

There will be 5-minute contributions from members of the history department. Karen Adler, Dean Blackburn, Roberta Cimino, David Gehring, Joe Merton, Claire Taylor and Maiken Umbach will tackle these questions:

• Is this the 1930s all over again?
• Is this the resurgence of ‘white America’?
• What role does ‘race’ play in the swing states?
• What in the US recent past has produced this result?
• What is populist nationalism?
• Can we historicise anti-intellectualism in the US, and Italy, Greece, Denmark, France, the Netherlands - and Britain?
• Are we witnessing the end of the post-1945 order/’the West’?
• Will the Right always win?

Then we will open the discussion up to the floor.

Do come and join in!

All students and staff welcome and no registration necessary. 

Download the poster.