Excavating reaction and regression: American conservatism in Material perspective

Contributors to this session utilize archaeological theories and methodologies to explicate the current conservative ascendancy in American politics. The recent elections have highlighted the extent to which American conservatism is a historically variable but socially constituted formation. However, there is still a great deal of popular and scholarly confusion over its causes, consequences and whether this ascendancy represents something new or is simply a continuation of existing structural and political forces. Avoiding the popular moralizing dismissal of conservative support as stemming from ignorance, we instead focus on the role of material things and spaces in organizing this current historical moment. Papers can focus attention on political memorabilia, the role of consumer choices and commodities in conservative policy and subjectivity, the role of monuments and historical landscapes in constructive conservative heritage, and the material consequences of conservative policy and ideology to exacerbate inequalities along lines of race, ethnicity, class, and gender.