"This law is no good": Excavating the Appeal of Right-Wing Populism in Rural New York

Summary

Polls conducted by Reuters-Ipsos after the 2016 election revealed that 75% of American voters wanted "a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful," and 68% agreed that "traditional parties and politicians don’t care about people like [them]." A brand of right-wing populism emerged to speak to these concerns, and ultimately it helped deliver Trump to power. In this paper, I explore the roots of the appeal of this political movement in one rural region that voted overwhelmingly for the Republican ticket—New York’s Adirondack Park. By placing the consumption and production strategies of one turn-of-the-century logging family into focus, I highlight the long history of class conflict that shaped the Adirondacks and that continues to fuel anti-government and anti-elite sentiment there today. Here, I call attention to how working-class Adirondackers have responded to the intensive regulation of natural resources that followed the Adirondack Park’s creation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Excavating reaction and regression: American conservatism in Material perspective   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 507