Global Populism and its 1890s Southern United States Antecedent by Donald R. Wehrs - p. 291-308
References
Footnote - Donald R. Wehrs, “Global Populism and its 1890s Southern United States Antecedent: The
Vexing Case of Thomas E. Watson and William Faulkner’s Literary Intervention”, Safundi, 21(3), (Nashville,
Tenn.: Routledge, 2020), 291-308.
Bibliography - Wehrs, Donald R. ““Global Populism and its 1890s Southern United States Antecedent:
The Vexing Case of Thomas E. Watson and William Faulkner’s Literary Intervention”. Safundi, 21(July 2020)
Notes and Quotes
- ‘Contemporary global populism combines systemic critique of power inequities privileging sociocultural
elites with a politics of resentment congenial to nativist authoritarianism’ - 291
- Supports the general argument made by Postel and Hofstatder that the populist movement rose out
of a discontent surrounding the place that power was held with regards to isolated rural communities
- Systemic critique ‘emerges when customary and institutionalized social life appears not merely to be
infested by bad actors, but also to be “rigged” so as to ensure enrichment of the elite and
impoverishing disempowerment of non-elites’ - 292
- Populism is ‘triggered, at least in part, by conjunctions of resentment politics and systemic critique’ -
293
- This supports the earlier arguments as it shows that personal advancement is the main motivation for
the rise of populism
- ‘At the heart of 1890s Southern populism was a revolt against the effects of a lien-crop system that
produced, for white and black small-scale farmers alike’ - 294
- Argument that it was agrarian issues that triggered the rise in populism, but also that races remained
segregated despite having similar views
- ‘Moral urgency, rooted in affirming the normative value of fair play, motivated efforts to secure
economic freedom and equity’ - 295
- This demonstrates that the populist movement was not simply a political one, but also a moral one,
as those at the heart of the movement believed that the system in which they were being oppressed
was deeply immoral, giving them immediate justification in their eyes for a movement to overturn
these structures
- ‘Populist activist Thomas Watson argued that ‘poor blacks and poor whites, both victimized by identical
forces in identical ways, should vote together for the populist third party’ - 296
- ‘Appeal to African American voters on the basis of perceived joint self-interest, however, did not denote
rejection of dominant attitudes on race, either by Watson or by white Populists generally’ - 297
- This point does demonstrate the idea of victimisation within the populist movement as populists felt
personal anguish as a result of the perceived social, economic, and political injustices. It also shows
that very few populists were willing to look beyond racial segregations in order to form a more united
front, resulting in further splintering within the populist movement
- ‘the past configured by the latter’s slogan of making American great “again” links populism to the
nativist authoritarianism long central to white US Southern politics.’ - 298
- ‘the embrace of elements of modernity, noted by Postel in relation to 1890s populism, is no less
characteristic of contemporary global populist politics.’ - 299
- The importance of progressivism is highlighted here, as it underpins the overarching philosophy of
populism, which is centred around the advancements of one’s individual interests
- ‘as a political force, resentment is tainted by presumptions of superiority and therefore of innocence that
push in reactionary, protofascistic directions.’ - 299
References
Footnote - Donald R. Wehrs, “Global Populism and its 1890s Southern United States Antecedent: The
Vexing Case of Thomas E. Watson and William Faulkner’s Literary Intervention”, Safundi, 21(3), (Nashville,
Tenn.: Routledge, 2020), 291-308.
Bibliography - Wehrs, Donald R. ““Global Populism and its 1890s Southern United States Antecedent:
The Vexing Case of Thomas E. Watson and William Faulkner’s Literary Intervention”. Safundi, 21(July 2020)
Notes and Quotes
- ‘Contemporary global populism combines systemic critique of power inequities privileging sociocultural
elites with a politics of resentment congenial to nativist authoritarianism’ - 291
- Supports the general argument made by Postel and Hofstatder that the populist movement rose out
of a discontent surrounding the place that power was held with regards to isolated rural communities
- Systemic critique ‘emerges when customary and institutionalized social life appears not merely to be
infested by bad actors, but also to be “rigged” so as to ensure enrichment of the elite and
impoverishing disempowerment of non-elites’ - 292
- Populism is ‘triggered, at least in part, by conjunctions of resentment politics and systemic critique’ -
293
- This supports the earlier arguments as it shows that personal advancement is the main motivation for
the rise of populism
- ‘At the heart of 1890s Southern populism was a revolt against the effects of a lien-crop system that
produced, for white and black small-scale farmers alike’ - 294
- Argument that it was agrarian issues that triggered the rise in populism, but also that races remained
segregated despite having similar views
- ‘Moral urgency, rooted in affirming the normative value of fair play, motivated efforts to secure
economic freedom and equity’ - 295
- This demonstrates that the populist movement was not simply a political one, but also a moral one,
as those at the heart of the movement believed that the system in which they were being oppressed
was deeply immoral, giving them immediate justification in their eyes for a movement to overturn
these structures
- ‘Populist activist Thomas Watson argued that ‘poor blacks and poor whites, both victimized by identical
forces in identical ways, should vote together for the populist third party’ - 296
- ‘Appeal to African American voters on the basis of perceived joint self-interest, however, did not denote
rejection of dominant attitudes on race, either by Watson or by white Populists generally’ - 297
- This point does demonstrate the idea of victimisation within the populist movement as populists felt
personal anguish as a result of the perceived social, economic, and political injustices. It also shows
that very few populists were willing to look beyond racial segregations in order to form a more united
front, resulting in further splintering within the populist movement
- ‘the past configured by the latter’s slogan of making American great “again” links populism to the
nativist authoritarianism long central to white US Southern politics.’ - 298
- ‘the embrace of elements of modernity, noted by Postel in relation to 1890s populism, is no less
characteristic of contemporary global populist politics.’ - 299
- The importance of progressivism is highlighted here, as it underpins the overarching philosophy of
populism, which is centred around the advancements of one’s individual interests
- ‘as a political force, resentment is tainted by presumptions of superiority and therefore of innocence that
push in reactionary, protofascistic directions.’ - 299
