Abstract
The study of conservative backlash politics reveals a contradiction whereby blue-collar voters who are not doing well in the laissez-faire new economy flock to right-wing politicians whose main contributions to future policy are likely to be smaller government, fewer public amenities, more financial deregulation, weaker unions, and greater wealth inequality. In the first part of this chapter I look at conservative backlash politics in the United States in the early to mid-1990s and again in recent times following the financial meltdown of October 2008. In particular, I draw attention to the analysis of Thomas Frank , arguably the best of the US writers on conservative backlash politics. Having examined the US version it will then be possible to look at the Australian variant of this conservative backlash. The latter section of the chapter begins with a brief historical overview of conservative backlashes in Australia, followed by some observations of the Pauline Hanson One Nation (PHON) example, and a few thoughts about comparisons with the US and with earlier Australian ideas in an attempt to explain similarities and differences. In particular I discuss the political origins of the fear and anger driving the backlash, and the self-harming aspect of Hansonist policies embraced by working-class and middle-class Australians. Dismissing the PHON second wave as populism risks dismissing the acute failures of neoliberalism and globalization, which are at the roots of the phenomenon. These failures must be addressed.
The angry workers, mighty in their numbers, are marching irresistibly against the arrogant. They are shaking their fists at the sons of privilege. … They are massing at the gates … hoisting the black flag, and while the millionaires tremble in their mansions they are bellowing out their terrifying demands. “We are here” they scream “to cut your taxes”.
(Frank 2006 p. 109)
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Moore, T. (2019). Once as Tragedy and Again as Farce: Hansonism, Backlashers, and Economic Nationalism After 20 Years. In: Grant, B., Moore, T., Lynch, T. (eds) The Rise of Right-Populism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2670-7_10
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