Browsing by Author "Klein, Bradley S."
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- Citizenship after Trump: Democracy vs. Authoritarianism in a Post-Pandemic EraKlein, Bradley S.; Nelson, Scott G. (Routledge, 2022-04-01)What is the fate of democracy at this moment in American history? In Citizenship after Trump, political theorists Bradley S. Klein and Scott G. Nelson explore the meaning of community in the context of intense political polarization, the surge of far-right nationalism and deepening divisions during the coronavirus pandemic. The book urges all Americans to consider the claims of citizenship amidst the forces consolidating today around narrow conceptions of race, nation, ethnicity and religion – each of which imperil the institutions of democracy and strike at the heart of the nation’s political culture. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic greatly testing American democracy, the authors examine the political, economic and cultural challenges that are posed after the Trump administration’s exceedingly inept leadership response. They also explore the promise and limits of democracy relative to long-standing traditions of American political thought. Citizenship after Trump thus offers valuable and timely resources for self-critical analysis and will stimulate focused discussions about as-of-yet unexplored regions of America’s political history. With chapters on the media, political economy, fascism and social democracy, the aim of this book is to question what Americans have gotten so wrong, politically, and what kind of vision can lead the country out of a truly dangerous impasse in the years ahead.
- On the Media: Digital Media Dynamics in a Time of TrumpNelson, Scott G.; Klein, Bradley S. (2022)The role of a free, open and critical press has always been central to democracy. In this chapter the changing structure of modern media industries are examined – print, broadcast and digital – to see how traditional functions of editing, story selection and reportorial investigation have been short-circuited in a new business environment devoted more to audience engagement than to citizen information. We also explore in detail how Trump in particular mastered the process of making himself newsworthy while simultaneously circumventing critical scrutiny of his actions. The chapter ends with an exploration of the ambiguous nature of new digital and independent social media outlets: susceptible both to conspiratorial alt-right community building and, at the same time, to a viable, critical community of independent investigative journalism.