The political economy of “White Identity Politics”: economic self-interest and perceptions of immigration

Melcher, Cody R.

doi:10.1080/01419870.2020.1730925

Cited by 10 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Two studies considered how White Americans' individual level financial status motivates voting behavior, as a way of confirming or disconfirming the presence of status threat ( Melcher, 2021 ; Mutz, 2018 ). Using panel surveys from a representative sample, Mutz (2018) investigated whether individual financial well-being predicted Republican or Democratic presidential candidate preference.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Melcher's (2021) study also considered the impact of personal financial status on White Americans' voting behaviors. Using American National Election Studies 2016 Time Series Study data, the author challenged the findings presented in Jardina's (2019) award-winning book, White Identity Politics , which contends that White Americans' perceived status threat bolstered Trump's success in 2016.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Perceived status threat and health among White Americans: A scoping review

Efird¹,

Bennett²,

Metzl³

et al. 2023

SSM - Population Health

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived status threat and health among White Americans: A scoping review

Efird¹,

Bennett²,

Metzl³

et al. 2023

SSM - Population Health

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“…These effects through ethnonationalism are also robust to a host of alternative model specifications. A contemporary debate in the literature concerns the effects of perceived job insecurity and Whites' negative attitudes towards immigration (Melcher, 2020). To account for these effects, I limit my sample to Whites in employment only, and include additional controls for perceived job insecurity and for whether a respondent reported having a cut to their working hours or pay 17 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnonationalism and White immigration attitudes

Thompson

2021

Nations and Nationalism

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In this article, I explore how much of White Americans' opposition to immigration—opposition that is often grounded in fears of the threat that immigration poses to the robustness of America's national identity—is shaped by ethnonationalism, a set of beliefs concerning which traits are important for being a “true” American. Drawing on data from the 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES), I examine how ethnonationalism shapes White Americans' attitudes towards immigrants. I find that ethnonationalism is positively associated with anti‐immigrant attitudes among Whites, with the effect size of my ethnonationalism measure being larger than that of any other variable in my ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model. Critically, this includes a number of variables that are already known to be strongly predictive of White attitudes towards immigration, such as Republican partisanship. Beyond anti‐immigrant attitudes, I also find that ethnonationalism also predicts support for policies that would restriction immigration.

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“…Recent scholarship on how race, whiteness, gender, and other social identities affect political attitudes offers extensive analyses of current controversies and tensions surrounding growing social and ethnic diversity and tensions in the U.S. and Europe (Gimpel and Lay 2008;Gusterson 2017;Lichter, Parisi, and Taquino 2018). Populist political movements frequently adopt xenophobic attitudes in order to keep privileged racial groups in positions of dominance (Jardina 2019;Melcher 2021). Growing demographic diversity in the U.S. includes shifts to more non-white majority regions with an influx of immigration and refugees from Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.…”

Section: Theorizing Social Identities and Spatial Dimensions Of Populismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In both the United States and Europe, politics have polarized around attitudes towards immigrants and racially diverse populations in general (Gimpel and Lay 2008;Melcher 2021). According to Alba and Foner (2017), the intensification of negative attitudes towards ethnic or racial minorities, however, tends to be in places with few immigrants and low ethno-racial diversity.…”

Section: Theorizing Social Identities and Spatial Dimensions Of Populismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Populism and Identity Politics in the U.S. Heartland

Oberhauser¹,

Krier²

2022

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The rise of populism on the political right in the U.S. and Europe in recent decades reflects a significant shift in political culture. This populism has been associated with the rejection of mainstream politics and increased hostility toward immigrants, racialized minorities, and other marginalized groups who are seen as threats to economic security and hegemonic social identities. In the U.S. Heartland, several key states flipped from Democrat to Republican in 2016, sealing Trump’s win and leading to widespread debates about populist political attitudes in this region. This analysis draws from focus group discussions with community leaders in rural and micropolitan Iowa to understand how local discourses about economic and social change intersects with rising populist politics. Three characteristics of community life emerged as areas of concern among these groups; economic destabilization associated with neoliberalism, changes in social composition, and a profound sense of rurality. Our findings reveal how populism and identity movements on the political right are integrated with Heartland political culture, contributing to the recent electoral success of right-wing populist candidates. The discussion concludes with recommendations to promote a progressive and inclusive agenda for the Heartland and the U.S. as a whole.

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The political economy of “White Identity Politics”: economic self-interest and perceptions of immigration

Cited by 10 publications

References 20 publications

Perceived status threat and health among White Americans: A scoping review

Perceived status threat and health among White Americans: A scoping review

Ethnonationalism and White immigration attitudes

Populism and Identity Politics in the U.S. Heartland

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