The resentful undergrowth of nostalgia: Ontological insecurity, relative deprivation and powerlessness

Abstract

This article untangles competing conceptualisations of nostalgia and identifies a specific form of collective‐restorative nostalgia as politically significant. We argue that the link between resentment and this type of nostalgia emerges from their joint critique of the socio‐political realities of the present. Nostalgia provides spatial and temporal orientations for a group's experiences of resentment through highly selective recollections of the heartland and an idealised golden age. We hypothesize that nostalgia leverages the heartland and the golden age to formulate claims for recognition and restored status on behalf of those who feel left behind by late modernity. Next, the article uses structural equation modelling and the 2019 Belgian National Election Study to reveal how resentment (consisting of ontological insecurity, group relative deprivation, and powerlessness) mediates between structural characteristics and nostalgia. Our findings suggest that each component of resentment individually contributes to explaining the nostalgia of less educated and economically deprived individuals.

Antecedents of Corruption Perception in Guyana

“…Apart from the variables commonly examined in corruption perception research, we consider the role of feelings of resentment. These feelings arise in response to the perception of being wrongfully disadvantaged or deprived, mainly as a group (Abts and Baute, 2022; Rogenhofer et al, 2023). We focus on three constructs – powerlessness, relative deprivation, and status insecurity – to capture feelings of resentment (see Abts and Baute, 2022).…”

Poverty attributions in Guyana: Between self-interest, resentment, and ideology

“…Consequently, individuals consistently seek external targets to assign blame (Solomon, 1994). Our argument posits that resentment, encompassing economic insecurity, relative deprivation, and feelings of powerlessness, fuels profound disillusionment with contemporary society and its establishments, holding them accountable for perceived injustices, including the manifestation of poverty (see also Rogenhofer et al, 2023).…”

“…The relatively deprived believe that other groups receive preferential treatment while their own group is portrayed as systematically and undeservingly disadvantaged. This structural feeling of injustice leads to blaming the established system, welfare state, and political elites (Abts, 2012; Smith et al, 2012; Spruyt et al, 2016; Rogenhofer et al, 2023). Consequently, the government could also be held responsible for the disadvantaged situation of those at the lower end of the societal ladder, thus being more likely to favour structural explanations.…”