It’s Nostalgia That’s Driving Modern Politics

Introduction

In a recent op-ed for The Washington Post, Professor Aaron Hanlon of Colby College negatively referenced an article I wrote for Quillette, “The Rise and Emergence of Post-Modern Conservatism.” He characterized me as one of several authors who misguidedly blamed post-modern philosophy for “causing” Trump. While I admired much of Professor Hanlon’s article, I also believed he misinterpreted my position on post-modern philosophy. He implied that I blamed post-modern philosophy for the emergence of Trumpism and post-modern conservatism, when in fact it is a necessary analytical tool for diagnosing why he came to power. I responded to Professor Hanlon’s thoughtful criticisms of my article (I don’t speak for the other authors of course) in an extensive recent piece for Quillette. Those interested in a more extensive defense of my arguments about post-modern conservatism may look there. In this piece, I want to look at a related but broader topic: the use of nostalgia as a political emotion.

Nostalgia for the past has long been a powerful political emotion. Its appeal is perhaps most notable among conservatives. Trump’s mantra that he will “Make America Great Again” is just the latest and, by far, the crudest such appeal. It also animates the popularity of contemporary intellectuals like Jordan Peterson through his invocations of a religious God who Nietzsche famously claimed was "dead." Lesser pundits such as Dennis Prager call for a return of Biblical morality, and filmmakers like Dinesh D’Souza pine for the allegedly more patriotic and morally homogeneous United States of yesterday.

And, of course, there are the sentiments of countless right-wing populists in Europe who long for a return to the nation-state and the supposed socio-cultural homogeneity of the pre-European Union era. Interestingly, these sentiments are not just present on the right. Individuals on the far left have also expressed nostalgia for the politics of the past. Whether it is Alain Badiou’s markedly French recollections of the May 1968 student revolts, Slavoj Zizek’s surprisingly deep engagement with Christian theology and symbology, or David Harvey’s always interesting efforts to make the 200-year-old Marx relevant to the 21st century, many on the left are as prone to nostalgia as their counterparts on the right.