Her Body, Her Choice: Tough Girl Affect, Trump Support, and the 2020 Pandemic

When anti-lockdown protests erupted in the United States during the 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many right-wing women crudely appropriated the feminist slogan "my body, my choice" in defiance of liberal fears and in support of Donald Trump. Looking at the widely shared image of a young woman holding a sign with the phrase at a rally in Texas, I discuss the communal charge of what I call tough girl affect—a politically saturated vibe, touting a notably youthful, right-wing femininity that is deliberately feisty, fun, and provocative, yet compliant with the hetero-patriarchal agenda of Trump's neoliberal macho politics. I am interested in the way body and choice evoke white femininity as affective strategy, negotiating a public feeling of privileged belonging to the nation. The article works through the tenets of body, border, and nation as central to this investment, suggesting that the tough girl image mobilizes femininity to affectively strengthen conservatism, whiteness, and homeland in the face of the pandemic. Staging a fantasy of impunity, the tough girl intimates the invincible conservative body in opposition to the porous emotionality of feeble liberals. At the same time, the spectacle of white femininity necessarily fuels national fears of permeability and hence charges negative (even fatal) attachments to fantasmatic sovereignty. While mobilizing vulnerability to energize femininity, whiteness, and borders, the image ultimately exposes the compromised bargains of living and dying in (Trump's) America. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Camera Obscura is the property of Duke University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Trump administration, the far-right and world politics

We contend that the Trump administration mainstreamed far-right politics through its foreign policy on China, the World Health Organization and its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our Gramscian-Kautskyian theoretical perspective concentrates on elite power, class, and interconnections between advanced global capitalism and domestic inequality. We show that the administration amplified US far-right Sinophobia even as it deepened connections between US and Chinese corporate elites. Its foreign policy strategy attempted to appease transnational capitalist objectives through 'ultra-imperialism' and draw on far-right ideas to shore up its domestic support base. But the administration, much like previous ones, attempted to make China a subordinate 'responsible stakeholder' through integrating and pressuring it in the Liberal International Order. The Gramscian-Kautskyian approach highlights that Sino–US relations are a mix of security and economic competition and interdependency. Over all, we argue that the Trump administration was not such a threat to the establishment as commonly contended. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Globalizations is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Commemorative Populism in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Strategic (Ab)use of Memory in Anti-Corona Protest Communication on Telegram

During the COVID-19 pandemic, self-proclaimed resistance movements have organized protests against containment measures both in digital media and on the streets. References to the past and an invocation of collective memory have been important elements in the toolbox of their populist communication. We propose the notion of "commemorative populism" to describe the weaponization of history and memory for the proliferation of a political cause by populist activists. In a qualitative content analysis, we examined postings by the German "Querdenker," a movement against Corona containment policies. Findings show 6 types of the (ab)use of history and collective memory: (1) the recontextualization of quotations by historical personalities, (2) the creation of false historical analogies and flattering genealogies, (3) the claim of historical exceptionalism, (4) the denigration of elites by referring to failures of medical history, (5) the dissemination of disinformation about historical facts, and (6) the support of conspiracy myths by the myths' own history.

Introduction: Theorizing the psychology of deglobalization

The unprecedented pace and scope of globalization over the past half century have had major impacts on the field of psychology. We observe that since the 2008 financial crisis, there have been increased academic and political concerns with "deglobalization,” which is often associated with terrorism, xenophobia, authoritarianism, Brexit, the US–China trade war, the Russian war on Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that the phenomenon of deglobalization is historically uncertain but intellectually and politically significant enough to warrant analysis. Thus, in this special issue, we begin to theorize the psychology of deglobalization by addressing several foundational issues: the major manifestations of deglobalization in relation to psychosocial life, the dialectical relations between globalization and deglobalization, and possible ways to respond to the challenges of deglobalization. In the meantime, we flesh out these theoretical perspectives using the cases of nationalism, neoliberalism, White supremacy, far-right politics, dehumanization, isolationism, and trade conflicts.

Dual Evolutionary Foundations of Political Ideology Predict Divergent Responses to COVID-19

Political conservatives' opposition to COVID-19 restrictions is puzzling given the well-documented links between conservatism and conformity, threat sensitivity, and pathogen aversion. We propose a resolution based on the Dual Foundations Theory of ideology, which holds that ideology comprises two dimensions, one reflecting trade-offs between threat-driven conformity and individualism, and another reflecting trade-offs between empathy-driven cooperation and competition. We test predictions derived from this theory in a UK sample using individuals' responses to COVID-19 and widely-used measures of the two dimensions - 'right-wing authoritarianism' (RWA) and 'social dominance orientation' (SDO), respectively. Consistent with our predictions, we show that RWA, but not SDO, increased following the pandemic and that high-RWA conservatives do display more concerned, conformist, pro-lockdown attitudes, while high-SDO conservatives display less empathic, cooperative attitudes and are anti-lockdown. This helps explain paradoxical prior results and highlights how a focus on unidimensional ideology can mask divergent motives across the ideological landscape.

Populism and Its Definitions: Interpretations and Perspectives of a Multifaceted Political Model

This chapter deals with some of the many definitions of populism, starting with the first event in which a community of researchers came together for this purpose: the 1967 London Conference ‘To Define Populism'. The text follows the evolution of the central themes to the present day and explores, in particular, the tools produced by populism studies that help to understand two contemporary challenges: first, the emergence of new forms of populism fragmented into antagonistic groups during the SarsCoV2 Pandemic, but linked to broader authoritarian visions, and second, the new reflection on the principle of nationality and international solidarity that arose after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Both are challenges to the principles, intelligence and strength of democracies. This text focuses on two aspects in particular: first, the logic with which to construct definitions, so as to avoid errors of setting (unclear and ill-defined choice of subject to be studied), elaboration (conceptual stretching) and evaluation (researcher bias), and second, the understanding of the different identities with which the ‘people' presents itself and acts historically: populace, mob, civil society and revolutionary people;they cannot be confused within the same ‘populism'. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Risk Narratives on Immigration During the COVID-19 Crisis in Italy: A Comparative Analysis of Facebook Posts Published by Politicians and by News media

This work explores how the narrative on immigration changes when society is threatened by "real” risks, i.e., during the COVID-19 health crisis. We compared the frequency and engagement of over 348,684 posts published on Facebook between December 2019 and November 2020 by Italian politicians and news media. We identified two waves of  "tangible crisis” assuming that in these two periods the risk stemming from COVID-19 was strongly perceived by the Italian population, contrasting our observations to the periods preceding the first wave and between both waves. Our findings suggest that the political discourse and risk narratives on immigration decreased during times of "tangible crises” for right-wing populist parties and news media. This happened at a time when key policies regarding immigration and regularization of migrants were highly discussed by the Italian government, receiving unexpectedly low reactions. This leads us to theorize that anti-immigrant communication decreases during times of "tangible crises.”  [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Communication Inquiry is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Gramsci, the Relativity of the Integral State-Society, and the COVID-19 Interregnum

Gramscian scholars have engaged with Gramsci's leitmotif (‘rhythm of thought') and the stato integrale (integral state), a concept he introduced in Autumn 1930. This represents remarkable progress in the Marxist community. But what requires further attention is the interconnection between an integral state and a totalitarian one, two of the three expressions of state-society formations that Perry Anderson identified as Gramsci's antinomies. This article argues that the integral state is fragile but hegemonic if it can be sustained. Otherwise, it can degenerate into a totalitarian state. The article refigures the ‘integral state' as the ‘integral state-society'. It exists relatively, depending on whether the ‘integral momentum' or the ‘totalitarian tendency' prevails in a dynamic interaction between radical Left, Far Right, and those currents in between. Identifying this relativity helps to formulate a deeper understanding of Gramsci's thought and show how his legacy supports a class struggle perspective on the COVID-19 interregnum.

How political orientation, economic precarity, and participant demographics impact compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures in a Dutch representative sample

We examine the relationship between individuals' political orientations and their compliance with and attitudes towards COVID-19 prevention measures using a Dutch nationally representative online sample. Due to ideological differences, we predict that people with left-wing and progressive orientations will comply more with and have more favourable attitudes towards COVID-19 prevention measures than people with right-wing, populist, and conservative orientations, while right-wing extremists will have lowest levels of compliance and least favourable attitudes towards prevention measures. Our results support these predictions. Furthermore, we test the effect of individuals' economic precarity and demographic characteristics on compliance and attitudes towards prevention measures. Results show that people experiencing economic difficulties do comply yet have less favourable attitudes towards the measures, while fear of economic loss is related to both lower compliance and less favourable attitudes towards measures. Older citizens have higher levels of compliance and more positive attitudes, whereas gender and education are not consistently related to compliance and attitudes. We further explore how these three sets of factors (political orientation, economic precarity, and demographics) are related to policy preferences for either reducing infection rates or reducing the economic impact of the pandemic. Our results suggest that all three sets of predictors are important in shaping measure compliance as well as attitudes and policy support and should all be considered for a comprehensive understanding of individuals' responses to COVID-19 measures.

Hippies Next to Right-Wing Extremists?: Identifying Subgroups of Antilockdown Protesters in Germany Using Latent Profile Analysis

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, adherence to protective measures was crucial around the world. While most complied with these measures, a vocal minority protested against them. Early reports emphasized the unusual heterogeneity of these protests: Hippies and esoterics marched alongside conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazis. We examined what these protestors might (and might not) have in common. A large study with antilockdown protestors in Germany (N = 1,700) revealed four subgroups: centrists, politically undifferentiated, left-wingers, and right-wingers. Beyond that, these subgroups demonstrated striking similarities: All endorsed conspiracy beliefs, misinformation, esotericism, and vaccine hesitancy to a similar extent. These beliefs share that they are scientifically unfounded and epistemically unwarranted. They may unite individuals from diverse political backgrounds in the antilockdown protests. © 2023 The Author(s).

Crisis, Rhetoric and Right-Wing Populist Incumbency: An Analysis of Donald Trump's Tweets and Press Briefings

How do right-wing-populist incumbents navigate rhetorical strategic choices when they seek to manage external crises? Relevant literature has paid increasing attention to the role of ‘crisis' in boosting the electoral success of right-wing populist candidates. We know a lot less about the rhetorical strategies used by right-wing populist incumbents seeking re-election. We draw on literatures on populism, crisis management and political rhetoric to conceptualize the rhetorical strategic choices of right-wing populist incumbents in times of crisis. We propose a framework for the choice of rhetorical strategy available to right-wing populist incumbents and illustrate it with a qualitative content analysis of Trump's tweets and White House press briefings during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find limited rhetorical adaptation to crisis and high degrees of continuity with previous rhetoric grounded in right-wing populism. This challenges prevalent assumptions regarding the likelihood of incumbent rhetorical flexibility in the face of crisis.

Sheriffs, right-wing extremism, and the limits of U.S. federalism during a crisis

Background: During the COVID-19 crisis, sheriffs across the country vocally refused to implement mask mandates. Objectives: In this note, we argue that resistance to mask mandates emerged out of successful efforts to recruit sheriffs into right-wing extremism (RWE) and its foundations in white supremacy, nativism, and anti-government extremism. Methods: We draw on upon historical analysis and a national survey of sheriffs. Results: We show how RWE movements recruited sheriffs and that a substantial share of sheriffs adopted RWE attitudes. We argue that this radicalization of county sheriffs primes them to resist a core component of federalism: mandates by supra governments. We identify a relationship between sheriffs. RWE attitudes and their resistance to enforcing COVID-19 mask mandates. Conclusion: Our work demonstrates the importance of considering the implications of violent extremism in the United States, particularly as it aligns with local law enforcement. © 2023 The Authors. Social Science Quarterly published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Southwestern Social Science Association.

A Review of COVID-19 Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Transport

Introduction: Use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been a transport standard of care for cardiovascular and pulmonary compromised patients. However, implementation and associated outcomes for unstable patients diagnosed with SARS-COV-2 infection has not been documented. Method(s): A retrospective chart review was performed examining ECMO transports of patients with SARS-COV-2 infection from April 2020- October 2021 involving one healthcare transport program. Variables of interest included: pH pre-post cannulation, BMI, pre-existing health conditions, medications utilized, and health outcomes. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Result(s): 21 transports were completed involving North Carolina and South Carolina referral facilities: 15 ground ambulance and 6 EC-145 rotor wing aircraft. All patients were cannulated at outside hospitals, with 2 performed by the transport team. While there were no complications during transport, trends illustrated those patients persistently acidotic (pH< 7.35) after ECMO cannulation were more likely to die.8 of the 10 patients who died had persistently low pH, versus the survivors where only 3 of 11 had persistently low pH after cannulation. This was a statistically significant difference in survival outcomes for those with sustained normal pH after cannulation, p=0.03. BMI had no statistically significant influence on outcomes, p=0.08. Conclusion(s): Transportof patients on ECMO with SARS-COV-2 virus infection is safe and effective with a specialty transport team. The significance between post-ECMO cannulation pH and patient outcomes requires further examination which may aid in patient management.Copyright © 2022

Social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and political attitudes toward governmental performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

This research examined the association of social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) with the evaluations of the government's anti-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) policies and performance. In Study 1 (N = 261), we found that SDO and RWA were positively associated with resistance to criticism about the government's anti-COVID-19 measures. In addition, SDO was positively associated with favorable evaluations of the government's performance in handling the crisis. Support for lockdown policies mediated these attitudes. In Study 2 (N = 438), the results show that SDO and RWA had indirect associations with beliefs in the superiority of China's political system through three mediation variables. Evaluations of the US government's performance in handling the COVID-19 pandemic were negatively associated with beliefs in the superiority of China's political system, and there was a negative relationship between evaluations of the Chinese and US governments' performances. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Is the myth of left-wing authoritarianism itself a myth?

Is left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) closer to a myth or a reality? Twelve studies test the empirical existence and theoretical relevance of LWA. Study 1 reveals that both conservative and liberal Americans identify a large number of left-wing authoritarians in their lives. In Study 2, participants explicitly rate items from a recently-developed LWA measure as valid measurements of authoritarianism. Studies 3-11 show that persons who score high on this same LWA scale possess the traits associated with models of authoritarianism: LWA is positively related to threat sensitivity across multiple areas, including general ecological threats (Study 3), COVID disease threat (Study 4), Belief in a Dangerous World (Study 5), and Trump threat (Study 6). Further, high-LWA persons show more support for restrictive political correctness norms (Study 7), rate African-Americans and Jews more negatively (Studies 8-9), and show more cognitive rigidity (Studies 10 and 11). These effects hold when controlling for political ideology and when looking only within liberals, and further are similar in magnitude to comparable effects for right-wing authoritarianism. Study 12 uses the World Values Survey to provide cross-cultural evidence of Left-Wing Authoritarianism around the globe. Taken in total, this large array of triangulating evidence from 12 studies comprised of over 8,000 participants from the U.S. and over 66,000 participants world-wide strongly suggests that left-wing authoritarianism is much closer to a reality than a myth.

Violent Assault on a Chinese Man: COVID-19 Psychosocial Resource Loss Diminishes Right Wing Authoritarianism Variability in Societal Reactions.

We examined whether prejudice-related personality characteristics (i.e., right wing authoritarianism [RWA]) and COVID-19-driven psychological resource loss might predict perpetrator-directed punitive responding (i.e., support for criminal charges) to a COVID-19-related attack on a Chinese victim by a White male. Across two studies, participants completed an RWA measure and reported the extent they had experienced COVID-19-related psychosocial resource loss. They then read a passage describing the COVID-19-related physical assault. For both studies, at low resource loss levels, low RWA participants reported greater punitive responding toward the perpetrator than high RWA participants. This RWA-punitive responding association was mediated by greater victim-directed suffering sensitivity (i.e., empathy) for Study 1 and greater anti-perpetrator reactions (i.e., hate crime perceptions) for Study 2. The RWA association with the relevant outcome variables (i.e., suffering sensitivity, anti-perpetrator bias, and punitive responding) was eliminated at high psychological resource loss levels. Specifically, low and high RWA participants reported similar reactions. While previous research has demonstrated that high RWA individuals tend to report greater outgroup-directed prejudicial responses due to COVID-19-driven perceptions of threat, our findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic can also elicit feelings of resource loss that can diminish the egalitarian reactions typically reported by low RWA individuals. In sum, we demonstrate that experiencing difficult life circumstances such as COVID-19 psychosocial resource loss can diminish supportive reactions toward victimized minority group members even among low RWA participants who are typically expected to be more sensitive to the struggles of those who are disadvantaged.

How to struggle with exclusionary right-wing populism: evidence from Turkey

This paper investigates the new character of the strategy of the Republican People's Party (CHP) using populism to combat the success of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). We consider populism along a left-right axis in terms of the differentiation of exclusionary and inclusionary approaches and conduct a content analysis of campaign speeches by Ekrem Ímamoğlu during the 2019 local elections, as well as speeches of the party elites given during the currency crisis of 2018 and the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that an alternative to the exclusionary right-wing populism may construct images of egalitarianism, participatory budgeting, and agrarian populism instead of mobilizing security or survival issues. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The role of the COVID-19 impersonal threat strengthening the associations of right-wing attitudes, nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiments.

Literature showed that the link between right-wing attitudes and ethnocentric attitudes gets stronger under existential threats, but the role exerted by an impersonal threat - as COVID-19 - on right-wing attitudes is still unclear. This study aimed to highlight the role of anxiety exerted by the impersonal COVID-19 threat on the relationship between right-wing attitudes and ethnocentric attitudes, as nationalism and anti-immigrants' sentiments. As part of an international project to evaluate the impact of COVID-19, this study administered an online survey to a representative sample (n 1038). The anxiety generated by an impersonal threat as COVID-19 - thus not exerted by any outgroup - can moderate the relationship among personal Right-Wing Authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and ethnocentric attitudes. This is the first study demonstrating that existential threat is effective also when exerted by an impersonal agent (as COVID-19) rather than by an outgroup. Second, these findings disclose useful implications for preventive psychological interventions and for social policy makers. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04305-w.

Can the New Left Deliver Change in Latin America?

The intense Latin American electoral cycle of 2020–22 coincided with deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing frustration with the status quo. Anti-incumbent sentiment coupled with demands for more inclusive and fair economic models prompted a pronounced shift to the left in the region, although with many different shades of ‘pink'. But an increasingly polarised and fragmented political and social environment is testing the ability of new governments to deliver change, as shown by the popular rejection of a new constitution in Chile. A more limited fiscal space is also constraining these governments' effectiveness. Nevertheless, political alignment among countries with important stakes in global climate-change mitigation and thwarting drug trafficking could produce more cohesive foreign-policy stances and increased regional leverage.

An unexpected Socialist majority: the 2022 Portuguese general elections

The Portuguese elections of early 2022 took place during the most severe wave of COVID-19 infections in Portugal. Nevertheless, the pandemic was not the most important issue in the campaign. Although opinion polls forecast a narrow election, the Socialists gained their second absolute majority in history. The electoral results marked a breakthrough for the radical right and Liberals. Every other traditional party had its worst electoral night in democratic history. The Christian Democrats and the Greens ended up exiting the parliament. The 2022 general elections saw the Socialists rise to dominance and the end of the Portuguese exceptionalism in keeping the radical right at arm's length.