The Plague of Bannonism

• In Event: Taking New-Right Thinkers Seriously: Perspectives on Europe, Russia, and the US

Abstract

The paper seeks to sketch basic features of "Bannonism" as an
ideological tendency. Donald Trump’s thinking is too erratic and
scattershot to count as a real system of ideas; Steve Bannon's version of
populism seems significantly more focused, more self-conscious, and hence
more open to theory-based critical analysis. That’s not at all to say that
Bannon's ideas achieve intellectual coherence or consistency. Close
examination of the defining components of his worldview in fact suggest
the opposite. Still, engagement with contemporary right-populism cannot,
or should not, avoid Bannon and his attempts to stoke up a new ideology.

Author

• Ronald Beiner, University of Toronto, Mississauga