Donald Trump, Crime, the Fascist Lifeworld, and Speaking Truth to Power

• In Event: Crime, Law, Justice and the Trump Administration 2: American Autocracy in the Making?

Abstract

A systematic assault on truth is the prevailing characteristic of fascist movements growing in the US. Donald Trump and his emblematic mobilization is arguably the definitive case study for these ideologies. In their assault on truth, if not better characterized as the negation of fact in a “post-truth” dystopia, I argue the constitution of a fascist lifeworld by these movements culminates as a veil, estranging each from each in simulacra. As a case study, Trump, whose ascendancy was facilitated by this lifeworld, has employed, been empowered by, and propagated this veil. I have two objectives for this paper. First, present Trump’s speech about crime as an exemplar of this lifeworld – its idiomatic appropriation, empirical misrepresentation, complicity with misperception, fabrication of insecurity and risk, and obscurity for the social realities of crime. Second, I share my experiences doing public criminology as an educator, activist, and researcher working to amplify voices of resistance and truth in the time of Trump and this fascist lifeworld. I describe my experiences and reflections on public criminology for truth about crime, hoping this may provide community and inspiration, if not a call-to-arms. Now is the time: speak truth to power.

Author

• C. Michael Awsumb, Northwest Missouri State University