For five years, I've been involved in groundbreaking social policy research in two international studies, where we have seen nearly universal connections between poverty, class and shame. Applied to the U.S. context, our findings offer insight as to what may be driving support for Trump by people with the odds stacked againstthem.
Managing shame: the lost middle class. Our current political discourse provides the perfect recipe for maximizing the shame of poverty. Both Democrats and Republicans emphasize the ideals of equal opportunity, the American Dream, and meritocracy, of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The shared ideal is that all American citizens have an equal chance for success, much of which depends on individual effort. Yet, for many, a wide gulf exists between the American Dream and everydayreality.
The American middle class has been hollowed out and blue-collar workers have experienced a collective move downward. A weakened union presence means these workers have lost a united arena for on-the-job protection and mobilization. With Bill Clinton's promise to end welfare as we know it realized, struggling people ha
