Abstract

In the United States, the 2016 presidential elections were a surprise to many observers and political pundits. Voting and political affiliation had previously been constructed on a model of positive identification, on the alignment of voters with politicians with whom they felt a positive identification. The 2016 election highlighted, rather, the importance of negative identification of the voters. Voters with perhaps little personal identification with candidates chose candidates on the basis of shared objects of hatred, of negative identification. This hatred is linked to a certain disgust with some aspect of the Other that the voter wishes to avoid. This was true in the election of nominees and elected officials from both major parties. A second text in the chapter explores one path for politics that subverts the force of identification.