August 24, 2016 In US electoral politics since the 1980s, many candidates have (re-)branded themselves as “hip” and “cool” by utilizing hit songs from mainstream popular music. As a significant example of this trend during the 1992 US presidential election, Bill Clinton mobilized MTV culture by using classic rock, with Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” servingContinue reading ““This Land Is (Once Again) Your Land”: Woody Guthrie and the 2015–16 US Presidential Race”
Monthly Archives: August 2016
Deconstructing the Populism: Pop Music on the Modern Campaign Trail
August 8, 2016 There is perhaps no phrase that defines the 2016 election cycle better than a return of populism. In the US, populism (broadly defined as appeal to “the people” against established powers, social structures, and hegemonic ideologies and values) bubbled to the surface in the wake of the so-called Great Recession (2007–09). TheContinue reading “Deconstructing the Populism: Pop Music on the Modern Campaign Trail”