Sex or Money or Both? Culture Wars and Economics in the Right-Wing Resurgence Lecture - Bethany Moreton

Sex or Money or Both?
Culture Wars and Economics in the Right-Wing Resurgence

In the wake of the 2024 election, analysis has predictably returned to a half-century-old question: Does politics pivot around “hot-button social issues” or “pocketbook politics?”  Were voters motivated by Christian nationalism and trans liberation, or by interest rates and the price of eggs? Generations of scholars have argued back against this simplistic distinction, elucidating the economic dimensions of “merely cultural” issues. But what about the opposite dynamic? Where are the culture wars within economics, and what can they tell us about the new resurgence of right-wing authoritarianism?

Co-sponsored by Smith College History Department, Government Department, Study of Women and Gender Department, Religion Department - Wilson-Rikert Memorial Fund