Between the ‘left behind’ and ‘the people’: Racism, populism and the construction of the ‘white working class’ in the context of Brexit

Abstract

The election of Donald Trump and the Brexit victory in the United Kingdom in 2016 have widely been attributed, both positively and negatively, to the ‘white working class’ as representative of ‘the people’ or demos, and their revolt against being ‘left behind’ (politically, economically and culturally), the status quo and liberal elites, in favour of racist far right politics. This has been commonly argued and accepted in elite discourse (media, politicians and academia), as if they speak for the working class and despite a wealth of literature examining the discourse, polls and media representation pointing to the contrary. Such skewed reading has not only exaggerated the rise of the far right, but also provided it and wider racism with a veneer of democratic legitimacy by making whiteness a legitimate political interest and portraying it falsely as the voice of the left-behind. This chapter examines the construction of these voters as working class, and the working class as white, demonstrating not only that such assessments are wrong, but they are also deeply damaging to immigrants and racialized communities and democracy itself as they shift the responsibility for inequalities and the rise of far right politics away from the elites, institutions, and structures and onto immigrants and racialized minorities, many of whom make up the working class. The effect of this is to stifle the potential for solidarity, resistance, and emancipatory politics against racism and classism.