聽The discussion commenced with a much-needed historical contextualisation of the election, as Dr Marc Collinson compared the 2024 election with the 1968 Presidential contest. Dr Gary Robinson and Dr Mari Wiliam then dissected how fake news, conspiracy and slogans have made myth-making central to the political agenda. They also explored the hurling of accusations of fascism at the Trump campaign, before finally contrasting the Presidential race with the July 2024 British General Election.聽
Reflecting on the discussion, Dr Marc Collinson, Lead for Politics at SHiLSS, commented, 鈥淚ts great to be able to show the usefulness of placing elections in a deeper context. So often they are seen as very contemporary, immediate events, but using a long view and a comparative approach, it helps us make more sense of what was going on.鈥
Dr Mari Wiliam, Lecturer of Modern History, also commented, 鈥淭he 2024 US Presidential election campaign feels very momentous, and for political spectators it has been riveting. 聽It has also been overwhelming in terms of the mass of information, AI-generated images and social media manipulation inundating us. 聽I thought the discussion with Marc and Gary was really valuable in teasing out the key themes of the campaign by looking at their echoes in the past. 聽It was also great to have our audience share their views about the closeness of the presidential race and its implications.鈥
Dr Gary Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology also concurred, "We had a good discussion of the current US election campaign last night, a campaign dominated by a rhetoric of public lying and media amplification. Such rhetoric results in public distrust for the institutions of democracy and the inability to distinguish between reality and mirage - this is certainly going to be an interesting and significant election!"
This was an excellent discussion and we will be keeping a close eye on the results and the undoubtedly interesting responses.