The politics of nostalgia — the idea that life was better in the past and leaders should try to make the future more like the past — has played a major role in US and European politics recently and is a factor in many other countries as well.
In the US, Republicans bemoaned the loss of a past America and promised to undo social changes that frustrated many of their followers, with Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign slogan of “Make American Great Again” tapping into a nostalgic belief that America used to be great and no longer is. During the campaign in 2016, I wrote that asking people whether they preferred the 1950s or modern times was a very good way to determine how they would vote, with those preferring the 1950s likely to vote for Trump and those preferring the modern era likely to back Hillary Clinton.
In the UK, many of the arguments in favor of leaving the EU drew on nostalgia for a stronger, more independent British past. In parts of Europe and in the US, challengers to the status quo from both the political right and left often cite a past in which jobs were plentiful, society was stable and people were proud and compare it negatively to today, with an explicit or implicit promise to return their country to its former glory.
Despite its appeal, there are multiple problems with the politics of nostalgia. Its proponents hold up a mythologized past, ignoring the downsides that exist in any period of history and whitewashing the reality that some groups in society often benefited at the expense of others. Furthermore, a society that uses the past as its guide is far less likely to be ready to adapt to and innovate for the future. While learning from history is very important, so as to avoid past mistakes, nostalgia for the past limits a society’s resilience both for the present and the future.
In December, the Pew Research Center published results of a poll of 38 countries, in which respondents were asked whether life was better or worse today “than it was 50 years ago for people like me.” The Asia-Pacific region was the most positive about the present, while Europe overall was more positive than negative about the present. The US was closely divided but tended to be more negative about today. Views in the Middle East and Africa varied widely. Latin America was the most nostalgic region.
The Pew study found a correlation between how well a country’s economy is currently performing and its attitudes toward the present: Those with a strong economy today are more likely to be positive. However, not all countries follow that trend.
While learning from history is important to avoid repeating mistakes, using the past as a guide limits a society’s resilience both for the present and the future.
Kerry Boyd Anderson
In many cases, country-specific factors drive people’s views of the present and past. For example, Vietnam — a country that was in the midst of a brutal war 50 years ago — is today the most positive about the present of all the countries in the survey, with only 4 percent of Vietnamese saying that life was better 50 years ago. Lebanon, on the other hand, was at relative peace 50 years ago and since then has endured a destructive civil war, wars with Israel and other forms of conflict; unsurprisingly, it is one of the most nostalgic countries in the survey, with 54 percent of respondents saying things are worse today than they were 50 years ago.
Attitudes about the past and present deeply shape a country’s modern politics. The Pew study and multiple other experts have noted a correlation between populism and a sense that life was better in the past. Nostalgia can also play a role in dividing different groups in society. For example, the Pew survey found that black people in South Africa — who were horribly repressed under apartheid 50 years ago — tend to believe things are better today, while South African whites, who were in a highly privileged position 50 years ago, take the opposite view.
During the 2016 election in the US, those who were nostalgic about the past tended to see the 1950s as a time of economic growth, social stability, strong family and religious morals, and American strength and confidence. At the same time, many other Americans see the same period as a time of repression of women and racial and ethnic minorities, of sweeping problems under the rug, and of fake morality. These different views of the past feed strongly into the country’s culture wars today.
The Pew study highlights another important factor: People tend to feel more positive about the present when their “team” is in power. For example, a Pew poll from mid-2017 found that, before Trump’s election, 68 percent of Republicans (and Republican-leaning voters) said things were worse today than 50 years ago for people like them. But, after Trump’s election, 44 percent said things were better, with 40 percent still saying the opposite.
Nostalgia is a powerful weapon for those with political ambitions, especially in countries with struggling economies and deep ethnic and class divisions. Sometimes, people’s longing for the past is understandable, especially when a society faces present economic difficulties and changing demographics. However, a society that seeks to return to the past necessarily has blinders on about the future. Societies which understand that the world changes and that seek to adapt and shape the future are more likely to be vibrant and resilient.
• Kerry Boyd Anderson is a writer and political risk consultant with more than 14 years’ experience as a professional analyst of international security issues and Middle East political and business risks. Her previous positions include deputy director for advisory with Oxford Analytica and managing editor of Arms Control Today.