Abstract
In The New Minority, Gest investigates a topic highly salient in democratic politics on both sides of the Atlantic, the political participation of the white working class. He contends that increasing support for the radical right is, at its core, attributable to a profound sense of displacement by white working class voters who are struggling to come to terms with a drift towards the periphery of the societies in which they once occupied the centre.
The author discusses how economic and demographic changes have led the white working class to feel estranged not only from the non-white immigrant population, perceived as having an unfair advantage in government assistance, but also from their co-ethnics in the upwardly mobile white middle class, who ultimately are held responsible for allowing this perceived favouritism. A particular strength of this line of argument is the way in which it transcends the economics versus culture narratives which have hitherto characterised debates concerning white working class participation. Rather, using the lens of social displacement, Gest offers an account which is consistent with both of these narratives (p. 148) without entirely subscribing to either. Moreover, this approach also offers insight into what motivates behaviour at the individual level. That is, why do white working class actors show different political behaviours while sharing socio-economic conditions? Gest shows that there are strong relationships between the extent a respondent feels socially or politically displaced and their willingness to support radical right candidates.
A defining characteristic of the book is the way Gest effectively employs mixed methods to produce a nuanced yet robust account of working class politics. To begin, he undertakes two ethnographic case studies of Youngstown, Ohio and Dagenham, East London, two communities which encapsulate the economic and demographic changes which underscore the purpose of the book. Following a large number of in-depth interviews in each location, he then synthesises the themes from both locations before testing his findings quantitatively through survey data. This approach allows for a broad readership; the storytelling of the ethnographic data presents the political culture of the white working class both vividly and sympathetically to a non-specialist audience wanting to understand the Trump and Brexit phenomena, with additional robust analysis making this particularly appealing to specialists of democratic participation. In doing so, Gest has advanced our practical and conceptual understanding of white working class politics at a time which it is most needed.