earticle

영어

Behind the Rust Belt’s support for Donald Trump and the subsequent advent of his administration, lies the territoriality of the white working class in the region. Since the region’s economic decline in 1980s, the white working class families have faced alienation from the Federal government and limited socio-economic mobility. While they are confined to the Rust Belt, the local economic and political landscape dramatically changed. The number of local businesses run by immigrants has steadily increased and the community leaders, in order to revitalize the region, sought both public and private subsidies by pursing the Artist Belt project. Facing these sudden changes and marginalization, the local population has developed a territoriality, characterized by hostility towards the immigrants, the poor and the professionals, and nostalgia for the local community before the economic downfall. Under this territoriality, the Rust Belters have supported Donald Trump, whose election pledges aligned with their desires.