The politics of resentment : a genealogy /

Resentment and how it functions in the contemporary political environment is a timely topic. Engels (Penn State) offers interesting insights into political rhetoric and how those seeking political power have frequently manipulated resentment, directing it at either the elite or the masses. The author claims that at the present moment the rhetoric of resentment is directed at the masses, resulting in a kind of political fratricide. Unfortunately, Engels's argument lacks nuance, and in some places it comes close to being polemical. In presenting the politics of resentment as almost exclusively a tool of US conservativism, Engels ignores the conditions that make the politics of resentment possible. That said, he is persuasive in his description of how resentment has been manipulated, particularly in pointing to Nixon's use of "the silent majority" rhetoric in the late 1960s and early 1970s (though he is curiously silent regarding Nixon's southern strategy). In arguing that Nixon's approach has been adapted by many contemporary conservatives, he pays particular attention to Sarah Palin. This makes the book seem less relevant. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-and upper-division undergraduates. --Paul R Babbitt, Southern Arkansas University