Politics: The Use of Nostalgia in Political and Pop Cultural Criticism

Following the European Union membership referendum in the United Kingdom in June 2016 and the election of Donald Trump in November of that year, the term ‚‘politics of nostalgia’ seemed to be everywhere. Nostalgia became something of a master narrative to explain the political disruptions of the present and the success of right-wing populism particularly. However, as this chapter shows, both the phrase and the use of the term nostalgia in a political context is far older, dating back to the post-war era. Employed mostly in a polemical context, it is unsuitable for analytical purposes, the chapter argues, especially as it could simultaneously be understood as downplaying the problems the term is used to address.