Trump, Sen, and Social Work: Some Reflections

ABSTRACT

This review essay applies insights from Amartya Sen's Collective Choice and Social Welfare, to consider the rise of and support for President Trump as well as the concomitant increase in uncivil politics, hate crimes, and questionable (at best) policies. Consideration is paid to Sen's emphasis on the capability sets and functioning, democratic participation, informed political discourse and debate, and ethics as justice in relation to social work praxis.

KEYWORDS:

• Politics
• nationalism
• public reasoning
• economic grievances

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Cheryl A. Hyde is associate professor in the School of Social Work, Temple University (1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA). Her primary areas of teaching and scholarship are community capacity building, social movements and collective action to address social and economic inequities. Inquiries may be sent to [email protected].

Notes

1 Analyses of electoral data have since revealed that the white working class was not the key element in Trump’s victory, though racism, sexism, and other expressions of hate in this group cannot be ignored. But there was a segment in this group who lost, or perceived they had lost, economically and believed that Trump would save them. This is the group that needs to be reached, as they continue to vote against their own class interests. A critical Trump support group, however, were and are white evangelicals who adhere to a perverse amalgam of white supremacy, rigid gender roles, and their version of Christianity. Another, quieter, base of support comes from economic elite, who use neoliberal policies to financially bludgeon everyone else. In Trump, they have someone enthusiastically willing to wield the cudgel by eliminating environmental protections and deregulating industries in the name of profit.

2 President Trump has since signed an Executive Order ending his policy to separate children from their parents. There are no plans, however, for how to re-unify those already separated and reports indicate that thousands of children are scattered in foster homes and other institutions throughout the country. Additionally, the Executive Order calls for detaining refugee indefinitely before being deported or charged with a crime. There also are plans in the works for suspending the right to due process of immigrants and refugees as well revoking citizenship for some groups who were naturalised.