Work in Progress
Red, White, and Anti-Black: Nationalism and White Ethnicity in U.S. Politics (dissertation)
How are nationalism and racial identity in the United States linked for whites, and what are the implications of this linkage? I argue that for many whites in the United States, white identity and American identity are essentially the same, and constitute a specifically American white ethnicity. This ethnicity is historically constituted through laws, institutions, and race relations in the United States and maintained through the performance of Americanness and whiteness together. I also question the implications of this phenomenon: first asking what this means for membership and belonging in the American polity; second, asking how this shapes the expression of racial animus; and third, placing American white ethnicity in the context of contemporary politics and asking how certain political events can intensify the salience of this political identity and increase group solidarity for American ethnic whites. Using qualitative evidence in the form of in-depth and semi-structured interviews and quantitative survey data, I explore the content and contours of American white ethnicity and its implications for politics, especially under contemporary conditions of resurgent cultural nationalism.
Contemporary Conservatism and Identity Politics: How American Identity Animates Conservative Identity
Donald Trump took the Republican party by storm when he announced his presidency in June 2015 and, despite strong party insider opposition, he swept the primary and became the figurehead for the contemporary Republican party. Economic and social conservatives shed their differences and coalesced behind the politics of Trump, forging a new conservative identity. I investigate the meaning of conservative identity to those who are intensely engaged in the conservative movement by attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Using a combination of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and data from an original survey from CPAC in 2019 and 2020, I evaluate the extent to which contemporary conservative identity makes claims on American identity and what it means to be an American. Rough working draft available here.
Different Strokes for Different Folks: How Russia Today Undermines Trust in Government on YouTube with Evgenia Olimpieva and Ipek Cinar
Following the concerns of Russia’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential elections, there has been a growing interest in ways information is distributed and consumed in online communities. However, relatively little is yet known about the tactics employed by the Russian international broadcasting agency other than that it targets different groups with different strategies. In this paper, we analyze the role of Russia Today America on YouTube, paying close attention to these different strategies deployed across a range of target audiences. Using a unique dataset of all the videos published by the international broadcaster on YouTube between 2015 and 2018, we employ qualitative content analysis of the videos and machine learning techniques to address the question: what does undermining trust in the state look like for different target audiences? We focus specifically on videos that target the American ideological left, right, and Black Americans. By using what we know about the political behavior and proclivities of these different groups, we can better understand the objectives and repercussions of Russian media influence.
How are nationalism and racial identity in the United States linked for whites, and what are the implications of this linkage? I argue that for many whites in the United States, white identity and American identity are essentially the same, and constitute a specifically American white ethnicity. This ethnicity is historically constituted through laws, institutions, and race relations in the United States and maintained through the performance of Americanness and whiteness together. I also question the implications of this phenomenon: first asking what this means for membership and belonging in the American polity; second, asking how this shapes the expression of racial animus; and third, placing American white ethnicity in the context of contemporary politics and asking how certain political events can intensify the salience of this political identity and increase group solidarity for American ethnic whites. Using qualitative evidence in the form of in-depth and semi-structured interviews and quantitative survey data, I explore the content and contours of American white ethnicity and its implications for politics, especially under contemporary conditions of resurgent cultural nationalism.
Contemporary Conservatism and Identity Politics: How American Identity Animates Conservative Identity
Donald Trump took the Republican party by storm when he announced his presidency in June 2015 and, despite strong party insider opposition, he swept the primary and became the figurehead for the contemporary Republican party. Economic and social conservatives shed their differences and coalesced behind the politics of Trump, forging a new conservative identity. I investigate the meaning of conservative identity to those who are intensely engaged in the conservative movement by attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Using a combination of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and data from an original survey from CPAC in 2019 and 2020, I evaluate the extent to which contemporary conservative identity makes claims on American identity and what it means to be an American. Rough working draft available here.
Different Strokes for Different Folks: How Russia Today Undermines Trust in Government on YouTube with Evgenia Olimpieva and Ipek Cinar
Following the concerns of Russia’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential elections, there has been a growing interest in ways information is distributed and consumed in online communities. However, relatively little is yet known about the tactics employed by the Russian international broadcasting agency other than that it targets different groups with different strategies. In this paper, we analyze the role of Russia Today America on YouTube, paying close attention to these different strategies deployed across a range of target audiences. Using a unique dataset of all the videos published by the international broadcaster on YouTube between 2015 and 2018, we employ qualitative content analysis of the videos and machine learning techniques to address the question: what does undermining trust in the state look like for different target audiences? We focus specifically on videos that target the American ideological left, right, and Black Americans. By using what we know about the political behavior and proclivities of these different groups, we can better understand the objectives and repercussions of Russian media influence.
Public Scholarship
In 2020, conservatives believe they're battling to save America's soul by supporting Trump, Washington Post Monkey Cage. 2020.
Heilman, B., Cole, G., Matos, K., Hassink, A., Mincy, R., Barker, G. (2016). State of America's Fathers: A MenCare Advocacy Publication. Washington, DC: Promundo-US.
Heilman, B., Cole, G., Matos, K., Hassink, A., Mincy, R., Barker, G. (2016). State of America's Fathers: A MenCare Advocacy Publication. Washington, DC: Promundo-US.
