Canterbury Christ Church University’s repository of research outputs http://create.canterbury.ac.uk Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. Gates, J. (2018) Nostalgia and the Tea Party movement. Ph.D. thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University. Contact: [email protected] Nostalgia and the Tea Party Movement by James A. Gates Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 1 Abstract This thesis examines the role of History and Nostalgia in shaping the modern Tea Party movement, which emerged across the United States of America in early 2009. Inspired by the seminal work of Professor Jill Lepore, The Whites of Their Eyes, this thesis attempts to further investigate the Tea Party movement and their unique relationship with the past: from the social movement’s links with other conservative historical organisations such as the John Birch Society, to the Tea Party movement’s adoption and exploitation of the history of the American Revolution as a means of gaining political legitimacy. This thesis contextualises as well as details the historical origins, organisations, and ideologies behind the social movement. In the process of this task, the thesis has employed an experimental methodology which attempts to fuse together the philosophy of History with the discipline of History – an idea that was inspired during the experience of carrying out the thesis research at the time. This thesis highlights: the influence of the Internet over Tea Party movement, the Tea Party movement’s historiography of the American Revolution, as well as the similarities and differences of historical experiences shared by the Tea Party movement and the generation responsible for the American Revolution. --- List of Abbreviations Americans for Prosperity – AFP Citizens for a Sound Economy – CSE Collateralised Debt Obligations – CDO Credit Default Swap – CDS Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act – EESA Federal Election Campaign Act – FECA Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan – HASP John Birch Society – JBS Men’s Rights Activists – MRA Political Action Committee – PAC Troubled Asset Relief Programme – TARP Tea Party Community – TPC Tea Party Patriots – TPP Top Conservatives on Twitter – TCOT 2 0. Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.1: Introductory Context to Topic ....................................................................................... 6 1.2: Methodological Concerns ................................................................................................ 9 1.3: Thesis Structure ............................................................................................................. 16 2. Nostalgia, Memory, History ................................................................................................. 18 2.1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 18 2.2: Nostalgia ......................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1: Definition ................................................................................................................. 19 2.2.2: Features of Nostalgia .............................................................................................. 22 2.3: Memory........................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.1: Remembrance ......................................................................................................... 26 2.3.2: Plato’s Metaphor of the Wax Tablet ..................................................................... 26 2.3.3: Halbwachs’s Conception of Collective Memory .................................................. 30 2.4: History ............................................................................................................................ 32 2.4.1: What is History? ..................................................................................................... 32 2.4.2: Narrative .................................................................................................................. 39 2.4.3: History, Hermeneutics, and Objectivity ............................................................... 45 2.4.4: Historical Recurrence ............................................................................................. 52 2.5: Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 58 3. What is the Tea Party? ......................................................................................................... 63 3.1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 63 3.2: The Tea Party Movement ............................................................................................. 63 3.2.1: The Great Recession, the Santelli Rant, and the Origins of the Tea Party Movement ............................................................................................................................................ 63 3.2.2: The Tea Party Movement Organisations .............................................................. 66 3.2.3: Tea Party Membership Demographics ................................................................. 74 3.2.4: Tea Party Principles ............................................................................................... 76 3.3: The Tea Party Movement in Political Context ............................................................ 80 3.3.1: Conservatism ........................................................................................................... 80 3.3.2: The Republican Party............................................................................................. 83 3.3.3: The John Birch Society .......................................................................................... 88 3 3.3.4: The Alt-Right .......................................................................................................... 95 3.4: The Tea Party Movement in Historical Context ......................................................... 96 3.4.1: The Boston Tea Party (1773) ................................................................................. 96 3.4.2: Proto-Tea Party Protests ...................................................................................... 101 3.5: Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 104 4. The Santelli Myth ................................................................................................................ 107 4.1: Introduction ................................................................................................................. 107 4.2: Overview of the Santelli Rant ..................................................................................... 107 4.2.1: Literary Context ................................................................................................... 108 4.2.2: The Rant ................................................................................................................ 110 4.2.3: Post Rant ............................................................................................................... 114 4.2.3.1: The Media Response ...................................................................................... 114 3.2.3.2: The Role of Conservative Interests .............................................................. 122 3.2.3.3: The Role of Conservative Individuals .......................................................... 124 4.3: Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 129 5. Nostalgic Origins ................................................................................................................. 133 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 133 5.2: Prelude to Trauma – The Fifties ................................................................................ 135 5.2.1: Trauma of Foreign War – Tet, Monongahela, Teutoburg, Iraq ...................... 139 5.2.2: Trauma of Cultural Succussion .........................................................................