Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
6-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Sociology
Advisor
Leslie McCall
Committee Members
Mary Clare Lennon
Charles Post
Michael Goldfield
Subject Categories
American Politics | Inequality and Stratification | Models and Methods | Political Economy | Politics and Social Change | Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies | Race and Ethnicity | Sociology | Work, Economy and Organizations
Keywords
class and race, economic insecurity, economic self-interest, racial attitudes, Du Bois, political economy
Abstract
This dissertation combines three related essays that analyze the effect of the perception of economic vulnerability on the social and political attitudes of Americans. Through a heterodox reading of W.E.B. Du Bois’s intellectual work and political career in the latter half of his life, the first essay develops the theoretical thrust of the dissertation. It is argued that Du Bois primarily grounds white supremacy in an elementary feature of capitalism: the fact that survival under capitalism presumes the successful engagement, either directly or indirectly, with the labor market. Due to the historical legacy of slavery, however, labor market competition in the United States is highly racialized. Thus, according to Du Bois, white Americans adopt white supremacist ideas and political strategies, at least in part, in an attempt to hoard economic advantage and opportunity. In other words, for Du Bois, white Americans use racial exclusion to assuage the potentially negative consequences of the commodification of labor, that is, economic hardship caused by a lack of employment. Using this reading of Du Bois’s work, the essay explains Du Bois’s political development during the 1930s and 1940s. The following two essays attempt to empirically substantiate Du Bois’s theory using the quantitative analysis of public opinion data. If racial exclusion is at least partially grounded in an attempt to assuage the potentially negative consequences of the commodification of labor, those who perceive themselves to be most economically vulnerable should be most supportive of racially exclusionary attitudes and policies. The second essay illustrates that perceptions of employment insecurity are highly related to anti-immigrant attitudes. The essay also reanalyzes the data of an influential account within the study of immigration attitudes to illustrate methodological issues prevalent in the existing literature. The third and final essay uses a novel and comprehensive four-part measure of economic vulnerability to show that perceptions of economic vulnerability are not only related to attitudes toward immigrants, but are also robustly related to increased levels of racial resentment and the increased perception of interracial economic competition. More broadly, it is also shown that perceptions of economic vulnerability have a systematic effect on other aspects of Americans’ public opinion, including their attitudes toward redistribution and class actors.
Recommended Citation
Melcher, Cody R., "Perceptions of Economic Vulnerability and Public Opinion in the United States: A Theoretical, Historical, and Quantitative Approach" (2022). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4755
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Included in
American Politics Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Models and Methods Commons, Political Economy Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Work, Economy and Organizations Commons