The Imaginary Reagan Revolution: On the Conservative Undermining of Radical Left-Wing Discourse

Bradley Smith ()
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Bradley Smith: UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, CREA (EA 370) - Centre de Recherches Anglophones - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, UPN LCE - Université Paris Nanterre - UFR Langues et cultures étrangères - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre

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Abstract: Many historical narratives take for granted that a conservative "Reagan Revolution" took place in the 1980s. Though the gap between the reality and the rhetoric of the Reagan era has been subject to historiographical debate, the expression is still used today by Reagan critics and supporters alike. This article suggests that the use of revolutionary rhetoric by American conservatives is an ideological tool that tends to undermine the very meaning of revolution, thus reducing the number of politically viable alternatives that would prompt significant change. This hypothesis is explored in two ways: first, by analyzing how Ronald Reagan presented both his policy objectives and his role in American history in terms of "revolution"; and second, by measuring the extent of a selection of actual changes that took place during and after the 1980s, so as to determine how revolutionary Reagan's legacy is.

Keywords: Ronald Reagan; Conservatism; Conservative revolution; Neoliberalism; Political discours analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-12-30
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Published in Transatlantica. Revue d'études américaines/American Studies Journal, 2017, 1, ⟨10.4000/transatlantica.8847⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04145165

DOI: 10.4000/transatlantica.8847

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