'Veblen's America' examines the astonishing political rise of Donald Trump through the portal of Thorstein Veblen's theory of barbaric legacies in American development.
Sidney Plotkin is professor of political science on the Margaret Stiles Halleck Chair of Social Sciences, Vassar College, USA, where he teaches courses in American politics, political economy, power and political theory. Plotkin has written numerous articles and is the author of Keep Out: The Struggle for Land Use Control (1987), co-author of Private Interest, Public Spending (1994) and The Political Ideas of Thorstein Veblen (2011) and editor of The Anthem Companion to Thorstein Veblen (2017).
1. Donald Trump through Veblen's Looking Glass; 2. Evolution, Institutions and Barbarism; 3. The American Plan; 4. Trumpean Ancestors, Exploitative Legacies; 5. Building for the Leisure Class; 6. Picturesque Accomplishments; 7. Candidate Trump and the Politics of Rage; 8. Limits of Barbarian Governance; Index.