Abstract
Upstate New York has a complicated—even antagonistic—relationship with New York City and the state government in Albany. Aggrieved by policies that many say do not take rural life into account, locals resent what they see as outsized influence of the metropolis over this sparsely populated part of the state. Right-wingers have taken up this feeling: President-elect Donald Trump has described New York City as a “filthy” “city in decline,” while columnists for the right-wing New York Post have fed into narratives around high crime and racial anxieties around migrants. This preliminary study, based on textual analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, frames this local affective orientation in terms of the region’s evangelicals. Christian tradition has deep connections to angst around the influence of cities going back to the Bible and writings of the Church Fathers. Fear of the city has also motivated evangelical conservative politics since the “Fourth Great Awakening” of the 1970s. Evangelicals in New York—which make up around 10% of the population—see themselves as the “tip of the spear” in an “anti-Christian” environment. Some blame local discord and backbiting on the presence of demons. The rural space is, then, a fallen one—what should be a stronghold of traditional values is infiltrated and corrupted by the debaucherous influences of the city and its tentacular influence over the rest of the state. The city, meanwhile, is simultaneously a zone of danger and opportunity—something to be feared while also a place to prove oneself as a true Christian amid various evil influences.
Presenters
Liam GreenwellStudent, PhD Program in Anthropology, Cornell University, New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Evangelicalism, United States, Right-Wing Politics, Rurality
