Exurbia Now by David Masciotra
The white man who lost his job when the mill closed (globalization!) is a reality-based stereotype of social and political resentment. In Exurbia Now, David Masciotra finds that MAGA also draws its energy from other sources as he explores that twilight zone, populated by white flight, between the older suburbs and farm country. Lacking meaningful town centers, the residents of exurbia are socially isolated, susceptible to radical propaganda and brought together in evangelical mega churches—sometimes pastored by militants who care more for the Second Amendment than the Sermon on the Mount.
Masciotra calls the phenomenon “the politics of escape” to the places “where Americans go to ‘bowl alone.’” According to him, places where civic association and communal culture decline become petri dishes for the far right. He offers performing arts and live music series as an antidote, offering little evidence that people experiencing communal culture at a concert will vote Democratic—or vote at all. As John Mellencamp’s biographer, Masciotra seems wedded to the idea that rock represents the good side of populism.
Like the narrator of Mellencamp’s biggest hit, Masciotra lives in a small town in Indiana, giving a certain weight to his perspective on exurbia that a big city observer might lack. He’s well aware of “the pride in right-wing ignorance that is visible in provincial America,” but adds, “that is not the totality of my experience.” He cites his town’s family-owned custard stand, the coffee shop with background music by the Grateful Dead, the local honey farmer, the bakery owned by a Buddhist, the murals by hometown artists … all good. But how will all this translate to the general election? Maybe the Deadhead coffee shop owner blames Biden for inflation?
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Masciotra collects inspiring stories and identifies many social problems. America not only contains food and healthcare deserts but the “transportation apartheid” of shrinking public transit systems. Exurbia Now is optimistic and we should hope that Masciotra is correct. He titles his final chapter “Cry for Hope.”
Get Exurbia Now at Amazon here.
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