{"title":"The dictator as heuristic: Trump, Zuma, and the hazards of comparison","authors":"Magalí Armillas-Tiseyra","doi":"10.1080/17533171.2020.1832802","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This essay investigates the hazards of comparing Trump and Zuma, invoking “hazard” in its negative as well as potentially positive senses. Focusing on the recurrent association of Trump with (often former) strongmen of the erstwhile Third World – as in the Daily Show’s 2015 segment, “Donald Trump: America’s First African President” – I posit that the critical value of such characterizations is undercut by the assumptions they reveal about Africa and the Global South. But I do not entirely discard the critical utility of comparing Trump and Zuma. I argue instead for a comparison rooted in an understanding of “resonance” (as loose or fleeting similarity), which allows for significant difference, including the very different positions these two actors occupy in the global hierarchy of power. Ultimately, Trump and Zuma are best understood as heuristics for the other: figures of thought or learning aids that help in working through a particular problem.","PeriodicalId":43901,"journal":{"name":"Safundi-The Journal of South African and American Studies","volume":"11 1","pages":"456 - 463"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Safundi-The Journal of South African and American Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17533171.2020.1832802","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT This essay investigates the hazards of comparing Trump and Zuma, invoking “hazard” in its negative as well as potentially positive senses. Focusing on the recurrent association of Trump with (often former) strongmen of the erstwhile Third World – as in the Daily Show’s 2015 segment, “Donald Trump: America’s First African President” – I posit that the critical value of such characterizations is undercut by the assumptions they reveal about Africa and the Global South. But I do not entirely discard the critical utility of comparing Trump and Zuma. I argue instead for a comparison rooted in an understanding of “resonance” (as loose or fleeting similarity), which allows for significant difference, including the very different positions these two actors occupy in the global hierarchy of power. Ultimately, Trump and Zuma are best understood as heuristics for the other: figures of thought or learning aids that help in working through a particular problem.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
