Southernization

In the culture of the United States, the idea of Southernization came from the observation that Southern values and beliefs had become more central to political success, reaching an apogee in the 1990s, with a Democratic President and Vice President from the South and Congressional leaders in both parties being from the South.[1] Some commentators said that Southern values seemed increasingly important in national elections through the early 21st century. American journalists in the late 2000s used the term "Southernization" to describe the political and cultural effects.[2]

Not to be confused with the Southern strategy.
The mean center of United States population has moved South since the 1920s

Description

Values and beliefs often ascribed to the American South include religious conservatism, particularly Protestantism,[3] culture of honor,[4] Southern hospitality,[5] military tradition,[6][7] agrarian ideals[8] and American nationalism. Besides the cultural influence, some said that the South had infiltrated the national political stage.[9]

In 1992, the winning presidential ticket consisted of Bill Clinton, the Governor of Arkansas; and Al Gore, a Senator from Middle Tennessee. From both parties, many leaders in Congress were also from the South. Meanwhile, according to Michael Lind, professor of public affairs at University of Texas at Austin, the Republican Party underwent its own Southernization as more Republican leaders called for policies and principles previously held by conservative or moderate Southern Democrats.[10] Commentators such as Adam Nossiter and Michael Hirsh suggest that politics reached its apogee of Southernization in the 1990s.[1]

Southernization of the national politics of the United States can be also noticed in presidential elections. From the Civil War until 1963 there was only one President from the Southern United States, Andrew Johnson, but since then five of the last eleven Presidents have been from the region: Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Other uses

In World History, the term "Southernization" has been used to describe the influence of South and Southeast Asian Civilizations on the rest of the world. Lynda Shaffer introduced the concept in her 1994 article of the same name, explaining that it is intended to be similar to the use of Westernization for the influence of the West on the rest of the world in the early modern and modern eras.[11] Her ideas gained popularity with other World Historians and were included in college level textbooks.[12] Examples of South Asian influence include Hindu-Arabic numerals; the spread of Buddhism; production and overseas trade of sugar, cotton and spices; and the spread of other inventions and discoveries.

See also

References
  1. Adam Nossiter. "For South, a Waning Hold on Politics". The New York Times. 12 November 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  2. Michael Hirsh (April 25, 2008). "How the South Won (This) Civil War". Newsweek. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  3. Cross, FL, ed. (2005), "Baptists", The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church, New York: Oxford University Press
  4. Kenneth S. Greenberg, Honor & Slavery: Lies, Duels, Noses, Masks, Dressing as a Woman, Gifts, Strangers, Humanitarianism, Death, Slave Rebellions, the Proslavery Argument, Baseball, Hunting, and Gambling in the Old South (Princeton University Press, 1996)
  5. Abbott, Jacob (1835). New England and her Institutions. John Allen. p. 223. ISBN 978-0807859896.
  6. Kane, Tim. "Who Bears the Burden? Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Military Recruits Before and After 9/11". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  7. Wood, Louise, Amy (2010). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 19: Violence. Univ of North Carolina Press, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi and the Center for the Study of the American South. pp. 112–115. ISBN 9780807872161.
  8. Hinson, Ferris, Glenn, William (2010). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 14: Folklife. Univ of North Carolina Press, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi and the Center for the Study of the American South. p. 91. ISBN 978-0807859896.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Michiko Kakutani (March 17, 2006). "Tying Religion and Politics to an Impending U.S. Decline". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  10. Richard Bernstein (July 12, 1996). "Books Of The Times; An Ex-Conservative Indicts the Right". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  11. Shaffer, Lynda (1994). "Southernization". Journal of World History. 5 (1): 1–21. ISSN 1045-6007. JSTOR 20078579.
  12. Dunn, Ross E. (2014). Panorama : a world history. Laura Jane Mitchell. New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-07-340704-3. OCLC 861120013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Further reading
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