The Conservative Heartland: A Political History of the Postwar American Midwest Edited by Jon K. Lauck and Catherine McNicol Stock

Abstract

Historical studies of American conservatism have tended to focus on either the Sunbelt South or white ethnic communities in the Northeast, and this volume provides an important contribution to the field by focusing on conservatism in the Midwest. As the editors point out in their introductory essay, the Midwest has witnessed a significant and contested conservative resurgence in the decades since the end of World War II, a resurgence which deserves further attention from political historians. The volume is premised on the compelling contention that “a revived midwestern history—with a focus on the region’s varied social, cultural, economic, and political landscapes—can help us understand American culture more completely” (p. 3). In service of this goal, each of the volume’s seventeen extraordinarily detailed and meticulously researched essays spotlights a “discrete episode” in midwestern political history since 1945. They also do an excellent job of exploring the nuances of political alignment and identity, which are always much more complex than binaries of “liberal/conservative” or “Republican/Democrat.” Discussions of economic class, Christian affiliation, white ethnic identity, and regional diversity are also richly textured.