ABSTRACT

In 17 US states, more Caucasian Americans are dying than are being born, a result of the combination of lower fertility rates amongst Caucasians and an uptick in drug-related deaths. Donald Trump’s ascendancy reveals an unprecedented example of an embodied corporate persona. More than a brand personality, his continual assertion that his business is himself. The country’s loyalty to mythical notions of self-made advancement, made possible through the helping hand of the free market, will likely persist in some form. There is also the very real possibility, however, that corporations can also offer what liberal critic Chris Hedges has called “seductive illusions” that leave individuals to “strike out at shadows,” encouraging citizens to focus on self-governing rather than addressing systemic concerns. Hedges’ warning points to the potential abuses that can come when an organization moves beyond Heath’s courtship of identification to what glimmer work points out is a Foucauldian courtship of re-affirmation.