American Prestige E235 - The End of the Postwar Consensus w/ Paul Starr
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Feb 3, 2026 Paul Starr, Princeton sociologist and author, sketches how midcentury politics unraveled into today’s sharp divides. He walks through civil rights as a turning point, the rise of inequality and weakened labor, immigration’s unintended effects, expanding presidential power, and how these shifts shaped both Obama and Trump. Short, wide-ranging, and historical.
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Reaganism's Partial Counter-Revolution
- Starr calls Reaganism a 'half counter-revolution' that increased inequality and hit unions hardest.
- Rights-based legal momentum continued despite economic and political rollbacks.
Capitalism's Structural Push Toward Inequality
- Starr emphasizes capitalism's long-term pressure toward inequality, with the postwar era as an exceptional deviation.
- Global and political changes ended the earlier accommodation between business and labor, enabling greater inequality.
Why Unions Declined, According To Starr
- Starr argues Democrats took labor for granted while internal conflicts with new movements weakened unions.
- Civil rights and feminist battles forced reforms that changed unions even as external pressures and later policy eroded their power.
