The threatening troika of populism, nationalism, and neoliberalism

The idea for this special issue arose out of a meeting of the members of the Council of Social Work Education's Council on Global Social Issues in October 2016. Poised just a week prior to the US Presidential election, some at the meeting bemused the immense support for Donald Trump by conservative leaders and a wide swath of middle- and working-class whites. It was difficult to imagine how someone who regularly and blatantly lied to the public, who had no service record, and publicly used coarse and vulgar language could garner such support. Then-candidate Trump was audio-recorded bragging about sexually assaulting women, and openly and on the record disparaged racial and ethnic minorities, women, American prisoners of war, Muslims and mocked persons with disabilities. What forces were operating in the currents of American political thought and action to allow for such circumstances? What commonalities did this shifting political culture have on the world stage? Are human rights being affected, and if so, how and what are social workers doing? This special issue is the result of such ponderings.