What has driven voters in the U.S. and Great Britain toward the right in recent major elections? Join profession Justin Gest on Tuesday as he talks about his groundbreaking academic study on Trump and Brexit supporters, which he writes about in his book, “The New Minority.”

Gest, an assistant professor of Public Policy at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, will discuss findings from his study, the first of its kind to give insight into the correlations between Trump and Brexit supporters and provide context to the largely unprecedented shifts in British and American politics.

Through hundreds of surveys and immersive fieldwork, Gest has compiled a report on the issues of white working class citizens living within dying industrial cities, and how these citizens came to make the political decisions that led to the results of Brexit and the American presidential election. 

“I am looking forward to having a frame that helps people understand what happened during the course of the election,” said Steven Mills, Associate Director for Community-based Initiatives at the Center for Leadership & Social Change. “Dr. Gest’s research gives a frame that humanizes voting decisions that many on the Left have found baffling.”

The free event will begin at 8 p.m. in the Askew Student Life Cinema.

Gest’s talk is an opportunity for students and faculty to gain further understanding on the reasons for discord among white American and British working class citizens, and on the process that led to the transformational political shifts in America and Britain. 

“This is a researcher that has taken the time to collect the voices of the people that we are making guesses about,” Mills said. “I’m mainly looking forward to having a conversation that’s a little bit more rational, where people are seeking to understand rather than to blame or deny.”

For more information on Gest’s book about these issues, “The New Minority,” visit thenewminority.net.

This event is sponsored by the Center for Leadership & Social Change and the Division of Student Affairs.

— Talise Burton