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The material origins of place-based affective polarization in Canada Wood-MacLean, Bradley Duncan

Abstract

This paper examines the material origins of place-based affective polarization—the emotional divide between rural and urban residents in Canada—and argues that it offers a clearer measure of rural resentment than existing measures based on composite indices of perceived grievances. Building on Katherine Cramer’s (2016) theory of rural consciousness, I develop a two-part theory that integrates contextual and social identity approaches. In the first part, I test whether objective political, economic, and cultural neglect—measured through indicators of infrastructure, healthcare, broadband access, community economic conditions, and local cultural amenities—predict higher levels of place-based affective polarization. In the second part, I assess whether these relationships are conditioned by ideological orientation, partisan affect, and place identity. The analysis uses national survey data linked to geospatial measures of local material conditions, combined with structural topic modelling of open-ended responses. Results show that political neglect is the strongest and most consistent driver of polarization, and that partisan affect magnifies the effect of economic neglect, while strong partisan and rural identities independently heighten polarization. Topic modelling confirms that citizens recognize and interpret material differences between places, often framing them through resentment and stereotypes. These findings suggest that uneven political investment across regions feeds into identity-based animosity, helping to explain the persistence and intensity of Canada’s rural–urban divide.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International