Thinking Democratic Virtue with James Baldwin
The problems of polarization and democratic erosion are major concerns for contemporary political scientists and theorists studying the health of democracy. They are occasioned by many factors, such as media fragmentation and increased social sorting, but also by deeper historical problems of the US polity, including racial and class domination. In this talk, I offer a new perspective on political polarization by returning to the work of writer and civil rights leader James Baldwin. Reading Baldwin through the lens of political theory, and in conversation with thinkers such as Hannah Arendt, I argue that multiracial democracy depends on the cultivation of certain democratic virtues. Ultimately, I argue, Baldwin's thought has deep relevance for—and offers important ways to navigate—the political divisions of our own time.
Teaching Demonstration: Tuesday, November 12 at noon in Johnson 104
Conceptualizing Liberty with Rousseau
What is freedom? In this class session, we’ll discuss competing ideas about political liberty articulated by recent thinkers such as Isaiah Berlin and Philip Pettit, and by 18th-century political theorist, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. We'll discuss the significance of these ideas today, asking: should we conceive of freedom as a condition of individuals or as a collective condition? What is the state required to do to protect citizens’ freedom? What kinds of housing laws, employment laws, and other political and legal protections might be justified and necessary on the basis of our conception of freedom?
