Seminar-Problems in Comm Studies (425-0-3)

Topic

Rhetoric and Ideology of Equality: From Representa

Instructors

Dilip Gaonkar
847/491-5853
2240 Campus Dr. Rm 2-148 Frances Searle Building

Meeting Info

Frances Searle Building 1483: Mon 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

In his seminal work, Democracy in America (1835-1840), Tocqueville identifies two parallel historical forces that are dramatically transforming society and polity in the aftermath the two great revolutions of the late 18th century (the American and the French). First, there is the inexorable, almost providential, "march of the condition of equality" marking the steady, sometimes precipitous, decline of aristocratic privileges of authority, rank, and status. This march is accompanied by a parallel "march of the doctrine of popular sovereignty" incrementally institutionalized, with a few interruptions, by the grant of universal "adult franchise", thus, heralding the coming of popular representative democracy. The checkered history of these two forces and their culmination today have left us in impasse full of paradoxes, contradictions, and riddles, both ideological and material. For instance, since Occupation Wall Street (2011) with its catchy slogan "we are the 99%", the issue of socio-economic inequality has been in the forefront of American political discourse, especially in the electoral politics galvanizing both the left and the right, and yet in the interim of 15 years the income and wealth gap has further widened between 1% and 99%, or more importantly between the 10% and 90%. Similarly, the identitarian struggles for equal recognition of standing, dignity, and care, despite their remarkable historical achievements, both legal and cultural, have ignited controversy and backlash that has revived and reinvigorated once dormant, illiberal and authoritarian forces in the name of the "people", "populism" at large, dismantling democracy from within. This seminar will examine this impasse: how we got here and how might we get out of here, by drawing on the works of Elizabth Anderson, Wendy Brown, Nancy Fraser, Axel Honneth, Pierre Rosanvallon, Thomas Piketty, Michael Sandel, and others.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration.