{"id":9,"date":"2018-08-08T19:02:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T23:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2018-10-29T17:02:31","modified_gmt":"2018-10-29T21:02:31","slug":"3-13","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/3-13\/","title":{"rendered":"3\/13 | Indivisible: Political Revolution &#8211; October 24, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h_YAASxDk3o\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Bernie Sanders&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bernie-Sanders-Guide-Political-Revolution\/dp\/1250138906\"><em>Guide to Political Revolution\u00a0<\/em><\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.indivisible.org\/guide\/summary\/\"><em>Indivisible: A Practical Guide\u00a0for Resisting the Trump Agenda<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Indivisible with<\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Amna Akbar (<a href=\"https:\/\/moritzlaw.osu.edu\/faculty\/amna-akbar\/\">Ohio State University<\/a>),\u00a0Brandon Terry (<a href=\"https:\/\/aaas.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/brandon-terry\">Harvard University<\/a>),\u00a0and Adam Tooze (<a href=\"https:\/\/history.columbia.edu\/faculty\/tooze-adam\/\">Columbia University<\/a>)\u00a0in conversation with <a href=\"https:\/\/cccct.law.columbia.edu\/people\/etienne-r-balibar\">Etienne Balibar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/cccct.law.columbia.edu\/people\/jean-louise-cohen\">Jean Louise Cohen<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/cccct.law.columbia.edu\/people\/reinhold-martin\">Reinhold Martin<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/cgt.columbia.edu\/about\/people\/committee-faculty\/bernard-e-harcourt\/\">Bernard E. Harcourt<\/a><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/3-13\/praxis-313-triptych\/#main\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4080\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4080\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/files\/2018\/10\/PRAXIS-313-triptych.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"453\" height=\"170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/files\/2018\/10\/PRAXIS-313-triptych.png 777w, https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/files\/2018\/10\/PRAXIS-313-triptych-300x113.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/files\/2018\/10\/PRAXIS-313-triptych-768x289.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 453px) 100vw, 453px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bernie Sanders appropriates the term \u201cpolitical revolution.\u201d That is significant in and of itself. The meaning of the term \u201crevolution\u201d has undergone change over time, and, in its modern usage, connotes \u201csocial\u201d as opposed to merely \u201cpolitical\u201d revolution: as Hannah Arendt and Reinhardt Koselleck showed us\u2014and as we studied in <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/uprising1313\/1-13\/\">Uprising 1\/13<\/a>\u2014the modern conception of revolution is associated with a <em>social\u00a0<\/em>transformation that goes beyond <em>political<\/em> change: it is about social change, about in Koselleck&#8217;s words \u201cthe social emancipation of all men, [about] transforming the social structure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In this light, Sanders\u2019 appropriation of the qualifying term \u201cpolitical\u201d is informed, astute, and strategic. His intervention focuses us back on the political\u2014almost as if Sanders is shedding his earlier socialist identity to assume the more contemporary democratic socialist identity. The shift from &#8220;revolution&#8221; to &#8220;political revolution&#8221; normalizes his political position, putting it more in line with democratic activism in both small and big D.<\/p>\n<p>The reform agenda that Sanders sets out in his <em>Guide to Political Revolution <\/em>is nevertheless radical\u2014and with the exception of nationalized industry, satisfies most of the social aspirations of the utopian socialist state. It\u2019s possible that Sanders\u2019 program is even more audacious than that of, say, former Socialist president Fran\u00e7ois Hollande of France. But at the same time, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/amna-a-akbar-gross-collective-action\/\">as Amna Akbar discusses<\/a>, it is far more conventional than so many of the activist agendas today&#8211;reflecting, more than anything, the chasm between materialist socialist programs and more radical abolitionist politics today.<\/p>\n<p>From a critical perspective, one of the most fascinating dimensions of Sanders\u2019 book is that he does not really deploy notions of ideology or false consciousness. Throughout the narrative, Sanders emphasizes that we basically all know what is going on. There are no illusions. There is no need to lift a veil. Everybody knows and understands the way that the political system favors and subsidizes large corporations. \u201cAmericans <em>see <\/em>that there are different rules for the rich and powerful than for everyone else.\u201d (60, emphasis added)<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the\u00a0<em>Guide<\/em><em>, <\/em>Sanders underscores that we all essentially know what is going on. In that sense, there is practically no need for critique. No need to lift the veil. All that we need to do is to mobilize in the face of these injustices.<\/p>\n<p>Sanders is cognizant of the paradoxes of capitalism, and he exposes them at every turn: the system actually underwrites large corporations\u2014Walmart, for instance, which does not pay its workers a living way, meaning that the taxpayers have to support them with food stamps and subsidized housing. (8-9) Sanders describes the fraud and misrepresentation of large banks. (57-58) He is relentless in showing the lie of advanced capitalism.\u00a0We know these truths.<\/p>\n<p>The only thing missing, then, is for citizens to mobilize and do what is necessary. Sanders dedicates his book to \u201cthe younger generation,\u201d encouraging them to convert their \u201cidealism and generosity of spirit into political activity,\u201d and acknowledging that only they will be able to \u201ccreate a lot better world than the one my generation left you.\u201d (Dedication).<\/p>\n<p>The message is clear: we know what is wrong, all we need to do is act. Perhaps, then, it is not critique that is necessary now, but rather the impetus to action. What might this tell us about the relationship between critique and praxis? That is a good place to start this seminar.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to Praxis 3\/13!<\/p>\n<p>[To read more, the full post is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/bernard-e-harcourt-an-introduction-to-political-revolution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a9 Bernard E. Harcourt.]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/3-13\/parxis3-13\/#main\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4055\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4055 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/files\/2018\/10\/Parxis3.13-300x179.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"427\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/files\/2018\/10\/Parxis3.13-300x179.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/files\/2018\/10\/Parxis3.13.jpeg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bernie Sanders&#8217; Guide to Political Revolution\u00a0and\u00a0Indivisible: A Practical Guide\u00a0for Resisting the Trump Agenda\u00a0by Indivisible with Amna Akbar (Ohio State University),\u00a0Brandon Terry (Harvard University),\u00a0and Adam Tooze (Columbia University)\u00a0in conversation with Etienne Balibar, Jean Louise Cohen, Reinhold Martin, and Bernard E. Harcourt&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/3-13\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1603,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1603"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/praxis1313\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}