Activism as "ritual"?
01.26.2005I've posted a link to this Winds of Change post on activism as "ritual" for my 105 students to discuss. But it's a good post worthy of some thought. While he focuses on left activism, Katzman makes it clear that the right (especially the religious right) certainly isn't immune. He considers how this happened, what the implications are, and whether we can do anything to change it (that is, to make political discourse not about personal catharsis, but about engaging each other in the public sphere).
You can't comment on the 105 blog unless you're in my class. But you can leave comments here, or at the original post itself (if you'd like to engage in discussion w/ a broader audience).
Posted by Miguel at 11:05 PM
Comments
Interesting thread discussion. Read a large portion of it. Clearly activism is mere ritual for a portion of the left. I'm not sure whether activism as ritual could accurately describe that which happens on the right.
Those PSCI 105 students should count themselves lucky. When I took 105, JB taught the class, which was like so many hot pokers touched to my eyeballs. This, on the other hand, is good stuff.
Posted by: tomasurii at January 27, 2005 12:06 AM
Well, Tom, I have to disagree. I TAed for JB when he taught 105 and I thought he was excellent, save for his "they can't miss the class and they have to sit and be quiet" part. There are different ways to approach the class. You can for example observe that Miguel and I approached differently too. N.
Posted by: Nenad at January 27, 2005 08:03 AM
Perhaps JB's teaching of the class has changed since I was an undergrad. That was, after all, almost a decade ago.
Posted by: tom at January 27, 2005 12:31 PM
And for the record, I liked JB very much. He provided tremendous guidance, esp while I studied in Germany.
Posted by: tom at January 27, 2005 12:32 PM
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