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Achieving Our Country : Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America, by Richard Rorty
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Must the sins of America's past poison its hope for the future? Lately the American Left, withdrawing into the ivied halls of academe to rue the nation's shame, has answered yes in both word and deed. In Achieving Our Country, one of America's foremost philosophers challenges this lost generation of the Left to understand the role it might play in the great tradition of democratic intellectual labor that started with writers like Walt Whitman and John Dewey.
How have national pride and American patriotism come to seem an endorsement of atrocities--from slavery to the slaughter of Native Americans, from the rape of ancient forests to the Vietnam War? Achieving Our Country traces the sources of this debilitating mentality of shame in the Left, as well as the harm it does to its proponents and to the country. At the center of this history is the conflict between the Old Left and the New that arose during the Vietnam War era. Richard Rorty describes how the paradoxical victory of the antiwar movement, ushering in the Nixon years, encouraged a disillusioned generation of intellectuals to pursue "High Theory" at the expense of considering the place of ideas in our common life. In this turn to theory, Rorty sees a retreat from the secularism and pragmatism championed by Dewey and Whitman, and he decries the tendency of the heirs of the New Left to theorize about the United States from a distance instead of participating in the civic work of shaping our national future.
In the absence of a vibrant, active Left, the views of intellectuals on the American Right have come to dominate the public sphere. This galvanizing book, adapted from Rorty's Massey Lectures of 1997, takes the first step toward redressing the imbalance in American cultural life by rallying those on the Left to the civic engagement and inspiration needed for "achieving our country."
- Sales Rank: #204 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Harvard University Press
- Published on: 1999-09-01
- Released on: 1999-07-30
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .53" h x 4.81" w x 8.27" l, .43 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 176 pages
Features
- Used Book in Good Condition
Amazon.com Review
There are many shameful incidents in America's past: the institution of slavery, genocidal assaults on the indigenous peoples of this continent, the escalation of the Vietnam War, and so on. What should our response to such acts be? Should we regard the nation as irredeemably tainted by sin and spend our time cataloging its evils, or should we acknowledge its shortcomings and make a conscious effort to turn it into a better nation?
Philosopher Richard Rorty believes that there is hope for America, but that today's Left is not meeting the challenge. He contrasts the cultural, academic Left's focus on our heritage of shame (which, he admits, has to the extent that it makes hatred intolerable had the positive effect of making America a more civil society) with the politically engaged reformist Left of the early part of this century. "The distinction between the old strategy and the new is important," he writes. "The choice between them makes the difference between what Todd Gitlin calls common dreams and what Arthur Schlesinger calls disuniting Americans. To take pride in being black or gay is an entirely reasonable response to the sadistic humiliation to which one has been subjected. But insofar as this pride prevents someone from also taking pride in being an American citizen, from thinking of his or her country as capable of reform, or from being able to join with straights or whites in reformist initiatives, it is a political disaster."
Not everyone, to be sure, is going to agree with Rorty's ideas. But his approach to civic life, which is pragmatic in the tradition of John Dewey and visionary in the tradition of Walt Whitman, is bound to provoke increased discussion of what it is to be a citizen, and his call for a renewed awareness of the history of American reformist activism can only be applauded.
From Library Journal
Rorty contrasts two views of America: those of the Old Left and of the New Left. The Old Left he associates with Walt Whitman's "American Dream" and John Dewey's idea of an ever-evolving secular society of varied, autonomous agents whose evils are remediable because they result from failures of imagination. The New Left he associates with spectators who damn America for such past "atrocities" as slavery, the massacre of Indians, and the Vietnam War. Rorty claims that the Old Left was stubbornly reformist, whereas the New Left collaborates with and thereby empowers the Right by supplanting real politics with cultural issues. He urges the New Left to understand that our national character has not been settled but is still being formed. The book contrasts the two Lefts clearly enough, but the rest of it is rather foggy with occasional flashes of light. For larger academic libraries only.ARobert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
In this slim volume (from a series of lectures), eminent liberal political theorist Rorty passes judgment on the state of the US left. And he is not amused. Beginning from familiar places for him, John Dewey and Walt Whitman, Rorty (Humanities/Univ. Of Virginia) argues that the faith of these men in what the US might become, their dismissal of all closed systems of thinking, their turn from religious authority to secular joy in the contingent process of democratic creation are all aspects of leftist thought missing from today's left, much to its detriment. In place of the search for a moral identity that will inspire and unite us, the left todaywhat he calls the ``academic'' or ``cultural'' lefthas opted instead for a ``detached spectatorship,'' condemnation without action or hope. Rorty traces the origins of this spectatorship to theorists such as Foucault, who insists on the irresistible ubiquitousness of power. The appeal of such spectatorship he traces to the US New Left and its experience with the Vietnam War. In Vietnam the US ``sinned,'' became beyond redemption, and so the New Left turned its back on ever reforming such a place. The Left retreated to academia, theory, culture, and spectatorship. This is all, however, a very familiar scenario by now (if argued in an interestingly odd way), and one wonders why it needs repeating, Rorty seems only to be using the New Left as a straw person here, and his depiction of the ``academic'' Left is caricature. Assertion substitutes for analysis. Lapses in logic occur: He chastises the Left, for instance, for being both Marxist and ``postmodern,'' yet the two tendencies stand mostly opposed to each other. Like an obscure club recording from a major jazz musician, this is a minor work from a profound thinker that perhaps only true devotees of Rorty will find of value. -- Copyright �1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Most helpful customer reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
and prominent journalists like Bill Moyers and Amy Goodman
By Sean
Apart from the works of Cornel West, Thomas Frank, and prominent journalists like Bill Moyers and Amy Goodman, this book is a powerful statement on the American political climate in the late 20th century, which will deserve a place in history and political science courses decades from now. Anybody who watched the 2016 presidential primary race should be able to see that Rorty was right: whether you supported Bernie Sanders or not, there has been a clear shift in Leftist politics ever since Jerry Brown lost the race to Bill Clinton. The Democratic party shifted towards the center-right, and many millions of Americans have for one or another reason become spectators. This applies to politics as well as "pragmatism" within the academic world, or at least the social sciences. The rise of Donald Trump can also be traced to this self-induced Babel curse, where liberals seem to have forgotten how to articulate and defend their values. The main point being, patriotism is not just waving flags and spending a third of every tax dollar on a military-industrial complex. Patriotism is about participation in a democratic project, one that is safe from despots only insofar as we put in the effort to inform ourselves and critically engage one another.
Read and you may be as surprised at the prescience!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
A light, but deep philosophical and political read from one of the most important American thinkers.
By Keanu
I must have purchased this book over three times; the friends I lend it to never seem to return it. This book by Richard Rorty does not have the impact of his masterworks such as "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" or "Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity," but deserves its place on the bookshelf of any student of Rorty, Pragmatism, or liberal politics in America. Every time I read this book it instills a sense of pride in American intellectualism and leaves me feeling an optimistic political agent.
This book is a collection of lectures and should not be treated as if it were to be a rigorous work in philosophy. For this reason I find it quite enjoyable. I do not find myself picking up "Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity" very often, but I tend to pick this off the shelf once a year. The prose is quite eloquent and easy to read, which results in an enjoyable, but thought provoking experience.
The interesting thing about this book is that, despite being a work of political philosophy, the heroes often championed are not just philosophers, but literary writers such as Walt Whitman. Although not a central argument to the book, is does reflect Rorty's belief that philosophers have no exclusive domain over the realms of political thought and the truth. For this reason I believe this book is even great for the non-philosopher; it's prose is more accessible as a lecture, but also practices philosophy with a sense of humility.
In terms of content the most poignant for me is not the question of left vs. right, but what Rorty calls the "progressive left" and the "critical left." The critical left being the side that views the sins of America as an unforgivable impasse which is stuck in the mode of a spectator. The progressive left, on the other hand, acknowledges these wrong-doings, but believes that our ideal country can still be achieved. The progressive left is that of the political agent; those that still have a hope for a more just world.
Overall I highly recommend this book to philosophers and non-philosophers alike. For a book of such intellectual depth, it is quite a leisurely and interesting read; perhaps that has to do with some of the more anecdotal accounts of Rorty once served snacks to John Dewey and Carlo Tresca at a Halloween party his parents hosted during his childhood. This book is great to have on your own shelf, but also great to gift to the young political thinker.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
A Must Read!
By drbobert
Richard Rorty's book, Achieving Our Country, is a must read for anybody fed up with today's politics of hate and who want to perform some constructive action to help re-claim a constructive climate in American society. His introduction is worth reading alone!
While the first printing was, I believe in 1997, it is timely in its characterization of what is currently happening in American politics and society. His premise is that there are a lot of angry young people standing on the sidelines is an apt one. Unlike Egypt where Twitter and Facebook helped spur a revolutionary social experiment (of which time will tell), American youth sit ensconced and isolated with their laptops and just bitch (my take from my experience).
His essay goes on to show who the idealism of the New Deal liberals that reformed American society (he also delineates between reformers and radicals) succumbed to its own success and attachment to the past. It took the radicals of the 60s to overcome the inertia and begin a new social revolution. In contrast to today's reactionary/radical christian movement, the revolution of the 60s as Rorty explains was a revolution forward, not an ideological movement to the "good old days." Indeed, what Rorty proposes is to re-examine the "spirit" of Walt Whitmann and John Dewey to revitalize thought and experimentalism in American society. (A proposition that I heartily agree with!) Unfortunately it takes courage and being a "little hungry", not complacently anger in the confines of an internet game room.
Rorty's last essay is almost prophetic in describing the rich/poor gap within the world. He quotes some general statistics that are being experienced today as the super rich begin to build their own dynasties, and "neo-liberal" economic ideology preaches "privatize everything" and let's not have anything called an "american spirit" which is a spirit of constructive growth and experimentation. (A principle tenet of philosophical pragmatism as edified by John Dewey and others).
The key action Rorty states is that to be proud of one's country means to have the courage to constructively critize it and take action to make it better, and considering that with the internet and other technological advances, we must all have the courage to look at each other as citizens of a country and of a planet.
I have a hard time holding on to a copy of this book because I keep giving it to people. I think I am on my eighth copy. I now buy at least 2 at a time. I was just visiting friends in Oregon and their 20yr old son has left for Egypt for a year of study. He is a bright boy and had inherited the intelligence, grounding and courage of his parents. Luckily, I had a copy with me. It will be young people like him that might just try another grand experiment!
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