I am grateful to the faculty and administration of Philosophy Department of the University of Ams... more I am grateful to the faculty and administration of Philosophy Department of the University of Amsterdam, for their support of this work and their superb hospitality. Special thanks to Frans Jacobs, Karen Vingtes, Be Bernini, Ria Beentjes, and Willy van Veer for their organizational help and collegiality. Also to Yolande Jansen and Hilla Dayan for selfless and good-natured assistance in a time of great need. Stimulating conversations with Joel Anderson, Veit Bader, Paul van den Berg, Frances Gouda, Noortje Marrens, Pieter Pekelharing, Peter van der Veer, Karel van Wolferen, and Eli Zaretsky influenced my thinking greatly at key points during the preparation of the lectures. James Bohman generously provided expert bibliographical advice. I benefited from the unusually thoughtful and challenging responses of participants at the conference on "Philosophy and Social Science, Prague, May 20-24, 2004, where I presented an early version of lecture one. Although I was not able to respond to them adequately, the comments of Ed Baker, Alessandro Ferrara, Rainer Forst, and David Peritz proved especially helpful in alerting me to the complexities of the issues and some difficulties in my argument. Subsequent comments from Amy
... We need only recall current disputes about the extent and reality of globalization to see tha... more ... We need only recall current disputes about the extent and reality of globalization to see that efforts to specify those circumstances rest on normatively suffused interpretations and political judgments (Hirst and Thompson 1996; Held et al. 1999). ...
A distanza di trent’anni da quell’occasione mancata che fu il 1989, il socialismo e ‘tornato’ dov... more A distanza di trent’anni da quell’occasione mancata che fu il 1989, il socialismo e ‘tornato’ dove meno ce lo si poteva aspettare, ossia negli Stati Uniti. Dal successo di politici come Bernie Sanders e Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez al diffondersi di una rivista come Jacobin, esso vive infatti un periodo d’oro negli Usa. Ma l’entusiasmo che circonda questa parola non si sta traducendo automaticamente in serie riflessioni sul suo significato. Un compito, quello di chiarire cosa puo significare socialismo nel XXI secolo, che la profondissima crisi in cui versa il capitalismo rende piu urgente che mai.
I was still a graduate student when I first met Chuck Taylor at Dubrovnik in 1978. It was my firs... more I was still a graduate student when I first met Chuck Taylor at Dubrovnik in 1978. It was my first time at the renowned “Philosophy and Social Science Course,” where critical theorists from around the world had been convening every March for many years. That year was truly star-studded. I was privileged to witness an extraordinary, three-sided debate between Taylor, Richard Rorty and Jürgen Habermas. And the experience set the course of my subsequent philosophical development. As I recall, the initial provocation was a session on the final chapter of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, which was at the time unpublished. Reading to the assembled group of about fifty people crowded around a seminar table, Rorty offered a powerful critique of Anglo-analytic philosophy and proposed a “continental” alternative, oriented to “edification.” That was music to the ears of the course participants – apart from one sticking point: insisting that there was no “philosophically interesting” distinction between natural and social science, Rorty challenged Taylor’s famous claim that the latter but not the former involved a “double hermeneutic.” The ensuing discussion was electrifying. Sparks flew as Taylor made a vigorous defense of his view, garnering some support from Habermas, who nevertheless went on to introduce a third position, which distinguished hermeneutical understanding not only from natural science but also from critical social theory. Interventions by such distinguished participants as Richard Bernstein, Albrecht Wellmer and Heinz (Harry) Lubasz further raised the stakes and sharpened the drama. Too intense to be contained within the bounds of a single session, the debate raged on throughout the remaining days – in pubs and restaurants, on walks through the gleaming city, and in every subsequent meeting of the course. The effect on at least one young philosopher-in-the-making was deep and longlasting. For nearly forty years, I have continued to feel the resonances of that threesided debate. Pulled at once in several directions, I have never stopped trying to reconcile Taylor’s deep intuition that human sociality is uniquely interpretive with Rorty’s
The End of Progressive Neoliberalism Nancy Fraser the election of Donald trump represents one of ... more The End of Progressive Neoliberalism Nancy Fraser the election of Donald trump represents one of a series of dramatic political uprisings that together signal a collapse of neoliberal hegemony. these uprisings include the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, the rejection of the renzi reforms in Italy, the Bernie Sanders campaign for the Democratic Party nomination in the United States, and rising support for the National Front in France, among others. Although they differ in ideology and goals, these electoral mutinies share a common target: all are rejections of corporate globalization, neoliberalism, and the political establishments that have promoted them. In every case, voters are saying "No!" to the lethal combination of austerity, free trade, predatory debt, and precarious, ill-paid work that characterize financialized capitalism today. their votes are a response to the structural crisis of this form of capitalism, which first came into full view with the near meltdown of the global financial order in 2008. Until recently, however, the chief response to the crisis was social protest-dramatic and lively, to be sure, but largely ephemeral. Political systems, by contrast, seemed relatively immune, still controlled by party functionaries and establishment elites, at least in powerful capitalist states like the United States, the United Kingdom, and germany. Now, however, electoral shockwaves reverberate throughout the world, including in the citadels of global finance. those who voted for trump, like those who voted for Brexit and against the Italian reforms, have risen up against their political masters. thumbing their noses at party establishments, they have repudiated the system that has eroded their living conditions for the last thirty years. the surprise is not that they have done so, but that it took them so long. Nevertheless, trump's victory is not solely a revolt against global finance. What his voters rejected was not neoliberalism tout court, but progressive neoliberalism. this may sound to some like an oxymoron, but it is a
I am grateful to the faculty and administration of Philosophy Department of the University of Ams... more I am grateful to the faculty and administration of Philosophy Department of the University of Amsterdam, for their support of this work and their superb hospitality. Special thanks to Frans Jacobs, Karen Vingtes, Be Bernini, Ria Beentjes, and Willy van Veer for their organizational help and collegiality. Also to Yolande Jansen and Hilla Dayan for selfless and good-natured assistance in a time of great need. Stimulating conversations with Joel Anderson, Veit Bader, Paul van den Berg, Frances Gouda, Noortje Marrens, Pieter Pekelharing, Peter van der Veer, Karel van Wolferen, and Eli Zaretsky influenced my thinking greatly at key points during the preparation of the lectures. James Bohman generously provided expert bibliographical advice. I benefited from the unusually thoughtful and challenging responses of participants at the conference on "Philosophy and Social Science, Prague, May 20-24, 2004, where I presented an early version of lecture one. Although I was not able to respond to them adequately, the comments of Ed Baker, Alessandro Ferrara, Rainer Forst, and David Peritz proved especially helpful in alerting me to the complexities of the issues and some difficulties in my argument. Subsequent comments from Amy
... We need only recall current disputes about the extent and reality of globalization to see tha... more ... We need only recall current disputes about the extent and reality of globalization to see that efforts to specify those circumstances rest on normatively suffused interpretations and political judgments (Hirst and Thompson 1996; Held et al. 1999). ...
A distanza di trent’anni da quell’occasione mancata che fu il 1989, il socialismo e ‘tornato’ dov... more A distanza di trent’anni da quell’occasione mancata che fu il 1989, il socialismo e ‘tornato’ dove meno ce lo si poteva aspettare, ossia negli Stati Uniti. Dal successo di politici come Bernie Sanders e Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez al diffondersi di una rivista come Jacobin, esso vive infatti un periodo d’oro negli Usa. Ma l’entusiasmo che circonda questa parola non si sta traducendo automaticamente in serie riflessioni sul suo significato. Un compito, quello di chiarire cosa puo significare socialismo nel XXI secolo, che la profondissima crisi in cui versa il capitalismo rende piu urgente che mai.
I was still a graduate student when I first met Chuck Taylor at Dubrovnik in 1978. It was my firs... more I was still a graduate student when I first met Chuck Taylor at Dubrovnik in 1978. It was my first time at the renowned “Philosophy and Social Science Course,” where critical theorists from around the world had been convening every March for many years. That year was truly star-studded. I was privileged to witness an extraordinary, three-sided debate between Taylor, Richard Rorty and Jürgen Habermas. And the experience set the course of my subsequent philosophical development. As I recall, the initial provocation was a session on the final chapter of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, which was at the time unpublished. Reading to the assembled group of about fifty people crowded around a seminar table, Rorty offered a powerful critique of Anglo-analytic philosophy and proposed a “continental” alternative, oriented to “edification.” That was music to the ears of the course participants – apart from one sticking point: insisting that there was no “philosophically interesting” distinction between natural and social science, Rorty challenged Taylor’s famous claim that the latter but not the former involved a “double hermeneutic.” The ensuing discussion was electrifying. Sparks flew as Taylor made a vigorous defense of his view, garnering some support from Habermas, who nevertheless went on to introduce a third position, which distinguished hermeneutical understanding not only from natural science but also from critical social theory. Interventions by such distinguished participants as Richard Bernstein, Albrecht Wellmer and Heinz (Harry) Lubasz further raised the stakes and sharpened the drama. Too intense to be contained within the bounds of a single session, the debate raged on throughout the remaining days – in pubs and restaurants, on walks through the gleaming city, and in every subsequent meeting of the course. The effect on at least one young philosopher-in-the-making was deep and longlasting. For nearly forty years, I have continued to feel the resonances of that threesided debate. Pulled at once in several directions, I have never stopped trying to reconcile Taylor’s deep intuition that human sociality is uniquely interpretive with Rorty’s
The End of Progressive Neoliberalism Nancy Fraser the election of Donald trump represents one of ... more The End of Progressive Neoliberalism Nancy Fraser the election of Donald trump represents one of a series of dramatic political uprisings that together signal a collapse of neoliberal hegemony. these uprisings include the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, the rejection of the renzi reforms in Italy, the Bernie Sanders campaign for the Democratic Party nomination in the United States, and rising support for the National Front in France, among others. Although they differ in ideology and goals, these electoral mutinies share a common target: all are rejections of corporate globalization, neoliberalism, and the political establishments that have promoted them. In every case, voters are saying "No!" to the lethal combination of austerity, free trade, predatory debt, and precarious, ill-paid work that characterize financialized capitalism today. their votes are a response to the structural crisis of this form of capitalism, which first came into full view with the near meltdown of the global financial order in 2008. Until recently, however, the chief response to the crisis was social protest-dramatic and lively, to be sure, but largely ephemeral. Political systems, by contrast, seemed relatively immune, still controlled by party functionaries and establishment elites, at least in powerful capitalist states like the United States, the United Kingdom, and germany. Now, however, electoral shockwaves reverberate throughout the world, including in the citadels of global finance. those who voted for trump, like those who voted for Brexit and against the Italian reforms, have risen up against their political masters. thumbing their noses at party establishments, they have repudiated the system that has eroded their living conditions for the last thirty years. the surprise is not that they have done so, but that it took them so long. Nevertheless, trump's victory is not solely a revolt against global finance. What his voters rejected was not neoliberalism tout court, but progressive neoliberalism. this may sound to some like an oxymoron, but it is a
Uploads
Papers by Nancy Fraser