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6. Democracy's RIsky Businesses: Pluralism and the Metapolitics of Aesthetics
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6 Democracy’sRiskyBusinesses PluralismandtheMetapoliticsofAesthetics PoliticalThinking Inthischapterondemocratictheory,Iseekbothtorearticulatethe centralconceptualcontributionsinearlierchaptersandtoopenup somenewgroundbyfocusingonthedifferentialexperiencesofdiverse ethnicAmericans—inparticular,Euro-,African,andLatinoAmericans —intheirworkinglives.Thislatterfocuspresumesthatpeople’s dailyworkinglivesareamoreimportantterrainforgaugingthefunctioning oftheAmericandemocracythanaretheoccasionalepisodesof publicchoiceinvolvedinelections,plebiscites,schoolboardparticipation ,andsoon,whichhavebeenthebasisofmainstreamevaluations ofdemocraticperformance.Indeed,thegroundIseekto“diagram”has beenfugitivepreciselybecauseofthewaythemainstream,neo-liberal preoccupationwithinstancesofindividualcitizenparticipationeffaces thedifferencesIseektoilluminate.1 Fortunately,somecriticalthinkers havetreateddemocratictheoryinwaysthatprecedeandedifymy effortshere—forexample,WilliamConnolly,GillesDeleuze,Jacque Derrida,andJacquesRancière.TheircontributionslessentherisksI amtakingasIwandersomedistancefromthecanonicalframeswithin whichtheAmericandemocracyistypicallyexploredandevaluatedin ordertomakesenseofanddistinguishtheoverlappingthought-worlds thatconstitute“Americanpoliticalthought.”Thesethinkers,likeDeleuze ’sversionofthepainterFrancisBacon,areinabattleagainstthe “givens”thatprecedethem.AsDeleuzeputsit,“Anentirebattletakes placeonthecanvassbetweenthepainterandthegivens.”2 Critically orientedapproachestodemocracymuststageasimilarbattle. Therefore,whileIpursuemysubstantiveconcernwithhow,in 166 Deforming American Political Thought the“Americandemocracy,”someethnicAmericansaresubjectedto extraordinaryriskintheirworkinglives,myfocusisalsoonthemetalevel riskinvolvedincomingtotermswithdemocracy.Themaintheorists ofpoliticsingeneralanddemocracyinparticularuponwhomI drawacknowledgethecontingenciesandambiguitiesofgraspingand evaluatingasensibleworldthatdoesnotpartitionitselfconveniently. Toputthematterintermsintelligibletoempiricists,the“data”on Americans’democraticperformancearenotoutthere,readytosupply self-evidence.WhileIderivemyconceptualsupportmostlyfromthe genresofcriticaltheoryandphilosophy,Iwanttopointoutthatthe recalcitranceoftheworldtoaffirmingmodesofsensemakingisespecially wellappreciatedbythosepractitionersofnovelisticrealismwho, in Jacques Rancière’s words, reverse “hierarchies of representation” andadopt“afragmentedorproximatemodeoffocalization,which imposesrawpresencetothedetrimentoftherationalsequencesofthe story,”thereby,asIaddinthepreface,presentingviewerswithmultiple perspectivesratherthanasingleprivilegedfocus.3 FranzKafka’swritingisexemplaryinthisrespect.Amongnovelists andstorywriters,he,perhapsmorethananyotherwriter/thinker, conveyedadeepappreciationoftherisksofthinking.Headdressed himselfincessantlytothefraughtrelationshipbetweenconsciousness andworld.Althoughthereareabundantillustrationsofthisaspectof Kafka’sperspectiveontheperilsofconsciousness,itisnowherebetter exemplifiedthaninhisstory“TheBurrow.”Presumingaradicalentanglement betweentheinferencesdeployedbytheoperationofconsciousness andthesignsemittedintheworld,Kafkasituateshisburrow inthemidstofametaphoricallyexpresseddilemma.Hisstoryfeatures a“creature”whoisdigginganintricatemaze,hopingthatitwillserve asprotectionfromapredatorthatitthinksithearsoutsideitsburrow. Asitturnsout,thecreaturecannotdistinguish“theextenttowhich the‘dangers’impingingontheinnerspaceithascreatedarefrom‘the outside’orareproducedbyitsown(interpretive)activity.”4 Ultimately, thecreature,indespairaboutsolvingitsdilemma,describesitselfasan “oldarchitect,”onewhohassuccumbedtothescriptofitsconsciousness :“Butonmysideeverythingisworsepreparedforthanitwasthen; thegreatburrowstandsdefenseless,andIamnolongerayoungapprentice butanoldarchitect.”5 Doubtlesshereaselsewhere,Kafkais addressingtheproblemofthinkingandwriting.Wellpasthisapprenticeship inlife,heisponderinghismaze,thealreadyinscribedcodes [3.140.185.170] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 09:33 GMT) Democracy’sRiskyBusinesses 167 thatfloodone’sconsciousness,renderingthoughtanditsmodalitiesof expressionrisky,aslikely...