Deforming American Political Thought: Ethnicity, Facticity, and Genre

6. Democracy's RIsky Businesses: Pluralism and the Metapolitics of Aesthetics

6฀ Democracy’s฀Risky฀Businesses Pluralism฀and฀the฀Metapolitics฀of฀Aesthetics Political฀Thinking In฀this฀chapter฀on฀democratic฀theory,฀I฀seek฀both฀to฀rearticulate฀the฀ central฀conceptual฀contributions฀in฀earlier฀chapters฀and฀to฀open฀up฀ some฀new฀ground฀by฀focusing฀on฀the฀differential฀experiences฀of฀diverse฀ ethnic฀Americans—in฀particular,฀Euro-,฀African,฀and฀Latino฀Americans —in฀their฀working฀lives.฀This฀latter฀focus฀presumes฀that฀people’s฀ daily฀working฀lives฀are฀a฀more฀important฀terrain฀for฀gauging฀the฀functioning ฀of฀the฀American฀democracy฀than฀are฀the฀occasional฀episodes฀of฀ public฀choice฀involved฀in฀elections,฀plebiscites,฀school฀board฀participation ,฀and฀so฀on,฀which฀have฀been฀the฀basis฀of฀mainstream฀evaluations฀ of฀democratic฀performance.฀Indeed,฀the฀ground฀I฀seek฀to฀“diagram”฀has฀ been฀fugitive฀precisely฀because฀of฀the฀way฀the฀mainstream,฀neo-liberal฀ preoccupation฀with฀instances฀of฀individual฀citizen฀participation฀effaces฀ the฀differences฀I฀seek฀to฀illuminate.1 ฀Fortunately,฀some฀critical฀thinkers ฀have฀treated฀democratic฀theory฀in฀ways฀that฀precede฀and฀edify฀my฀ efforts฀here—for฀example,฀William฀Connolly,฀Gilles฀Deleuze,฀Jacque฀ Derrida,฀and฀Jacques฀Rancière.฀Their฀contributions฀lessen฀the฀risks฀I฀ am฀taking฀as฀I฀wander฀some฀distance฀from฀the฀canonical฀frames฀within฀ which฀the฀American฀democracy฀is฀typically฀explored฀and฀evaluated฀in฀ order฀to฀make฀sense฀of฀and฀distinguish฀the฀overlapping฀thought-worlds฀ that฀constitute฀“American฀political฀thought.”฀These฀thinkers,฀like฀Deleuze ’s฀version฀of฀the฀painter฀Francis฀Bacon,฀are฀in฀a฀battle฀against฀the฀ “givens”฀that฀precede฀them.฀As฀Deleuze฀puts฀it,฀“An฀entire฀battle฀takes฀ place฀on฀the฀canvass฀between฀the฀painter฀and฀the฀givens.”2 ฀Critically฀ oriented฀approaches฀to฀democracy฀must฀stage฀a฀similar฀battle. Therefore,฀while฀I฀pursue฀my฀substantive฀concern฀with฀how,฀in฀ 166 Deforming American Political Thought the฀“American฀democracy,”฀some฀ethnic฀Americans฀are฀subjected฀to฀ extraordinary฀risk฀in฀their฀working฀lives,฀my฀focus฀is฀also฀on฀the฀metalevel ฀risk฀involved฀in฀coming฀to฀terms฀with฀democracy.฀The฀main฀theorists ฀of฀politics฀in฀general฀and฀democracy฀in฀particular฀upon฀whom฀I฀ draw฀acknowledge฀the฀contingencies฀and฀ambiguities฀of฀grasping฀and฀ evaluating฀a฀sensible฀world฀that฀does฀not฀partition฀itself฀conveniently.฀ To฀put฀the฀matter฀in฀terms฀intelligible฀to฀empiricists,฀the฀“data”฀on฀ Americans’฀democratic฀performance฀are฀not฀out฀there,฀ready฀to฀supply฀ self-evidence.฀While฀I฀derive฀my฀conceptual฀support฀mostly฀from฀the฀ genres฀of฀critical฀theory฀and฀philosophy,฀I฀want฀to฀point฀out฀that฀the฀ recalcitrance฀of฀the฀world฀to฀affirming฀modes฀of฀sense฀making฀is฀especially ฀well฀appreciated฀by฀those฀practitioners฀of฀novelistic฀realism฀who,฀ in฀ Jacques฀ Rancière’s฀ words,฀ reverse฀ “hierarchies฀ of฀ representation”฀ and฀adopt฀“a฀fragmented฀or฀proximate฀mode฀of฀focalization,฀which฀ imposes฀raw฀presence฀to฀the฀detriment฀of฀the฀rational฀sequences฀of฀the฀ story,”฀thereby,฀as฀I฀add฀in฀the฀preface,฀presenting฀viewers฀with฀multiple฀ perspectives฀rather฀than฀a฀single฀privileged฀focus.3 Franz฀Kafka’s฀writing฀is฀exemplary฀in฀this฀respect.฀Among฀novelists ฀and฀story฀writers,฀he,฀perhaps฀more฀than฀any฀other฀writer/thinker,฀ conveyed฀a฀deep฀appreciation฀of฀the฀risks฀of฀thinking.฀He฀addressed฀ himself฀incessantly฀to฀the฀fraught฀relationship฀between฀consciousness฀ and฀world.฀Although฀there฀are฀abundant฀illustrations฀of฀this฀aspect฀of฀ Kafka’s฀perspective฀on฀the฀perils฀of฀consciousness,฀it฀is฀nowhere฀better฀ exemplified฀than฀in฀his฀story฀“The฀Burrow.”฀Presuming฀a฀radical฀entanglement ฀between฀the฀inferences฀deployed฀by฀the฀operation฀of฀consciousness ฀and฀the฀signs฀emitted฀in฀the฀world,฀Kafka฀situates฀his฀burrow฀ in฀the฀midst฀of฀a฀metaphorically฀expressed฀dilemma.฀His฀story฀features฀ a฀“creature”฀who฀is฀digging฀an฀intricate฀maze,฀hoping฀that฀it฀will฀serve฀ as฀protection฀from฀a฀predator฀that฀it฀thinks฀it฀hears฀outside฀its฀burrow.฀ As฀it฀turns฀out,฀the฀creature฀cannot฀distinguish฀“the฀extent฀to฀which฀ the฀‘dangers’฀impinging฀on฀the฀inner฀space฀it฀has฀created฀are฀from฀‘the฀ outside’฀or฀are฀produced฀by฀its฀own฀(interpretive)฀activity.”4 ฀Ultimately,฀ the฀creature,฀in฀despair฀about฀solving฀its฀dilemma,฀describes฀itself฀as฀an฀ “old฀architect,”฀one฀who฀has฀succumbed฀to฀the฀script฀of฀its฀consciousness :฀“But฀on฀my฀side฀everything฀is฀worse฀prepared฀for฀than฀it฀was฀then;฀ the฀great฀burrow฀stands฀defenseless,฀and฀I฀am฀no฀longer฀a฀young฀apprentice ฀but฀an฀old฀architect.”5 ฀Doubtless฀here฀as฀elsewhere,฀Kafka฀is฀ addressing฀the฀problem฀of฀thinking฀and฀writing.฀Well฀past฀his฀apprenticeship ฀in฀life,฀he฀is฀pondering฀his฀maze,฀the฀already฀inscribed฀codes฀ Democracy’s฀Risky฀Businesses฀ 167 that฀flood฀one’s฀consciousness,฀rendering฀thought฀and฀its฀modalities฀of฀ expression฀risky,฀as฀likely...