Deforming American Political Thought: Ethnicity, Facticity, and Genre

Preface

Preface Many฀of฀the฀ideas฀incorporated฀in฀the฀investigations฀in฀this฀book฀were฀ developed฀ during฀ pedagogical฀ plans฀ and฀ their฀ implementation.฀ For฀ several฀years฀I฀have฀taught฀a฀“scope฀and฀methods”฀course฀for฀beginning฀ political฀science฀graduate฀students.฀Most฀courses฀under฀this฀rubric฀were฀ invented฀during฀the฀1960s,฀when฀departments฀of฀government฀became฀ departments฀of฀political฀science,฀a฀shift฀reflecting฀a฀new฀preoccupation฀ with฀“method,”฀as฀a฀formerly฀historical฀and฀descriptive฀discipline฀was฀ being฀transformed฀into฀a฀social฀science.฀The฀social฀scientization฀of฀a฀ politics฀discipline฀is฀an฀ambiguous฀achievement.1 ฀While฀on฀the฀one฀ hand,฀the฀introduction฀of฀rigor฀in฀a฀knowledge฀practice฀enables฀systematic ฀inquiry,฀on฀the฀other,฀as฀Sheldon฀Wolin฀pointed฀out฀in฀a฀polemical฀ essay฀written฀in฀the฀midst฀of฀the฀“behavioral฀revolution”฀in฀political฀ science,฀a฀preoccupation฀with฀method฀(which฀he฀referred฀to฀as฀“methodism ”)฀is฀incompatible฀with฀the฀vocation฀of฀the฀political฀theorist,฀inasmuch ฀as฀that฀vocation฀requires฀attentiveness฀to฀a฀historically฀informed฀ and฀politically฀engaged฀knowledge.2 ฀A฀reading฀of฀Wolin’s฀indictment,฀ which฀I฀offer฀in฀chapter฀2,฀reveals฀at฀a฀minimum฀a฀radical฀difference฀ between฀his฀and฀mainstream฀political฀science฀perspectives฀on฀political฀ theory.฀Observing฀this฀particular฀disciplinary฀contention฀among฀others,฀ it฀has฀been฀clear฀to฀me฀that฀there฀is฀no฀unambiguous฀way฀to฀represent฀ political฀science฀as฀a฀consensual฀discipline,฀in฀terms฀of฀either฀scope฀ or฀method.฀Political฀science,฀as฀deployed฀in฀American฀academia,฀is฀ recalcitrant฀to฀a฀representation฀as฀what฀Thomas฀Kuhn฀famously฀called฀ a฀paradigm. As฀ a฀ result,฀ I฀ have฀ encouraged฀ students฀ to฀ explore—borrowing฀ Arjun฀ Appadurai’s฀ term—the฀ changing฀ “ideoscape”฀ of฀ political฀ science ,฀as฀it฀is฀reflected฀in,฀among฀other฀places,฀the฀historical฀trajectory฀ of฀presidential฀addresses฀at฀annual฀meetings฀of฀the฀American฀Political฀ Science฀Association฀since฀its฀founding฀in฀1903.3 ฀As฀I฀read฀these฀along฀ with฀my฀students,฀tracking฀changes฀in฀the฀designation฀of฀political฀subjects ,฀in฀the฀cartography฀of฀“the฀political,”฀in฀the฀social฀imaginaries฀ x฀ ฀ Preface within฀which฀politics฀has฀been฀theorized,฀and฀in฀notions฀of฀the฀ethical ฀responsibilities฀of฀the฀scholar,฀my฀imagination฀was฀captured฀by฀the฀ 1990฀address฀by฀the฀first฀female฀president฀of฀the฀APSA,฀the฀political฀ theorist฀Judith฀Shklar.฀In฀her฀address,฀“Redeeming฀American฀Political ฀Thought”฀(which฀I฀analyze฀in฀chapters฀1฀and฀2),฀she฀explores฀the฀ epistemological฀compatibility฀between฀influential฀Euro-American฀figures ฀in฀a฀founding฀period฀of฀American฀political฀theory฀and฀contemporary ฀social฀science,฀seeking฀to฀redeem฀the฀scientific฀perspicacity฀of฀ the฀“founders.”4 ฀But฀in฀addition,฀she฀is฀the฀first฀to฀confess฀that฀the฀existence ฀of฀“chattel฀slavery”฀impugns฀an฀unambiguous฀democratization฀ narrative฀applied฀to฀the฀American฀political฀tradition.฀Her฀focus฀on฀the฀ concept฀of฀redemption฀has฀encouraged฀me฀to฀undertake฀a฀redemptive฀ project฀as฀well,฀although฀as฀will฀be฀clear฀from฀my฀discussion฀in฀chapter฀ 1,฀my฀version฀of฀that฀project฀is฀very฀different฀from฀hers.฀Briefly,฀rather฀ than฀attempting฀to฀redeem฀the฀scientific฀credentials฀of฀Euro-American฀ founders,฀I฀redeem฀other฀voices. A฀second฀major฀aspect฀of฀my฀analysis฀stems฀from฀my฀teaching฀of฀ the฀aesthetic-politics฀relationship.฀After฀exposing฀students฀to฀Immanuel฀ Kant’s฀Critique฀of฀Judgment฀and฀treating฀its฀implications฀for฀approaching ฀facticity,฀not฀as฀something฀the฀world฀simply฀confers฀but฀as฀what฀ emerges฀ from฀ the฀ way฀ subjects฀ actively฀ apprehend฀ worlds,฀ I฀ go฀ on฀ to฀emphasize฀the฀ways฀in฀which฀Kant’s฀contribution฀to฀turning฀what฀ is฀sensible฀into฀what฀is฀knowable฀is฀inflected฀in฀the฀thinking฀of฀such฀ post-Kantians฀as฀Gilles฀Deleuze,฀Jean-François฀Lyotard,฀and฀Jacques฀ Rancière.฀I฀then฀encourage฀students฀to฀apply฀a฀post-Kantian฀appreciation ฀of฀the฀permeable฀boundary฀between฀epistemological฀and฀aesthetic฀ modes฀of฀analysis฀and฀judgment฀to฀the฀politics฀of฀literary,฀visual,฀and฀ aural฀texts. As฀my฀own฀investigations฀of฀diverse฀genres฀took฀shape—in฀course฀ preparation,฀in฀the฀classroom,฀and฀in฀my฀writing—I฀became฀particularly ฀engaged฀by฀critical฀interpretive฀approaches฀edified฀by฀concepts฀of฀ deformation฀and฀partitioning.฀With฀respect฀to฀the฀former,฀I฀implement,฀ while฀shifting฀genres,฀Gilles฀Deleuze’s฀analysis฀of฀the฀way฀the฀painter฀ Francis฀Bacon฀deforms฀the฀“psychic฀clichés”฀and฀“figurative฀givens”฀in฀ the฀history฀of฀painting฀and฀Houston฀A.฀Baker฀Jr.’s฀analysis฀of฀the฀way฀ W.฀E.฀B.฀Du฀Bois’s฀writing฀effects฀a฀“deformation฀of฀mastery”฀to฀challenge ฀aspects฀of฀the฀textuality฀of฀white฀dominance.5 ฀With฀respect฀to฀the฀ latter,฀I฀am฀instructed฀by฀Jacques฀Rancière’s฀conception฀of฀the฀politics฀ of฀aesthetics,฀where฀aesthetics฀is฀understood฀to฀involve฀“the฀partitioning฀ [3.144.212...