A Commentary on the Passing Scene by
Robert Paul Wolff
rwolff@afroam.umass.edu
Friday, November 22, 2019
THE AHA MOMENT
And now I remember the name of the young Asst Prof in W. Y. Elliott's seminar whom I confused with Theda Skocpol: Judith Shklar. I actually knew Dita Shklar back in the day. Whew, it's a bitch getting old.
Here's a July op-ed by Skocpol summarizing her views: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/07/28/democrats-can-beat-trump-2020-with-2018-playbook-not-2016-column/1828384001/
Two articles below cast additional light on what Theda Skocpol thinks, and it's the conventional right-facing Democratic Centrism she continues to spout:
In her 2016 "Whither the Sanders Left?" she discounts Bernie's movement-building and instead paints Tom Kaine as a progressive who has "truly 'walked the walk' when it comes to spreading progressivism beyond true-blue enclaves." Really? B.S.
In her 2017 "Can Marches Become a Movement" Skocpol and her fellow authors focus on the Pants Suit Nation (found at the crossroads of Emily's List and the DCCC). She paints a totally false picture of a wide-open Democratic Big Tent and discounts the marginalization of progressives within the party. More B.S.
Even having studied the phenomenon themselves, people like Skocpol ignore the fact that White People already have a party completely dedicated to their concerns. The Democratic Party is a catch-all for everyone else but the party doesn't treat Black and Latino voters with much respect -- and all the Centrist White Liberal whining about the supposed defects of "identity politics" is nothing more than a justification for ignoring or giving only lip service to very real class and race issues.
Rather than going after the mythological "undecided White voter" the Dems would do well to make their party an attractive home to the minorities who have no other party to represent them. See Steve Phillips' "Brown is the New White" for detailed instructions:
I have not looked at the articles yet, but that sounds right. I hope to God she is wrong. I still think this election will be decided by an enormous outpouring of our voters, so long as we do not turn them off with Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, et al.
Thanks to RPW, LFC, and Warren Goldfarb for sorting out the Benhabib/Skocpol/Shklar confusion!
ReplyDeleteHere's a July op-ed by Skocpol summarizing her views: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/07/28/democrats-can-beat-trump-2020-with-2018-playbook-not-2016-column/1828384001/
ReplyDeleteTwo articles below cast additional light on what Theda Skocpol thinks, and it's the conventional right-facing Democratic Centrism she continues to spout:
ReplyDeletehttps://democracyjournal.org/author/theda-skocpol/
In her 2016 "Whither the Sanders Left?" she discounts Bernie's movement-building and instead paints Tom Kaine as a progressive who has "truly 'walked the walk' when it comes to spreading progressivism beyond true-blue enclaves." Really? B.S.
In her 2017 "Can Marches Become a Movement" Skocpol and her fellow authors focus on the Pants Suit Nation (found at the crossroads of Emily's List and the DCCC). She paints a totally false picture of a wide-open Democratic Big Tent and discounts the marginalization of progressives within the party. More B.S.
Even having studied the phenomenon themselves, people like Skocpol ignore the fact that White People already have a party completely dedicated to their concerns. The Democratic Party is a catch-all for everyone else but the party doesn't treat Black and Latino voters with much respect -- and all the Centrist White Liberal whining about the supposed defects of "identity politics" is nothing more than a justification for ignoring or giving only lip service to very real class and race issues.
Rather than going after the mythological "undecided White voter" the Dems would do well to make their party an attractive home to the minorities who have no other party to represent them. See Steve Phillips' "Brown is the New White" for detailed instructions:
https://thenewpress.com/books/brown-new-white
I have not looked at the articles yet, but that sounds right. I hope to God she is wrong. I still think this election will be decided by an enormous outpouring of our voters, so long as we do not turn them off with Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, et al.
ReplyDelete