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The Case of Michael Ignatieff

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The Case of Michael Ignatieff University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2008 The Intellectual and Political Communication: The case of Michael Ignatieff Wilson, Everett Andrew Wilson, E. A. (2008). The Intellectual and Political Communication: The case of Michael Ignatieff (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/12025 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/46682 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY The Intellectual and Political Communication: The case of Michael Ignatieff by Everett Andrew Wilson A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAM OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES CALGARY, ALBERTA APRIL, 2008 © Everett Andrew Wilson 2008 The author of this thesis has granted the University of Calgary a non-exclusive license to reproduce and distribute copies of this thesis to users of the University of Calgary Archives. Copyright remains with the author. Theses and dissertations available in the University of Calgary Institutional Repository are solely for the purpose of private study and research. They may not be copied or reproduced, except as permitted by copyright laws, without written authority of the copyright owner. Any commercial use or publication is strictly prohibited. The original Partial Copyright License attesting to these terms and signed by the author of this thesis may be found in the original print version of the thesis, held by the University of Calgary Archives. The thesis approval page signed by the examining committee may also be found in the original print version of the thesis held in the University of Calgary Archives. Please contact the University of Calgary Archives for further information, E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: (403) 220-7271 Website: http://www.ucalgary.ca/archives/ Abstract The case of Michael Ignatieff warrants further examination in the context of communications studies, not so much on the scholarly merit of his contributions, but for insight on the discourses that precede and follow an intellectual’s encounter with power and the political spectacle. Drawing on an analysis of his published work, speeches and appearances in print-media, this study follows his transition into politics and the compromises that he made as a candidate. Of particular interest are his campaign speeches and press coverage for both the Federal Election and Liberal Leadership Convention in 2006. In adapting to the political spectacle, Ignatieff surrendered the sceptical realism that marked his critical work before he joined the Liberal Party of Canada. The study deploys an interpretive framework based on the methodology of Max Weber. Four ideal types of discursive, intellectual orientations to politics are offered for comparison with the empirical case. iii Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council through the Masters Scholarship Program. Family and friends provided invaluable encouragement throughout the journey. I wish to thank especially a good friend, Zane Westerbeek, for the books and lively conversations that renewed my interest in the role of the intellectual as an area of research. iv Dedication To Grandma—Freda Wilson v Table of Contents Approval Page................................................................................................................ ii Abstract......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................iv Dedication .......................................................................................................................v Table of Contents ...........................................................................................................vi List of Figures and Illustrations .....................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: IDEAL TYPES OF INTELLECTUALS .................................................14 Concept Formation and Weber’s Method of Interpretive Analysis .............................19 Four Ideal-types of Intellectual Orientations ..............................................................23 Innerworldly detachment ......................................................................................27 Other-worldly detachment ....................................................................................43 Innerworldly attachment.......................................................................................53 Otherworldly attachment ......................................................................................59 Columns and Rows....................................................................................................67 CHAPTER 2: INNERWORLDLY DETACHMENT: IGNATIEFF THE INTELLECTUAL ................................................................................................70 (Self)Representations of innerworldly detachment.....................................................73 Tragic Choice and the Negotiation of a Middleground...............................................80 On strengthening the other side: From human rights to lesser evils. ...........................85 CHAPTER 3: OTHERWORLDLY ATTACHMENT: IGNATIEFF THE POLITICIAN .....................................................................................................102 Rejecting piecemeal politics and intellectualising public policy...............................104 Becoming an organic, intellectual spokesperson in politics. .....................................118 Taming the ‘free-floating’ posture. ..........................................................................127 Hinting at revolutionary and messianic politics........................................................137 Representations of the intellectual in press coverage................................................144 The Finale at the Convention ...................................................................................156 CONCLUSION: EVALUATIONS AND CRITICAL REFLECTIONS.......................159 NOTES .......................................................................................................................167 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………….. 180 vi List of Figures and Illustrations Figure 1.1. Ahmad Sadri’s “Cross-Tabulation of the Primacy of Calling or Mission of Intellectuals and Their Role as Carriers or Organisers of Ideas.” ............................25 Figure 1.2. Modification of Sadri’s Conceptual Grid to Show the Intersection of Intellectual and Political Commitment....................................................................26 Figure 1.3 Organisation of Intellectual Orientations by Quadrant: Review.....................68 vii 1 INTRODUCTION Something happened when Michael Ignatieff left his position at Harvard in 2005, and returned home to face the floodlights of the political arena in Canada. By the time he won his first seat in the Federal Election in January 2006, and then announced his bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party in April, the writer added the cloak of a politician to his existing wardrobe of public identities. The case of Michael Ignatieff warrants further examination in the context of communications studies, not so much on the scholarly merit of his contributions, but for insight on the discourses that precede and follow an intellectual’s encounter with power and the political spectacle. In Canada, Britain and the United States, most readers of his work know Michael Ignatieff as a writer and commentator. He was the historian who wrote a dissertation on the penitentiaries of the industrial revolution.1 He was the scholar who reflected on the Scottish Enlightenment in Wealth and Virtue,2 while he wrestled with the ideas of St. Augustine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith in his collection of essays on The Needs of Strangers.3 He was a biographer who not only captured the memories of Isaiah Berlin in countless interviews,4 but also uncovered his own ancestral legacy in Russian Album.5 He was an award-winning novelist with the publication of Scar Tissue.6 He was a journalist who reported on ethnic conflict and the atrocities of war throughout the 1990s, and published several books and articles on the challenges of securing peace and order in failed states. He was a professor of human rights and director of the Carr Institute at Harvard where he routinely gave lectures, made appearances in the media, and commented on controversial topics from pre-emptive strikes to the use of torture on suspected terrorists.7 2 As someone who confronted readers with challenging questions on contemporary problems, Ignatieff fits well within the general profile of a public intellectual. Russell Jacoby associates the term with scholars, essayists, critics and artists who address
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