Am I conservative? Does that conservative hate me? Why do conservatives say things like that? What does conservatism really mean anymore? Conservativism in America: Spring 2020 2019 was quite the year for conservatives. India, Japan, and the United Kingdom all joined the United States, Brazil, and George Ehrhardt Poland in electing Right-wing governments. Worldwide, the Anne Belk 351J median voter is now a populist conservative. 262-6920 [email protected] What does this mean? What do these conservatives believe? How do they behave politically? These are difficult questions; Class time too often we hear shallow, one-dimensional answers. Answers MWF: 10-11 from those on the Right demand loyalty to their own particular Anne Belk 223 brand of conservatism to the exclusion of all others. Answers from those on the Left sound like 19th Century colonial Office Hours: ethnographers, titillating their metropolitan readers with Mon: 11:00-12:00 curiosities from Darkest Africa Flyover Country. Instead of Wed: 11:00-12:00 giving you answers head-on, though, I want to sneak up on Thur: 2:00-4:00 them from behind, so they don’t run away and hide in the noise and fury of today’s politics. You have grown up in an American educational system where what might be called a ‘liberal worldview’ is normative--in other words, that worldview is taken as Right and Good and Just. You may have had teachers who disagreed, and your parents may have objected, but fundamentally, liberal ideas about what it means to be human and how we live together form the foundation on which acceptable ideas about politics and society are built. This is true in contemporary K-12, higher education, and social media. Peering out from behind the walls around that worldview, Conservativism often seems illogical, unthinking, even hurtful. And if that worldview is all one really understands then conservatives can seem like, well...stupid racists. This means that instead of standing on the walls and pointing fingers at Conservatism from a distance like a tour guide on a bus, we need to leave the safety of our walls and get our hands dirty. We need to ask questions that will help us see an alternative understanding of the world first-hand, like learning about a foreign country with a homestay. We’re not going to spend the semester reading scholarly articles where 3rd party authors pronounce judgement. We’re going to ask fundamental questions about what it means to be human, go to primary sources to see how actual conservatives answer them, and discuss as a class what to make of those answers. 1 Course Educational Goals: This is not a course about history or policy. Nor is it about the American Conservative Movement as it formerly existed, though we will spend a week on that to provide some context. This is a political philosophy course: it asks for conservative answers to fundamental questions. What does it mean to be human? How should we relate to ourselves and to others? What is Justice? What does it mean to be Male and Female? What does it mean to live in a community? What is our relationship to the Transcendent? When the course finishes: • Students of all partisan stripes should be able to describe conservative answers to those questions and analyze them both critically and sympathetically. • Students should also be able to identify the political implications of those answers. Useful Readings In this course we will read primary sources, to better understand how conservatives themselves understand conservatism. If we want to correctly understand conservative rhetoric in today’s politics we need to understand what they mean by the words they use, and going to the primary sources is the only way to do that. I will make these readings available on ASUlearn, the school’s classroom software platform. The syllabus lists three types of readings: Required: Unless otherwise marked, I expect you to have these read by the date they are listed on the syllabus. If it is necessary to have exams, their content will appear. I will not quiz you on small details, but you should understand the author’s arguments and how they support it. Recommended: If you’re interested in going a little deeper into the topics under discussion, these are good places to start. Their contents won’t be required to know, but if you would like to do an in-class presentation on them you may (see the grading section for how that would count). In my experience it is very difficult for the non-religious—even someone who went to Sunday school every week as a child—to accurately understand the nature of faith and how it affects an adult believer’s view of the world. For those interested in trying, though, I recommend (but not require) the following book and have suggested chapters to read during the semester. Howard, Thomas. 1969. Chance or the Dance: A Critique of Modern Secularism (Ignatius Press) The author is Christian, but his argument is not based in Christian theology. From what I know of Buddhism and Paganism, at least, it applies equally well. I suspect devout Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and those of other faiths will find themselves nodding their heads as they read it. Supplementary: These readings are related, but either too long or not quite relevant enough to make it into the first two categories. I’ve demoted some conservative classics to this list because there are usually shorter and easier to read modern summaries. Some required readings are listed as entire books. Never fear, you don’t need to buy or read the whole book. I will copy selections and make them available on ASUlearn. 2 Things I have to say because there are too many lawyers in America There are super-duper important policies that the university says you need to know. Go read them! http://academicaffairs.appstate.edu/syllabi For your sake as well as that of your classmates, I strongly discourage the use of computers in class. If you feel like you need to use one and you’ve discussed it with the office that handles special accommodations, please come see me and we can talk about it. Otherwise, leave them in your backpack. On the other hand, sometimes we google stuff, so I don’t mind cell phones—just be respectful about it. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy, and none of my syllabi survive contact with students either. At some point mid-semester, I'll almost certainly, possibly arbitrarily, but probably not maliciously, change the schedule or the grading system. Course Schedule I. Before setting out: the view from behind the ramparts Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas? Joseph Stalin 1.13 Course Introduction and Syllabus Explanation 1.15 The Standardized Academic Article on Conservatives 97% of political scientists agree, conservatives have no ideas. On the other hand, they have the market cornered on mental deficiencies and negative emotions. Required Setzler, Mark, and Alixandra B. Yanus. 2018. “Why Did Women Vote for Donald Trump?” PS: Political Science & Politics 51 (3). Pp. 523–27. Recommended Douglas Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” Harper’s Magazine, November 1964, http://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/. James Crouse and Douglas Stalker, 2007. “Do Right-Wing Authoritarian Beliefs Originate from Psychological Conflict?” in Psychoanalytic Psychology. Vol. 24 no. 1 pp. 25-44. Hajnal, Zoltan and Marisa Abrajano, 2016. “Trump’s All Too Familiar Strategy and Its Future in the GOP” The Forum. Vol. 14 No. 3. pp. 295-309. Supplementary Adorno, Theodor. 1950. The Authoritarian Personality. Harper & Brothers Press. Altemeyer, Robert. 1981. Right-wing Authoritarianism. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. Altemeyer, Robert, 2006. The Authoritarians. Smith, Robert C. 2010. Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They Are the Same. New York City, NY: SUNY Press. Dietrich, D., (2014). Rebellious Conservatives: Social Movements in Defense of Privilege. New York City, Palgrave Macmillan. Hochschild, A., (2016). Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. Berkeley, New Press. 3 Inglehart, Ronald; Norris, Pippa. (2017). Trump and the Populist Authoritarian Parties: The Silent Revolution in Reverse.” Perspectives on Politics; Vol. 15, Iss. 2, (Jun 2017): 443-454 Robin, Corey, 2017. The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump. Oxford University Press. 1.17 Where did this stereotype come from? Origins of the Standard Academic Article Required Oakeshott, Michael. 1991. “On Being Conservative." Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays, 2nd edition, pp. 407-437. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund. Recommended Kenneth Minogue (2009). “The Elusive Oakeshott” in The American Conservative October 1, 2009. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-elusive-oakeshott/ Supplementary Rossiter, Clinton. 1955. Conservatism in America. New York, NY: Knopf. Hartz, Louis. 1995. The Liberal Tradition in America. Mariner Books. Lyons, Paul. 2011. American Conservatism: Thinking It, Teaching It. Vanderbilt University Press. Hawley, George. 2016. Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press. II. The Rise and Fall of the Conservative Movement And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Percy Shelley, "Ozymandias" 1.22 RIP: The American Conservative Movement, 1964-2016: Day 1 Required Nash, George. 2009. “The Uneasy Future of the Conservative Movement” in Reappraising the Right: The Past and Future of American Conservatism. Wilmington, DE; ISI Press, pp.