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Berkeley Discovers the Right
Mark Lilla at Chronicle of Higher Education with a long essay on U-Cal Berkeley's new "Center for the Comparative Study of Right-Wing Movements." Some prime points:
It is a convenient left-wing dodge to reduce 20th-century American conservatism to cold-war politics, since it implies that conservative ideas are embedded in a world that no longer exists and never should have. In fact, in the 1930s American conservatives were far more obsessed with Franklin D. Roosevelt and his domestic legacy than with Joseph Stalin, and looked askance at all foreign entanglements, including the Second World War. The anti-Communist cause was first conceived by cold-war liberals, not by conservatives.
And what of the Berkeley center's mission to encourage and nurture "comparative scholarship on right-wing movements both in the U.S. and abroad during the 20th and 21st centuries"? That could be a good thing. For instance, it would be useful to know something about the affinities between European right-wingers like Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front in France, and David Duke, the American white supremacist and anti-Semite now living, as it happens, in Austria. But mainstream American conservatism, which pretty much is all there is to the American right, shares nothing meaningful with those protofascist figures. Our conservatives accept the legitimacy of constitutional self-government, even when they hate the legislation and court decisions resulting from it; they play by the rules. The same cannot be said of the European right, which has always been suspicious of parliamentary politics....
But beggars can't be choosers. The unfortunate fact is that American academics have until recently shown little curiosity about conservative ideas, even though those ideas have utterly transformed American (and British) politics over the past 30 years. A look at the online catalogs of our major universities confirms this: plenty of courses on identity politics and postcolonialism, nary a one on conservative political thought. Professors are expected to understand the subtle differences among gay, lesbian, and transgender studies, but I would wager that few can distinguish between the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Cato Institute, three think tanks that have a greater impact on Washington politics than the entire Ivy League.
Amen, Professor Lilla, and may colleges across the land begin assigning my own massive history of American libertarianism, Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement.
Apply for a grant with Berkeley's new program of right-wing studies.
John Tagliaferro|9.17.09 @ 2:26PM|#
The anti-Communist cause was first conceived by cold-war
liberals, not by conservatives.
And abandoned by them in a timespan so short it still cannot be
measured.
Mad Max|9.17.09 @ 2:27PM|#
Like wow, man, can I, like, get a grant for my research project on the history of fascism from Hitler to George W. Bush?
|9.17.09 @ 2:30PM|#
CAL Berkley has been right wing for a while. Cal is a spot for asians to get their MBA and frat boys to get their drink on, very little student activism - the non-student community in Berkley is a different story mind you...
|9.17.09 @ 2:32PM|#
And abandoned by them in a timespan so short it still cannot
be measured.
Sure, if you consider the period between no later than 1947 and no
earlier than 1968 to be "a timespan so short it still cannot be
measured." Or do you think the Truman Doctrine, the defense of
South Korea, the resistance to Communist insurgency in South
Vietnam, the quarantine of Cuba during the Missile Crisis, and the
Bay of Pigs invasion were all just show, meant to disguise how the
Democrats were all in bed with the Commies?
Brian Doherty|9.17.09 @ 2:34PM|#
By the way, I don't consider modern American libertarianism properly a subset of the "right wing"---but am aware that most academics and citizens who are even vaguely aware of the term tend to do so. A big part of my book is trying to rescue libertarianism historically from that pigeonhole.
John Tagliaferro|9.17.09 @ 2:39PM|#
Or do you think the Truman Doctrine, the defense of South
Korea, the resistance to Communist insurgency in South Vietnam, the
quarantine of Cuba during the Missile Crisis, and the Bay of Pigs
invasion were all just show, meant to disguise how the Democrats
were all in bed with the Commies?
Yes, they were only faking it.
FDR packed the government full of known Communists. The only time
they were exposed by the Left was for someone's own political gain
(LBJ pulled a big one on that), and so on.
Abdul|9.17.09 @ 2:40PM|#
I can't wait until some Jane Goodall type from Berkely goes to
Dick Cheney's house to study a conservative in his natural
environment.
"I finally won his trust by grooming his silver fur for ticks. .
."
|9.17.09 @ 2:41PM|#
U-Cal Berkeley's new "Center for the Comparative Study of
Right-Wing Movements."
Soooo, they'll be studying the Democratic Party for their first
project?
John Tagliaferro|9.17.09 @ 2:42PM|#
By the way, I don't consider modern American libertarianism
properly a subset of the "right wing"---but am aware that most
academics and citizens who are even vaguely aware of the term tend
to do so.
Ain't that the truth! I finally stopped getting strongly annoyed
and just sigh and move on when the topic comes up. I also learned
not to mention your book around Randoids (I do mention it
frequently to others). I think they have a price on your head or
something.
John Tagliaferro|9.17.09 @ 2:43PM|#
I can't wait until some Jane Goodall type from Berkely goes
to Dick Cheney's house to study a conservative in his natural
environment.
Jonah Goldberg calls those "COnservatives in the Mist" stories.
|9.17.09 @ 2:43PM|#
The anti-Communist cause was first conceived
Really? I would have guessed Czarist Russia.
|9.17.09 @ 2:47PM|#
So, is there a Berkeley Center for the Study of Left-Wing Movements? Or does Berkeley not consider lefties so foreign and debased that they rate the occasional anthropological expedition to ponder their mysterious ways?
In Other News|9.17.09 @ 2:50PM|#
From the AP:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the
anti-government rhetoric over President Barack Obama's health care
reform effort is concerning because it reminds her of the violent
debate over gay rights that roiled San Francisco in the
1970s.
Anyone voicing hateful or violent rhetoric, she told reporters,
must take responsibility for the results.
"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used
because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco,"
Pelosi said, suddenly speaking quietly. "This kind of rhetoric was
very frightening" and created a climate in which violence took
place, she said.
Story
hier.
|9.17.09 @ 2:50PM|#
I'm going to start a network called Conservative Planet, where we'll produce and broadcast various shows about the culture, society, and lifestyles of American conservatives. Our embedded hosts will directly interact with conservatives and, to the greatest extent possible, try to blend in with their fascinating, yet alien culture. Because Conservative women often walk around naked, viewer discretion is advised.
|9.17.09 @ 2:51PM|#
In order to avoid to narrow a focus, we'll include some shows on libertarians. . .late at night.
skr|9.17.09 @ 2:52PM|#
The entire essay has good stuff in it. There are a lot of highlights that Brian left out. Good read. Thanks Brian.
Attorney|9.17.09 @ 2:56PM|#
But seriously, folks ...
Last year, the Teaching Company brought out an excellent course on
the history of conservative thought. Well worth a listen, if you
can get it on sale. (Their regular prices are pretty steep.)
Typical Artist|9.17.09 @ 2:57PM|#
Can we have a center for the study of either-wing douchebag
partisan assholes?
I have submitted an NEA grant application for exactly that.
Stretchy|9.17.09 @ 2:59PM|#
"...I would wager that few can distinguish between the
American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the
Cato Institute..."
Not to sound like an ignoramus but, what are the differences
between these entities? Both in their stated mission and, in their
actual output.
Rich|9.17.09 @ 3:01PM|#
Anyone voicing hateful or violent rhetoric, she told
reporters, must take responsibility for the results.
"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used
because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco,"
Pelosi said, suddenly speaking quietly
so as to avoid taking responsibility for the results.
|9.17.09 @ 3:09PM|#
"I have concerns about some of the language that is being
used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco,"
Pelosi said, suddenly speaking quietly. "This kind of rhetoric was
very frightening" and created a climate in which violence took
place, she said.
Sure, sure,... gay rights 35 years ago, socialized medicine 2009.
Same thing. Gotcha.
Nancy Pelosi=anti-Cassandra. Always predicting horrible things that
everyone hears about, but never happen.
The Angry Optimist|9.17.09 @ 3:10PM|#
Not to sound like an ignoramus but, what are the differences between these entities? Both in their stated mission and, in their actual output.
If you don't want to be an ignoramus, go look it up for yourself.
Although I sense that your "ignorance" is feigned to make a snarky
point.
|9.17.09 @ 3:11PM|#
Not to sound like an ignoramus but, what are the differences
between these entities? Both in their stated mission and, in their
actual output.
AEI=Neo-con
Heritage=Paleo-con
Cato=Libertarian/fiscal conservative
|9.17.09 @ 3:13PM|#
Since today's neocons are to the left of chicoms, the meaning of the term 'conservative' is redefined each time it's used. A study of something so mailable can't yield much in the way of meaningful results.
|9.17.09 @ 3:17PM|#
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the
anti-government rhetoric over President Barack Obama's health care
reform effort is concerning because it reminds her of the violent
debate over gay rights that roiled San Francisco in the
1970s.
Nancy Pelosi: fledgling insult comic.
Actually, that would be a welcome change.
|9.17.09 @ 3:21PM|#
Anyone voicing hateful or violent rhetoric, she told
reporters, must take responsibility for the results.
So, Pelosi think Obama should take responsibility for the SEIU
thugs who beat that guy up at the town hall a day or two after he
said to "punch back twice as hard"?
The Angry Optimist|9.17.09 @ 3:24PM|#
Ain't that the truth! I finally stopped getting strongly annoyed and just sigh and move on when the topic comes up. I also learned not to mention your book around Randoids (I do mention it frequently to others). I think they have a price on your head or something.
Your neoconservative warmongering tendencies certainly don't help
disabuse people of the notion. you even called
reason "Surrender Monkeys" - holy shit, it's not
2004, dude. Grow up.
|9.17.09 @ 3:25PM|#
"I have concerns about some of the language that is being
used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco,"
Pelosi said, suddenly speaking quietly. "This kind of rhetoric was
very frightening" and created a climate in which violence took
place, she said.
So Pelosi is saying that if Anita Bryant had kept her mouth shut
about anything but orange juice, Dan White wouldn't have killed
Moscone and Milk? Just askin'.
Cal Lipigian|9.17.09 @ 3:30PM|#
CAL Berkley has been right wing for a while. Cal is a spot
for asians to get their MBA and frat boys to get their drink on,
very little student activism
As a Cal grad, albeit a long long time ago, this is not quite
right. Students at Cal, like any rigorous university, are more
apolitical than left or right wing. There is too much work to do to
pass classes to worry about activism. OTOH, a bullshit school like
Stanford that doesn't give failing grades......
|9.17.09 @ 3:30PM|#
Heritage=Paleo-con
Not unless by paleo-con, you mean "conservative the way
conservatives used to be before the neo-cons came to dominate
American 'conservatism.'" The term "paleo-con" more usually means
people like Pat Buchanan, Paul Gottfried, and the Rockford
Institute. Russell Kirk would probably have been called a paleo-con
if he'd lived long enough for the paleo-con movement to coalesce.
Intercollegiate Studies Institute has paleo-con leanings (which is
to say their journal, Modern Age, regularly excoriates the
neo-cons).)
|9.17.09 @ 3:34PM|#
...the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage
Foundation, and the Cato Institute, three think tanks that have a
greater impact on Washington politics than the entire Ivy
League.
Would that it were so!
Anita Bryant|9.17.09 @ 3:35PM|#
If there's one thing I hate worse than homosexuals, it's the scum who think orange juice is just for breakfast.
|9.17.09 @ 3:35PM|#
Seamus beat me too it. There are not many "paleocons" out there. Lonewacko maybe.
Neu Mejican|9.17.09 @ 3:35PM|#
I posted this on another thread, but it seems to belong here
instead...
Markus Kemmelmeier, Authoritarianism and its relationship with intuitive-experiential cognitive style and heuristic processing, Personality and Individual Differences, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 12 September 2009,
Abstract:
Two studies examined the relationship between authoritarianism, cognitive style and heuristic processing. Focusing on Epstein's (2003) cognitive-experiential self-theory, Study 1 shows that authoritarianism is related to Epstein's dimension of faith in intuition, but not need for cognition, even when controlling for individual differences in need for structure. Study 2 confirms that authoritarianism is related to greater heuristic processing. The discussion suggests ways in which individual differences in cognitive style and heuristic processing may account for established effects of authoritarianism.
|9.17.09 @ 3:36PM|#
"...the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation,
and the Cato Institute, three think tanks that have a greater
impact on Washington politics than the entire Ivy League.
Would that it were so!"
It is actually true. That is the good news. The bad news is that it
is true because the Ivy Leagues put out about as much credible and
significant political thought as Lonewacko.
The Angry Optimist|9.17.09 @ 3:38PM|#
Ah, alas, AEI, Heritage and Cato have nothing on the public school system.
|9.17.09 @ 3:38PM|#
I'm unclear on how cherry-picking some incident at Berkeley -
the archetypal liberal university for decades - somehow says
anything relevant about America, its educational system, or the
country's view of conservatism. And as the NYT points out, it's far
more likely that this is a reaction to endowments of
conservative-leaning institutes at other universities than some
sort of de novo anti-conservative hysteria.
This is a tempest in a teapot. Can we stop complaining about how
Enormous Interest Group X is so horribly victimized and get back to
thinking about something relevant?
The Angry Optimist|9.17.09 @ 3:40PM|#
I'm unclear on how cherry-picking some incident at Berkeley - the archetypal liberal university for decades - somehow says anything relevant about America, its educational system, or the country's view of conservatism.
I didn't read anything like that in the blog post.
kinnath|9.17.09 @ 3:41PM|#
As an extremely introverted, intuitive problems solver (perfect I & N scores on Meyers/Briggs) and a seasoned engineer that knows the difference between an algorithm and a heuristics, I find this abstract to be total bullshit.
$|9.17.09 @ 3:43PM|#
I didn't read anything like that in the blog
post.
Great timing. Have some:
those ideas have utterly transformed American (and British)
politics over the past 30 years
WTF?
That's about how long I've been conscious, and...it didn't
happen.
Without much effort, you can pass a lifetime saturated in American
and British media -- popular, academic, and political -- without
once hearing a right wing or "right-wing" thought expressed by
anyone who believes it.
Meanwhile, you can't turn your head without suffering a gavage of
the idiot-technocrat fascism dipped in CliffsNotes Marxism (and/or
Churchill quotes) that passes for "intelligent political
discourse," from the neocons on left.
The article wouldn't have been written, otherwise.
At the same time, out here in the real world, I've never seen a
state shrink. A few failed in ways that some "right-wing"
dudes liked, but that's it. The rest have "utterly transformed"
into unkillable leftoid monsters.
Seriously, WTF?
kinnath|9.17.09 @ 3:44PM|#
Unless Kemmelmeier is just trying to summarize the Authoritarion mindset as "don't confuse me with the facts, I know what's right". But that's an issue of willful blindness not intuition or heuristic processing.
|9.17.09 @ 3:47PM|#
I think it highly likely that Berkeley will merely end up analyzing the right that exists in their heads, and not the actual right.
|9.17.09 @ 3:50PM|#
Not unless by paleo-con, you mean "conservative the way
conservatives used to be before the neo-cons came to dominate
American 'conservatism.'" The term "paleo-con" more usually means
people like Pat Buchanan, Paul Gottfried, and the Rockford
Institute. Russell Kirk would probably have been called a paleo-con
if he'd lived long enough for the paleo-con movement to coalesce.
Intercollegiate Studies Institute has paleo-con leanings (which is
to say their journal, Modern Age, regularly excoriates the
neo-cons).)
Yes, that's what I mean. Kirk is venerated there, or at least used
to be.
This isn't to say that they haven't hitched their wagon to neo-con
shitstorms (**coughIRAQcough**), but it's largely paleo and stays
out of the cultural side to a large degree. They let the
goose-steppers over at Family Research Council take that pill.
|9.17.09 @ 3:52PM|#
I'm going to start a network called Conservative Planet,
where we'll produce and broadcast various shows about the culture,
society, and lifestyles of American conservatives. Our embedded
hosts will directly interact with conservatives and, to the
greatest extent possible, try to blend in with their fascinating,
yet alien culture. Because Conservative women often walk around
naked, viewer discretion is advised.
How about two reality shows in one? One is a house full of far left
anarcho-communist hippies. The kind that grow organic food, smoke
weed and wear dreadlocks. The other is a fundamentalist mormon
compound. In each case, the hosts have to attempt to blend in with
the culture, while the show cuts back and forth between the two
groups, comparing and contrasting their lifestyles.
|9.17.09 @ 4:00PM|#
One is a house full of far left anarcho-communist hippies.
The kind that grow shop at Whole Foods
for organic food, smoke weed and wear
dreadlocks.
The other kind is going to be much harder to find.
Kunal|9.17.09 @ 4:05PM|#
The anti-Communist cause was first conceived
Really? I would have guessed Czarist Russia.
French Third Republic. That Adolphe Thiers, he was a badass.
Zeb|9.17.09 @ 4:19PM|#
"The other kind is going to be much harder to find."
I know enough of them that we could probably put together a decent
show.
Federal Dog|9.17.09 @ 4:34PM|#
"Anyone voicing hateful or violent rhetoric, she told reporters,
must take responsibility for the results."
What about anyone biting off appendages of political
dissenters?
|9.17.09 @ 4:38PM|#
Nancy,
Advocating theft is hateful, especially since it has to be done
with violence.
Paul|9.17.09 @ 4:43PM|#
In order to avoid to narrow a focus, we'll include some
shows on libertarians. . .late at night.
Libertarians are of such a rare breed, Cal Berkely won't even
officially acknowledge their existence. One professor attempted to
set up a SETI project (if you will) for the search for libertarian
philosphy: SELPH-- pronounced as you would expect. The project was
highly marginalized and criticized for taking valuable lab time
away from studying real movements, like Militias and other hate
groups currently being studied by the Southern Poverty Law
Center.
|9.17.09 @ 4:53PM|#
Well, given the name of the center, we can bet it will provide a fair-minded examination of the wing-nut, er, right-wing movement.
waaaa|9.17.09 @ 6:23PM|#
Oh, crap, I thought I, as a libertarian, was out on a limb of the Left, but now they tell me I'm just another rightwing nut duster???
Mookie|9.17.09 @ 6:26PM|#
better still, Hazel, if the anarcho-hippies and the fundamentalist Mormons swapped some members and then engaged in inter-breeding.
wayne|9.17.09 @ 7:43PM|#
As a fresh college grad, I accepted a Software Engineering job
with Hughes Aircraft in 1982. Hughes hired a gaggle of SW types
right around that time; one was a computer science grad from
Berkeley. She was dumber than an Obama supporter shilling for
ACORN.
I have held a low opinion of UC Berkeley ever since. It is probably
not fair of me, but there it is.
Craig|9.17.09 @ 8:01PM|#
UC Berserkely
Comparative Right Wing Studies 101
Course Syllabus
Introduction: Right Wingers -- Racists, Fascists, or Both?
Module 1: Constitutional Literalism and other Outdated Ideological
Foundations
Module 2: The Inherent Sexism in Conservative Dogma
Module 3: Zombie Reagan -- Still a Threat to the Progressive
Agenda?
Module 4: Conservatives in the Media -- Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck
as a Social Pathology
Module 5: Independent Study (Paper) -- Pick one irrational
conservative policy and explain why it remains popular in America.
Extra credit for referring to fundamental religious beliefs (except
fundamental religious beliefs of oppressed peoples).
Michael Ejercito|9.18.09 @ 10:08AM|#
And abandoned by them in a timespan so short it still cannot be measured.
Why did liberals abandon anti-Communism?
OTOH, a bullshit school like Stanford that doesn't give failing grades......
Do you have any proof?
Stanford is one of the top schools in the state, pretty difficult
to get into.
Tostitos|9.22.09 @ 6:23PM|#
I really hate being considered right wing, we're as left wing as we are right, yet somehow not centrist. Just another flaw of the scale.
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