Cultural pluralism

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
William James ◽  
Democratic Society ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
James I ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Randolph Bourne ◽  
Alain Locke ◽  
Horace Kallen

The expression ‘cultural pluralism’ was popularized by Horace Kallen, a student of William James. I explore the meaning of pluralism in the context of the American pragmatic tradition with emphasis on the meaning of pluralism for William James. Kallen sought to characterize cultural pluralism in contrast with the idea of America as a ‘melting-pot’. I also examine the contributions of Randolph Bourne and the African-American philosopher Alain Locke to the discussion of cultural pluralism. I conclude by indicating that the idea of a democratic society that respects and is enriched by differences is highly relevant to contemporary discussions of cultural pluralism in a global context.

Alain Locke: Personality and the Problematic of Pragmatism in the Construction of Race

Prospects ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 451-469
Author(s):  
Mark Helbling
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
William James ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Howard University ◽  
Alain Locke ◽  
Cornel West

In the current interest in American pragmatism, the role of African American intellectuals within that tradition, together with questions of race and ethnic identity, has increasingly been given serious attention. Cornel West, for example, argued in The American Evasion of Philosophy (1989) that pragmatism represented our most important intellectual tradition for confronting the inequalities that existed due to “hierarchies based on class, race, gender and sexual orientation.” Nevertheless, West claimed, it was a flawed tradition still limited in its intellectual and social reach because “the complex formulations and arguments of American pragmatists shape and are shaped by the social structures that exploit and oppress.” Given this claim, West challenged his readers to expand “the pragmatist canon to encompass a major body of critical reflection on ‘race’ and racism in the United States.”Of those who have responded to West's challenge, Nancy Fraser was one of the first to link her critical project directly with that of his. In “Another Pragmatism: Alain Locke, Critical ‘Race’ Theory, and the Politics of Culture” (1995), Fraser writes, “I intend to take up Cornel West's challenge. I am going to discuss a recently rediscovered work by another African-American theorist of ‘race’ and racism who was trained in philosophy at Harvard under Josiah Royce and William James early in this century and who also deserves a place in the “pragmatist pantheon.” Thus, whereas W E. B. Du Bois was the only African American to appear in West's “pragmatist pantheon,” Fraser gave a careful reading of five lectures that Locke gave at Howard University in the spring of 1916 — “Race Contacts and Interracial Relations: A Study of the Theory and Practice of Race” — to establish his pragmatic credentials. These credentials, however, included his specific use of race as a form of social solidarity; that is, as an expression of group solidarity, race served to articulate as well as shape the cultural and political needs of African Americans. For this reason, Fraser argued that although “pragmatism undoubtedly lay at the core of Locke's 1916 vision,” his “lectures present a strand of pragmatist thought that differs importantly from the mainstream of the movement.”

scholarly journals Book Review: American Political Culture: An Encyclopedia

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Carla Wilson Buss
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Reliable Information ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
American Political Culture ◽  
Israel Zangwill

Anyone seeking reliable information on American political life since the 1970s will be pleased with Michael Shally-Jensen’s work, American Political Culture. This three-volume set covers topics from abortion to Israel Zangwill, the nineteenth-century author who coined the phrase “melting pot” and who appears in the entry for “Cultural Pluralism.”

Normalization and Its Discontents

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-263
Author(s):  
Adam Sutcliffe
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Israel Zangwill ◽  
American Society ◽  
Horace Kallen

This chapter concentrates on the question of normalcy and its relationship to twentieth-century notions of Jewish distinctiveness and purpose. It describes how the idea of a special Jewish mission that initially thrived within the American Reform movement disintegrated as the urge to integrate within American society to gather strength among Jews prominently waned. It talks about Jewish exemplarity that was influentially presented in relation to specifics of the American context through the competing “melting pot” and “orchestra” metaphors of Israel Zangwill and Horace Kallen. The chapter illustrates the hope of Jewish normalization that was perceived by sharp observers, such as Karl Kraus, Theodor Lessing and Sigmund Freud in the first half of the twentieth century. It also mentions the horror of the Holocaust that cast a profound chill over the idea of Jewish instrumental purpose, but at the same time brought about a renewal of the idea on the ethical and historical lessons imparted by the Nazi genocide.

Becoming Barthé

2020 ◽  
pp. 183-204
Author(s):  
Margaret Rose Vendryes
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Black Male ◽  
Racial Integration ◽  
Racial Uplift ◽  
African Art ◽  
European Tradition ◽  
Alain Locke

This chapter covers the decisive six years, in Chicago, when sculptor James Richmond Barthé (1901-1989) became an artist and a contributor to racial uplift. His faith in racial integration is reflected in work that merges European tradition with African American bodies. Barthé used the accessibility of naturalism to highlight the dynamism of blackness in his era. In 1927, The Negro in Art Week, Barthé’s professional debut, was organized by the Chicago Woman’s Club, the Chicago Art League and The Art Institute of Chicago. This exhibition introduced Barthé to his peers, competitors, African art, and his mentor Alain Locke. His figure, Tortured Negro, an unprecedented black male nude, was the first of Barthé’s many beautiful and coded sculptures. He invented himself and his art in Chicago.

Du Bois and James at Harvard: The Challenges of Fraternal Pairings and Racial Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 352-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saladin Ambar
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
William James ◽  
Double Consciousness ◽  
American Political Thought ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article seeks to illuminate the relationship between two of the most important figures in American political thought: the pragmatist philosopher William James, and the pioneering civil rights leader and intellectual, W.E.B. Du Bois. As Harvard's first African American PhD, Du Bois was a critical figure in theorizing about race and identity. His innovative take on double consciousness has often been attributed to his contact with James who was one of Du Bois's most critical graduate professors at Harvard. But beyond the view of the two thinkers as intellectual collaborators, is the fraught history of liberal racial fraternal pairing and its role in shaping national identity. This article examines Du Bois and James's relationship in the context of that history, one marked by troubled associations between friendship and race.

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