Monday, August 1, 2011

Wrap-Up and Next Steps

Stefan's last comment provides a great starting point for our final week of VRG discussion before the panel at October's APT meeting.  He writes:

"Nussbaum's attention to the political climate justifies her approach (in part), but her attention to politics is only a half-measure that ignores a larger problem. Yes, we can and should talk about the utility of the humanities for democracy, but we should also be talking about the political and institutional prerequisites for democratic humanism to flourish. I think this is why her general strategy of "making the humanities safe for democracy" is a sound one, since only by establishing a consensus on that ground will enable us to challenge the increasing privatization of the academy."

What do you think?