Radical, Utopian and Transformative Thought in Political Realism

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Realism in political thought is often associated with anti-utopian and status-quo affirming conservatism. However, movements from below have taught us that being realistic sometimes requires demanding the impossible. This panel spells out the importance of utopian, radical and transformative elements for realist thought. The papers will outline the different ways in which the inclusion of these elements improves the capacity of realists to stay true to their core commitments and how it would enhance the ability of realists to analyze and evaluate struggles which question the current order. Karuna Mantena (Yale University) shows through the comparison between a Realpolitik and a moderating tradition of realism that only moderating realism can steer clear of the idealization for which realists criticize moralism. She uses the example of Gandhi’s political thought to make the case that moderating realism is compatible with a social transformative agenda. Enzo Rossi (University of Amsterdam) shows that realism is neither inherently conservative nor reformist by distinguishing between three variants of realism—ordorealism, contextual realism, and radical realism—and by contrasting them with both non-ideal theory and utopianism. He argues that radical realism as a genealogical normative theory supports radical social criticism and thus is directly relevant to movements from below. Janosch Prinz (University of East Anglia) asks how a radical realism can provide superior political orientation. He argues that this requires realism to embrace a hybrid position between empirical and normative inquiry, in which the understanding gained by interpretation provides the basis for criticism. He then brings the lens of radical realism to bear on the claims of current movements to represent ‘the people’. Will Levine (University of Chicago) turns to the Revisionismusstreit in Marxism at the turn of the nineteenth century to carve out a space for transformative thought in realist political theory. Levine reevaluates what the efforts of Neo-Kantians to distinguish their own efforts to advance socialism as an ideal from utopian forms of socialism decried as wishful thinking mean for the place of ideals in realist thought. Collectively, these papers show that radical, utopian and transformative elements strengthen the ability of realism in political theory to provide orientation about contemporary political struggles from below, as well as for those engaged in them. They open the path for a reevaluation of the relevance of realism for transformative movements.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 2: Foundations of Political Theory

Individual Presentations

• Two Forms of Political Realism - Karuna Mantena, Columbia University

• Being Realistic and Demanding the Impossible - Enzo Rossi, University of Amsterdam

• Radical Realism in Political Theory: The Case of ‘The People’ - Janosch Prinz, University of East Anglia

• 'The Movement is Everything:' Realism and Idealism in the Revisionismusstreit - William Levine, University of Chicago

Chair

• Alison McQueen Stanford University

Discussant

• Samuel Ely Bagg Oxford University