Social Imaginaries and the Political and Ethnoracial Politics at CCNY, 1930-1975

• In Event: 078 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 12. Narratives and Politics

Abstract

This paper explores how the concept social imaginary can be used to infuse a focus on creativity and futurity into studies of political culture and action. It examines the relationship between a narrowing democratic imaginary and depoliticized, demobilized and atomized student body at the City College of New York. Famed for its vibrant political scene, the college actually witnessed a great narrowing of the political imagination in the 1950’s. This narrowing intersected with a passing into whiteness on the part of Jewish students, many of whom understood themselves as racial minorities in the 1930’s and 1940’s. These two processes intersected to limit the democratic futures Jewish students could imagine during the politically turbulent 1960’s. By tracking the frames and modes of political discourse across three distinct periods, this paper shows how the narrowing of the City College political culture limited the political imagination of many of its students and contributed to the fracturing of a once powerful political coalition between Jews and blacks. In particular, the paper examines the narrowing meaning of democracy, from a global struggle to an individual project.

Author

• Daniel A. Sherwood, Colby College