Race, Resistance, and Rhetoric in 19th c. American Political Thought

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In line with the 2020 conference theme, this panel focuses on the strategic dilemmas faced by authors and activists who seek to make American democracy more racially inclusive. Specifically, the panelists examine the works of a number of mid-19th century American abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Maria Stewart, David Walker, and Henry David Thoreau. Although the antislavery perspectives and rhetorical tactics of each varied, the aspects of their work which the panelists address encompass a broad set of themes which remain relevant for contemporary theorists of political action. In particular, the papers explore questions including: To what extent and how should activists for racial justice attend to existing prejudices, especially among white audiences? Historically, what were the consequences of abolitionists’ attempts to mitigate white Americans’ fears about racial integration? What affective attitudes or dispositions should activists seek to cultivate in their white audiences? What are the dangers of different orientations toward members of groups which have been systematically oppressed? Finally, what kinds of practices might activists develop to sustain their activism over time, especially while facing significant public opposition?

To gain traction on these questions, the first set of papers focus on abolitionists’ pragmatic orientation toward white Americans’ existing attitudes. Davis’ paper re-examines “respectability politics” in the context of antebellum antislavery efforts. Through an analysis of Maria Stewart’s political theory, Davis distinguishes between two forms of respectability politics -- moral and practical respectability -- and argues that the latter, which recognizes the role that prevailing norms play in securing freedoms for members of oppressed groups, is compatible with radical liberatory ends because it does not entail these members’ internalization of dominant values. Rodman’s paper explores other abolitionists’ attempts to navigate these values -- particularly white Americans’ fear of racial integration and miscegenation. She argues that, historically, these attempts led some abolitionists to divorce moral equality, which they associated with formal political equality, from social equality, thereby placing a limit on the social transformation towards which antislavery activism was directed.

The second set of papers focus on the abolitionists’ cultivation of new attitudes and practices. Yaure’s paper examines how political actors can generate non-paternalistic bonds of solidarity across social difference. Exploring Frederick Douglass’ work in particular, Yaure argues that humility -- the recognition of the limits of our own social positions -- rather than empathy better induces white audiences to acknowledge non-privileged individuals as autonomous and equal political agents. Gilson’s paper explores the personal practices which motivate and maintain a long-term orientation toward social activism. Using Henry David Thoreau’s response to the trial of Thomas Sims, Gilson argues that carving out a space which is nominally removed from politics can, perhaps paradoxically, strengthen political commitments.

More broadly, the papers on this panel illustrate the ways in which the political theory of American abolitionists was shaped by, and articulated through, the strategic and rhetorical choices of their antislavery praxis. Further, in light of continuing racial stigma and oppression, they indicate how activists might better conceive of and grapple with enduring dilemmas of political action.

Sub Unit

• Division 2: Foundations of Political Theory

Individual Presentations

• Two Kinds of Respectability: The Political Philosophy of Maria Stewart - Emmalon Davis, University of Michigan

• A New Equality for Emancipation: Abolitionist Theorizing on Equality in America - Emma Rodman, Princeton University

• Humility and Empathy in Emancipatory Politics - Philip Yaure, Virginia Tech

• Resistance and Apolitical Space in Thoreau's Political Thought - Lisa Gilson, Bates College

Chair

• Susan McWilliams Pomona College

Discussant

• Nolan Bennett University of Wisconsin - Green Bay