Author Meets Critics: Jennie Ikuta's "Contesting Conformity"

Session Submission Type: In-Person Author meet critics

Session Description

This author-meets-critics panel brings together a group of scholars to discuss Jennie Ikuta’s Contesting Conformity: Democracy and the Paradox of Political Belonging (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Ikuta’s book critically examines the valorization of non-conformity in American public rhetoric. While contemporary American public rhetoric celebrates non-conformity, surprisingly, recent research in social psychology has shown that in practice, Americans are averse and at times, even hostile to individuals who express traits associated with non-conformity, such as dissent, individuality, and creativity. Contesting Conformity explores this ambivalence and its deep roots in the theory and practice of modern democracy. In doing so, it raises fundamental political and theoretical questions: What, if anything, does non-conformity mean? Why is non-conformity valuable? Is it always valuable—or does it pose dangers as well as promise benefits for democratic societies? More generally, what is the relationship between non-conformity as an individual ideal and democracy as a form of collective self-rule?

Contesting Conformity brings a fresh interpretive lens to the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, and Friedrich Nietzsche in order to investigate the notion of non-conformity and its relationship to modern democracy. Drawing new insight from their work, the book argues that non-conformity is an intractable issue for democracy; specifically, while non-conformity is often important for cultivating a more just polity, non-conformity can also undermine democracy. Insofar as democracy depends on the ability of each citizen to exercise individual judgment, express their views, and dissent when necessary, Tocqueville and Mill enable us to appreciate non-conformity as an ethical and political ideal for democratic citizens. However, non-conformity can also raise problems for democracy, as Nietzsche helps us see, insofar as unconstrained expressions of non-conformity may stand in tension with the moral and political equality that is constitutive of democracy. Taken together, Tocqueville, Mill, and Nietzsche show us that to the extent that we are committed to democracy, we must find ways to foster non-conformity, but we must do so within certain moral and political constraints. Democracy needs non-conformity, but not in an unconditional way. This book draws on their work for understanding this intractable relationship and offers resources for navigating the relationship in contemporary democracies in ways that promote justice and freedom.

This panel brings together scholars in nineteenth century political thought and democratic theory to discuss the book: Shalini Satkunanandan (UC Davis); Andrew Dilts (Loyola Marymount); Inder Marwah (McMaster); and James Lindley Wilson (University of Chicago).

Sub Unit

• Division 2: Foundations of Political Theory

Chair

• Kevin Duong University of Virginia

Presenters

• Jennie Choi Ikuta University of Missouri-Columbia

• Shalini Satkunanandan University of California, Davis

• Inder Singh Marwah McMaster University

• Andrew Dilts Loyola Marymount University

• James L. Wilson University of Chicago