General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Cornel West on the President [View all]bigtree
(85,915 posts). . . and the attempt to disassociate 'leftist' sentiment from scholarship (in the same breath proffering the image of 'other professors with 'opposing views laughing at his academic non-productivity.'
Social history has traditionally been regarded as the refuge of conservative thought; used to define American democracy through a rigid and non-empathetic lens which supposes that government was designed to sustain itself above the desires and impetus of the masses. Liberal scholars have adopted that same intellectual adaptation of history to emphasize the intention of our democracy to elevate more of a concern for the progress of our people, rather than a strict adherence and focus on process.
Dr. West's academic history has been marked by efforts to demonstrate the efficacy and primacy of bottom-up political action; versus the top-down politics which does little more than protect and defend the political process and the pols who operate it.
Academics may well wish that Dr. West adhered to some sort of validation of a history which didn't really afford folks like him legitimacy in action or thought. Progressive activism and advocacy, as practiced by West threatens their status quo and forces them to reexamine all of their doctrine and academia which formed its conclusions without considering that much of what they were excluding deserved recognition.
Dr. West, likely, laughs back at the lack of societal productivity in their academic practice. It raises the question: What are they 'peddling?'