The Two Faces of American Freedom
Name: Danisa Ezukuse
Student #: 212297792
Tutorial#: Tutorial 07
T.A: Nadir Virjee
The Two Faces of American Freedom: A Reply
1) Authors main arguments
The author Aziz Rana pose different key arguments in this article, however the arguments are split up to the three main concerns brought up by commentators on her book titled The Two Faces of American freedom. The three main concern or challenges that arose from the book is firstly the worry about historical persuasiveness and completeness. In simpler terms the idea that her historical information was rather bias and uncompleted. Secondly was the concern that her interpretation of the new deal loses the nuance of her preceding discussions and presents a too one-sided critique of the modern administrative state. In other word that her interpretation of things seems to be once again one sided and apparently should be stopped. Finally was the question of where her account leaves the possibility for agency and transformative change in contemporary politics.
In each of this concerns she poses an argument for example in the concern of historical interpretation, she argues that just as faith has played a profound role in the American political identity, so did millennialism during the colonial period. It helped to generate and maintain a radicalized account of republican freedom in North America, which combined political, economic and spiritual independence. The second argument can be found in the second concern which is the state of the ambivalent legacy of the new deal. She argues that such a dependence in the legacy of new deal constitutionalism simple reinforces how in each era, modes of liberty and hierarchy are connected albeit in different configurations and similarly, how in each era social improvement requires unshackling the two. Lastly is the concern of political agency then and now. She brings up another point, she argues that today given the retreat of the civil rights and labor movements, the
Student #: 212297792
Tutorial#: Tutorial 07
T.A: Nadir Virjee
The Two Faces of American Freedom: A Reply
1) Authors main arguments
The author Aziz Rana pose different key arguments in this article, however the arguments are split up to the three main concerns brought up by commentators on her book titled The Two Faces of American freedom. The three main concern or challenges that arose from the book is firstly the worry about historical persuasiveness and completeness. In simpler terms the idea that her historical information was rather bias and uncompleted. Secondly was the concern that her interpretation of the new deal loses the nuance of her preceding discussions and presents a too one-sided critique of the modern administrative state. In other word that her interpretation of things seems to be once again one sided and apparently should be stopped. Finally was the question of where her account leaves the possibility for agency and transformative change in contemporary politics.
In each of this concerns she poses an argument for example in the concern of historical interpretation, she argues that just as faith has played a profound role in the American political identity, so did millennialism during the colonial period. It helped to generate and maintain a radicalized account of republican freedom in North America, which combined political, economic and spiritual independence. The second argument can be found in the second concern which is the state of the ambivalent legacy of the new deal. She argues that such a dependence in the legacy of new deal constitutionalism simple reinforces how in each era, modes of liberty and hierarchy are connected albeit in different configurations and similarly, how in each era social improvement requires unshackling the two. Lastly is the concern of political agency then and now. She brings up another point, she argues that today given the retreat of the civil rights and labor movements, the
Cited: "Definition of narratology." Oxford Dictionaries Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/narratology>. "Oxford Law :: Socio-legal Studies." Faculty of Law : Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/theme/socio>.