6 Politics in the Age of Protest Flashcards
(194 cards)
1
Q
What are 5 key pieces of context in the 1960s post-war world?
A
- Bipolar superpowers - USSR and the US
- Decolonisation and immigration - Keynesianism supported by decolonisation
- Emergence of counter-cultures
- Sexual liberation and second-wave feminism
- Contraception and the rise of women in the workforce, though most women will end work when they marry
2
Q
What key philosophical context foreshadows Betty Friedan?
A
Existentialism - de Beauvoir had encouraged women to live ‘authentic lives’ free from the influence of societal pressure - Friedan appears to be examining whether this is likely to happen given ‘cultural channels’
3
Q
What are 4 pieces of historical context for Betty Friedan?
A
- Marriage age falls from 21 to 20, with a fall in college enrolment from 47% to 35%
- Growth of the Suburban post-war female middle class - housewives where increased mechanisation had reduced their role. These are highly educated women who appear to have chosen to live these lives
- Legal and political rights equal
- US global dominance and cultural exports
4
Q
The Problem with No Name
A
Title of Betty Friedan’s 1963 magnum opus and the problem to which she addresses her work - why are so many qualified middle class women depressed?
5
Q
What are 4 personal context facts for Betty Friedan?
A
- Her mother had been the breadwinner in her Illinois home after the illness of her father
- Had children and got married herself, and her boyfriend convinced her not to do a PhD
- Lifetime academic
- Very involved in political campaigns
6
Q
What are 3 political campaigns with which Friedan is associated?
A
- 1966 founds National Organisation for Women (NOW), the largest feminist pressure group in the US with currently 500,000 members
- 1970 Women’s Strike for Equality - more than 50,000 march in NYC
- 1971 - National Women’s Political Caucus
7
Q
What evidence shows Friedan experienced the powers of ‘cultural channels’ in her own life?
A
Had married and had children and had been convinced by her boyfriend not to pursue a PhD, despite the fact that she had won a scholarship to do poetry
8
Q
What kind of feminist is Betty Friedan?
A
A liberal feminist
Considered a LIBERAL KEY THINKER
9
Q
What part of the course is Friedan under?
A
Liberalism
10
Q
AT HEART, FRIEDAN IS A…
A
CLASSICAL LIBERAL trying to make her ideology practicable in the modern day and age
11
Q
What are 4 views of Friedan on human nature?
A
- Rejection of feminine essentialism - GENDER IS A BARRIER
- Individualism and the authenticity of choice - ALL PEOPLE SHOULD SEEK RATIONAL SELF-FULFILMENT
- Optimistic that change can be achieved legally and within the confines of the current state
- Women’s rationality frequently conflicts with society, but women are still rational
12
Q
What are 3 views of Friedan on society?
A
- ILLIBERAL ATTITUDES IN SOCIETY, AND NOT HUMAN NATURE, CONDEMNS MOST WOMEN TO UNDERACHIEVEMENT
- ‘Cultural conditioning’ via ‘cultural channels’ led women to feel they lived under ‘iron laws’ of inferiority
- Women who subscribe to this ‘irrational’ position were complicit in their own oppression
13
Q
What are 3 views of Friedan on the state?
A
- The state is a force for good - REJECT Marxist feminist arguments.
- The classically liberal constitution and basis of classical liberal states is laudable and inspirational
- THE STATE MUST PURSUE ‘CORRECTIVE’ LEGISLATION, SUCH AS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, TO RIGHT PAST WRONGS AND ENGAGE IN ‘POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION’
14
Q
How does Friedan’s view of the state reflect her context?
A
State intervention, Keynesianism etc.
15
Q
What are 4 examples of corrective legislation which Friedan might have liked?
A
- USA Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - affirmative action since 1964
- 1973 Roe v Wade
- UK Race Relations Acts
- UK Marriage Act 2013
16
Q
What are 2 views of Friedan on the economy?
A
- Free market capitalism can benefit women through greater choice
- Must be allied to legislation in favour of women’s rights to be most effective
17
Q
Where does Friedan fit into our liberal pantheon?
A
She shares the same faith as Locke in human rationality and in the lack of a natural essence/importance of existentialism. But, similar to TH Green, she believes in positive liberty
18
Q
According to Rawls, the most important property of all institutions, including conduct and government institutions is…
A
Justice
19
Q
What does Rawls believe he is addressing?
A
Liberalism never developed a coherent form of moral philosophy beyond utilitarianism
20
Q
Rawls was seeking to understand…
A
What a just society would look like
21
Q
What would a utilitarian society do?
A
Organise its institutions, norms and laws so as to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number
22
Q
What is the problem with utilitarianism?
A
Relativist and elitist
Permits what seems intuitively be immoral
Permits what seems intuitively be immoral
23
Q
What is relativism?
A
The problem with utilitarianism that Rawls identified
24
Q
What is inviolability?
A
The rights which no one may violate in a Rawlsian sense - these intuitive things which are seen as impermissible yet are allowed under utilitarianism
25
How does Locke's concern with moral relativism reflect pre-existent tendencies within liberalism?
Locke and natural rights
26
What is Rawls' quote about justice?
'Justice is the first virtue of social institutions'
27
Original position?
Rawl's hypothetical TABULA RASA where we design a society from scratch
28
What is the veil of ignorance?
The thing which prevents us from knowing our position within the forthcoming society in the original position - individuals are forced to evaluate society without any bias
29
What is the maximin principle?
Given the veil of ignorance, as a way of insuring against the worst in the forthcoming society, stakeholders would see that it is wise to maximise the outcome of the worst off in society so as to safeguard them if they were in that position - SELF-INTEREST IS COMPATIBLE WITH EGALITARIANISM
30
What metaphor aids understanding of the veil of ignorance?
When you slice a cake knowing you will be the last to pick a slice - you cut fairly!
31
What assumption does Rawls make of the individuals behind the veil of ignorance? Eval?
They are rational individualists seeking to maximise their outcomes in the coming world - liberal optimism
32
What 2 other philosophical hypotheticals does Rawls dismiss?
1. Utilitarianism - a society which is marginally better off may have significant shortcomings (e.g. high inequality) overlooked
2. Libertarianism - the way resources are shared between individuals does not reflect individual effort but instead luck of birth
33
When Rawls rejects 'libertarianism', what is he essentially rejecting?
Any society whereby children can be better off because they are born into wealth - ANY SOCIETY WITH FOUNDATIONAL INEQUALITY
34
How does Rawls address egalitarianism?
Egalitarianism, whilst overcoming the shortfalls of libertarianism, would not incentivise working on the basis of the natural talents that we WERE endowed with once we have been liberated from behind the veil of ignorance.
35
Why is egalitarianism initially appealing to Rawls?
He seeks to understand how it is fair if we don't gain our competitive advantage or abilities by any work of our own, but rather fortune.
36
What is the difference principle?
Rawls: Whilst we are not responsible for many of our natural or innate abilities, it does not follow that society ought to be completely egalitarian. However, we should seek to build a society which makes everyone better off, even if there are inequalities. Therefore, we should seek to make the least-well off better off
37
What is the maximin principle quote?
'The higher expectations of those better situated are just if and only if they work as part of a scheme which improves the expectations of the least advantaged members of society.'
38
JUSTICE AS FAIRNESS
1. Protection of the basic rights and liberties
2. Inequalities, both social and economic, must benefit the least advantaged and be attached to offices which are nominally democratic and accessible to the least well-off as much as the best.
Springs from maximin principle
## Footnote
Springs from maximin principle
39
When does Rawls say inequality is justified?
Whenever 'an unequal distribution of any, or all, of these values is to everyone's advantage'
40
What are 2 consequences of Rawl's 'Justice as Fairness'?
1. The state must legislate to ensure that basic rights including education and welfare are provided, so that the least well-off can fulfil their potential
2. Discrimination must be prohibited
41
Maximin strategy and difference principle link?
When selecting a society, we employ a maximin strategy to maximise our welfare in the event of the worst possible outcome. The difference principle is what we select to accomplish our maximin objective
42
What is the main takeaway from a Theory of Justice?
We would only sign the social contract if the worst outcome was acceptable to us
43
Does Rawls embrace Locke's view of rationality?
He does to an extent. He argues that individuals can have differences in natural skill or ability, but that ultimately all individuals have satisfied the requirements to be considered an equal citizen
44
What are the two moral powers?
1. The conception of the good - citizens can devise and review their own conception of what is valuable and moral in human conduct. They are innately sensitive to the concept of moral or immoral actions.
2. The sense of justice - citizens are capable of abiding by terms of cooperation, so long as they are fair, even if they oppose their own direct and short-term interests
45
What is Rawls' fundamental conception of society?
1. Social institutions must be fair
2. Publicity - the social contract is explicit, with the 'well ordered society' knowable and comprehensible to all reasonable citizens
3. Publicity is because many of the functions of society are coercively forced on citizens. They must therefore stand up to initial scrutiny
46
Rawlsian economy?
There are to be four branches of government economic policy. One allocation branch ensures the price mechanism works and that market power is limited, as well as controls externalities and imperfections. Stabilisation branch achieves macro stability e.g. by full employment. The transfer branch ensures that incomes are transferred to create the social minimum. And the distribution branch is to ensure property and assets are re-distributed in the most allocatively efficient way
47
What is the main problem with Rawl's theory?
1. Getting us back to the initial state
2. Different views on human nature, won't accept the 4 branches of the economy for instance
48
What did Mill think about inheritance/bequest?
Should be regulated
49
What is the social minimum?
Essentially a minimum wage guaranteed to the least well off by a Rawlsian government
50
Eval on Rawls' economic thoughts?
Became popular in Scandinavia etc.
Has a realistic compromise between incentives etc. and the government's obligation to redistributive justice
51
What is Rawls' magnum opus?
A Theory of Justice 1971
52
What are 2 pieces of historical context for Rawls?
1. Keynesianism and the post-war welfare state
2. Civil Rights Movements and a greater sensitivity to the cause of minorities - the discovery of the Holocaust
53
How does Rawls make his society compatible with government by consent, a key liberal tenet?
Publicity - the state and all its various accoutrements must withstand public scrutiny
54
What is the enabling state?
Springs forth from Rawlsian thought - the state which aims to liberate and enable individuals
55
What are 4 pieces of personal context for Rawls?
1. Great Depression and the impact of the government acting as an enabler
2. Tragedy with his brothers - both died, on separate occasions, of diseases transmitted from Rawls
3. Is demoted when he judges it inappropriate to punish a soldier in the Philippines - early concept of justice
4. Atheist, but studies theology and the idea of inalienable rights during his theology course at Princeton University
56
What are 4 key ideas of Rawls on human nature?
1. Humans are fundamentally rational. This is why the veil of ignorance works. They are capable of both of the POWERS OF THE GOOD
2. We are naturally selfish, which is why the current utilitarian/libertarian system remains in place. But we are not innately selfish
3. Humans are utility maximisers and they seek what Rawls refers to as 'primary goods', which are material and conceptual sources of happiness
4. The talented and rewarded should still be rewarded, to prevent a perversion of incentives. This is not socialism - inequality will persist
57
What are 3 Rawlsian points on society?
1. The social structure is likely to be complex, with some degree of subconscious influence. The society should therefore stand up to PUBLICITY
2. Foundational equality MUST NECESSITATE a greater degree of social and economic equality, where MAXIMIN PRINCIPLES are adopted and the DIFFERENCE PRINCIPLE is arrived at
3. There must still be inequality, with some individuals going further than others based on innate ability, effort or skill. Hence this ideology is not egalitarian. But this is not incompatible with justice.
58
What did Rawls believe about the social contract for his idealised society?
It would be sufficiently popular and adopted following publicity
59
What does the rational individual behind the veil of ignorance do?
Uses the maximin principle to decide that the difference principle is the best way to evaluate a society. This leads them to select for the society which maximises the outcomes for the worst off in society (maximin)
60
What are 3 Rawls views on the state?
1. One of the two parts of justice as fairness is that the state must hear claims equally between the least advantaged and the most advantaged in society
2. The state would still enjoy the common consent of the individuals, even those not well off, because it would be fairer
3. The enabling state would have to perform a lot of redistribution to model the ideal society, with extensive intervention
61
What are 3 Rawls views on the economy?
1. There should be four branches - allocative, distribution, transfer and stabilisation
2. Free market capitalism and libertarianism create unjustifiable and PERSISTENT intergenerational inequalities
3. The maximin principle justifies benefits, redistributive taxation and a 'social minimum'
62
Which ideology arguably adapts best to Keynesianism? How so?
Conservatism
Provides a state apparatus for the conservative impulse to nurture/protect
63
Which ideology is most influenced by Keynesianism?
Socialism - many of its leading lights begin to reconcile their ideology with capitalism
64
What happens in 1978-79?
The Winter of Discontent - Wage-price spirals, strikes and the breakdown of modern Keynesian consensus
65
Where does neoliberalism come from?
The economic atrophy of the 1970s
66
Which ideology arguably adapts best to Keynesianism? How so?
Conservatism
## Footnote
Provides a state apparatus for the conservative impulse to nurture/protect.
67
Which ideology is most influenced by Keynesianism?
Socialism - many of its leading lights begin to reconcile their ideology with capitalism.
68
What happens in 1978-79?
The Winter of Discontent - Wage-price spirals, strikes and the breakdown of modern Keynesian consensus.
69
Where does neoliberalism come from?
The economic atrophy of the 1970s.
70
Which ideology reacts to the failure of Keynesianism by changing its theories?
Conservatism - adopts neoliberalism.
71
Where does the fusion of economic liberalism and social conservatism first originate?
The USA - traditional American conservatism includes checks and balances, individual freedom, limited government, separation of powers and support for laissez-faire capitalism within it.
72
Example of an influence on British neoconservatism?
Roger Scruton.
73
3 facts about Roger Scruton?
1. Worked illegally behind the Iron Curtain delivering pro-free market lectures and was influenced by the 1968 French events.
2. Environmental conservatism.
3. Called Thatcherism a 'betrayal', though supported it.
74
2 key pieces of context for Ayn Rand?
1. Born in Russia, leaves the USSR in 1926 to move to America. Marries an actor and is generally from a bourgeois background by both Russian and American standards. Avoids the worst of the Depression. However, during the Russian Revolution, was driven to near starvation by Bolshevik forces.
2. Supports Barry Goldwater in 1964.
75
3 philosophical influences on Rand?
1. Possibly Nietzsche, with his emphasis on the idea of the superhuman, which became the basis of much of Rand's work.
2. Keynesianism and neoliberalism.
3. Rejection of socialism because of point 1.
76
What epistemology does Rand create? What does it centre around? Eval?
Objectivism
"the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute"
Most academics say it has no independent merit
## Footnote
Most academics say it has no independent merit.
77
3 views of Rand on human nature?
1. Reality is unalterable and is impervious to perception.
2. Humans are capable of greatness, innovation and creativity - but these individuals are responsible for.
3. OBJECTIVISM - humans are motivated by rational self-fulfilment and the pursuit of self-interest.
78
Where does Rand postulate her ideas on human nature?
'The Virtue of Selfishness' 1964, as well as 'Atlas Shrugged' 1957 and The Fountainhead.
79
How is Rand's objectivism 'anti-liberal'?
Focusses on the idea of selfishness as anti-society, rather than tacitly for it.
80
3 views of Rand on society?
1. ATOMISM - her views on objectivism lead her to propose a system based on the autonomy of rational individuals. Society does exist (believes this in contrast to allies such as MURRAY ROTHBARD, an anarcho-capitalist) but is enriched by the genius and dynamism of individuals.
2. Altruism is a destructive force in that it is a slippery slope towards stifling creativity and enterprise.
3. Individuals should retain the right to choose, including in areas of abortion, marriage and morality. Any attempt to limit these choices by the state must be justified.
81
3 views of Rand on the state?
1. The individual lies at the heart of a successful society. The state should empower these individuals to make better choices by rolling back the frontiers of the state and allowing the free market to step forward instead.
2. The state, though small, must nevertheless be strong, and uphold property rights. 'The small state is the strong state'.
3. The state should not impose social mores on its citizens, even though Rand personally found homosexuality 'disgusting'.
82
What did Rand think about property rights and eval?
Typically liberal idea that property rights should be defended - but doesn't stop Native Americans having their rights taken. She calls these rights 'primitive' and hence invalid.
83
Key Rand quote about the state?
'The small state is the strong state'.
84
4 views of Rand on the economy?
1. Closely linked to neoliberalism and a Hayeckian interpretation of freedom
2. As an expression of atomic and rational individuals, the free market should not be limited
3. Tax would be voluntary
4. The meritocracy of the free market would reward the most dynamic individuals. These individuals would benefit society more from their brilliance "trickling down" than by working as part of an egalitarian coalition of collaboration
85
For Rand, society is merely...
A collection of individuals.
86
Can humans co-operate in an objectivist world, according to Rand?
Yes - but they must be allowed to do so freely, in their own self-interest, and without coercion or obligation.
87
How does Rand believe an objectivist society will benefit all?
By encouraging individual innovation and genius, it will diffuse success through society and naturally reward the most talented with the best positions.
88
What did Rand think about tax?
It would be voluntary, but would be widely paid in self-interest.
89
When does Rand say 'the small state is the strong state'?
1964.
90
What would happen to public services in Rand's economy?
They would be privatised, and competition between competing providers would benefit all.
91
Example of how Rand thought competition would be mutually beneficial?
Atlas Shrugged - competition between transcontinental railroad companies encouraged the company to restructure. Super bad example given the natural monopoly involved, but anyway...
92
What key philosophy does Rand underline her politics with?
Objectivism.
93
3 reasons Rand is an AQA conservative?
1. Emphasis on order and security.
2. Support for Republicans.
3. Embrace of neoliberalism.
94
5 features of objectivism?
1. Metaphysics - facts are facts, and predate existence and interpretation.
2. Reason - we can only interact to the world using rational perception.
3. Selfishness - highest moral and practical purpose is self-interest.
4. Laissez-faire capitalism - best system to enhancing individual freedom because everyone is a stakeholder.
95
What did Rand think about capitalism and the state?
The state should be separated from the economy as it is from the church.
96
What does Rand's philosophy characterise altruism as?
The idea that humans don't exist for themselves but for the betterment of others.
97
What does Rand see the problem with altruism to be?
When we justify giving our services to others, we can justify giving our services to dictators and demagogues.
98
Did Rand see her ideology as a return to a primeval sense of selfishness? Why is this important?
No. She saw objectivism as an enlightened alternative to the barbarism and cruelty of collectivism, where life had no intrinsic worth and was discarded. The key question is, how conservative is this view? Her ideology is optimistic.
99
Why did Ayn Rand fundamentally oppose altruism?
For the same reason that Yossarian does in Catch-22 - Because it is a baseless idea that leads to self-sacrifice.
100
What can the character of Ivy Starnes tell us about Rand's objectivism?
Starnes ran a factory which she inherited, setting it to run according to 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs'. The factory failed.
101
What does Rand's factory worker reveal in Atlas Shrugged?
That some of the workers had doubts with the model, but did not express them for fear of sounding ignorant. A criticism of the revolutionary vanguard model.
102
3 context facts for Nozick?
1. Goes to Brooklyn public schools before attending Columbia University.
2. Meets and goes to university with Murray Rothbard.
3. Reacts against the Rawlsian/Keynesian consensus of the Western welfare state.
103
Key work of Nozick?
1974 Anarchy State and Utopia.
104
What was the biggest philosophical influence on Nozick?
Rawls' Theory of Justice - he reacted harshly against this.
105
What does Rothbard believe and quote?
In extreme anarcho-capitalism - 'Taxation is theft, purely and simply'.
106
Quote which shows Nozick was influenced by Rothbard?
'Tax, for the most part, is theft'.
107
Rothbard quote on anarchism?
'True anarchism will be capitalism and true capitalism will be anarchism'.
108
3 views of Nozick on human nature?
1. Humans have absolute, inviolable rights. These are negative liberty rights that precede even the state of nature. Quite LIBERAL in this regard.
2. A system of acknowledgment for these inviolable rights is the only basis of justice.
3. People have an egotistical impulse. BUT IN LINE WITH MAINSTREAM CONSERVATISM, these impulses are often not benevolent or good.
109
Key Nozick quote about rights?
'Individuals have rights, and there are things which no person or group may do to them (without violating these rights)'.
110
What key concept does Nozick use to underline his view of society?
Liberty-rights and claim-rights.
111
3 key Nozick thoughts on society?
1. Claim-rights - there are rights you have which nobody can violate. You have a claim to these rights. No society may violate these rights
2. Liberty-rights - rights you have to act as you wish ("self-regarding" actions as per the Mill)
3. Individuals have complete sovereignty over their own rights. They may waive them as they wish
4. Individuals with different views over their rights will create a detailed and textured patchwork of platoon-like societies, each with a different moral code
112
What is key about Nozick's view of rights and individual sovereignty? Who does it echo?
Individuals can determine explicitly how their rights are used. Ayn Rand and her ideas about voluntary contract.
113
What kind of justice did Nozick condemn in Rawls' thought?
Pattern justice - the use of attitudes and precedent to make law and not absolute morals.
114
4 views of Nozick on the state?
1. Despite flirtations with anarchism, ultimately rejects it in favour of MINARCHISM.
2. 'The night watchman state' - the state preserves law and order to facilitate free expression and economic co-operation.
3. There are destructive tendencies in human nature that mean that claim rights are better protected under a state than in the natural society. But the state must never go further than this.
4. The minarchist state, by stepping back, would allow many small communities to flourish, a concession to Burke.
115
Which of Nozick's rights can be regarded as 'self-regarding'?
Liberty-rights.
116
Key Nozick quote about the characteristics of human nature?
Dishonesty, theft and violence are not the main characteristics of humanity. Nevertheless, life, liberty and property 'could not be taken for granted' without a common authority, a concession to HOBBES.
117
3 views of Nozick on the economy?
1. The free market is just, even if unequal.
2. Must refute 'PATTERN JUSTICE', as proposed by Rawls, which would lead to a dependency culture and inefficiency.
3. The minarchist state should outsource its responsibilities to the private sector where possible.
118
Why did Nozick believe in privatisation?
Increase choice - because pre-privatisation we are forced to consume something, which is a restriction on our claim rights.
119
Nozick magnum opus? Key context?
1974 Anarchy, State and Utopia. Though philosophical in reasoning, the defence of a minarchist state seems timely given the ongoing crises in Keynesianism.
120
Key thing about Nozick's rights?
1. Individuals have natural rights just by virtue of being human.
2. Whilst humans may create states, societies and many other things, the individual is the only thing which is metaphysically 'real'.
121
What is Nozick's theory of state development?
The "invisible hand theory" of state development
1. People band together to protect their rights
2. They do so in different co-operatives
3. These co-operatives, like corporations, compete on quality and price and achieve economies of scale
4. Then they become monopolies in a given area and become minarchist states
5. But their success is always built on the conditional support of their customers - basically, on an explicit social contract
122
How does Nozick condemn Rawls' 'pattern justice'?
1. A distribution is just if it is acquired by just means, not if it meets a historical precept
2. Rawls doesn't understand this
123
4 elements which characterise neoconservatism?
1. A strong state to overcome the tensions that neoliberalism would create in society, including a no tolerance approach to law and order.
2. Outsourcing the welfare state back to 'platoons' to reduce national debt and rely more on charity.
3. A less permissive approach and a restatement of 'traditional' morality.
4. Nationalism and a suspicion of immigration and bureaucracy.
124
What does Ayn Rand argue about the basis for a successful society in Atlas Shrugged?
Built on the INDIVIDUAL effort and enterprise of dynamic individuals.
125
What, practically, is objectivism?
The philosophy underlining Rand's view of human nature - that individuals are inalterably selfish, self-interested and rational. That altruism has no place in a successful society, that it represents a form of slavery
126
2 ways Rand is different from anarchists?
1. Money overcomes the double coincidence of wants.
2. Common authority and security.
127
What does Nozick share with Hobbes?
The important concession that some common power is necessary to contain the bad elements of human nature, an advance on the more anarchist tendencies of anarcho-capitalism.
128
What is minarchism?
A very small state which outsources responsibilities to private firms.
129
How does Nozick build on Burke?
Nozick reintroduces the concept of platoons, but gives them a more significant role. For Burke, they are simply expressions of community identity, whereas for Nozick, they are the primary determinant of social life, given the fact that the minarchist state is likely to be small.
130
2 key neoconservative thinkers?
1. Irving Kristol (American).
2. Andrew Gamble (British).
131
Irving Kristol's most famous quote about the New Right? What does he mean by this?
A New Right conservative is a 'liberal mugged by reality'. Whilst neoliberalism is the aspiration, elements of neoconservatism in New Right thought reflect necessary concessions made by New Right thinkers to ensure that their system of government practically works.
132
Two reasons Gamble and Kristol believe neoconservatism complements neoliberalism in New Right thought, instead of creating a contradiction?
1. By creating a moral standard, in the Hobbesian sense, it is possible to constrain the worst excesses of human nature and also to outsource many of the responsibilities of a typical welfare state.
2. With the wide inequality that neoliberalism can create, a strong and cohesive state is necessary to ensure social order and ensure the system functions correctly.
133
Explain and analyse three ways in which tradition is significant to conservative thinkers.
1. For early conservative thinkers, tradition serves as a guide for enlightened change. See Burke and his empiricism
2. Conservatives also saw tradition as containing the worst aspects of human nature
3. For later "New Right" conservatives, tradition was less eminently important. However, with a smaller state, society was more reliant on traditional support structures like families and communities. Nozick and communities
134
What is the significance of tradition for early conservative thinkers?
Tradition serves as a guide for enlightened change.
## Footnote
See Burke and his empiricism.
135
How do conservatives view tradition in relation to human nature?
Tradition contains the worst aspects of human nature.
136
What is the view of later 'New Right' conservatives on tradition?
Tradition is less important, but society relies on traditional support structures like families and communities.
137
Andrew Gamble's view on tradition?
A neoliberal economy is much more likely to succeed if it is accompanied by a traditional society, which allows the state to outsource its usual functions
138
How did conservatism react to the failure of Keynesianism?
Conservatism reacted against the consensus of Oakeshott and returned to something more revolutionary.
139
With the failure of Keynesianism, conservatism tended to react against the consensus of Oakeshott and return to something more revolutionary. Which other ideology had a similar transformation?
Socialism, particularly the rise of Euro-communism.
140
How did Euro-communism respond to the problems facing Keynesianism?
1. Reject Marxist-Leninism after the Prague Spring
2. Influenced by Gramsci, who encouraged socialist thinkers to reject sectarianism and the attempts made by hegemonic authority to "divide and conquer" the proletariat
3. Increased use of democracy, like Luxemburg, to spread the word
141
What were Ralph Miliband's views on socialism in government during the 1970s?
The State in Capitalist Society (1973):
1. Socialists in government are "blown off course" by sectarian demands, such that socialism is seldom accomplishable through democratic reform
2. The state is inherently an anti-socialist institution
3. There should be a Luxemburg-style union revolution, instigated by a period of economic instability such as the one facing Keynesianism in the 1970s
142
What are two alternative neo-communist reactions to the failure of Keynesianism?
1. Ralph Miliband's 'The State in Capitalist Society' (1973).
2. Frankfurt School.
143
What are three facts about the Frankfurt School?
1. Pessimistic about the potential for revolution
2. Like with Gramsci, emphasised the cultural value and incumbency of capitalism
3. Eurocommunist movements were well meaning but unlikely to be sufficient cultural vanguards to change popular class consciousness
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Why did feminists regroup in the latter half of the 20th century?
Because despite first-wave legal and structural reforms being accomplished, there were evidently further barriers yet to surmount
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Who is Hank Rearden?
A character in Rand's Atlas Shrugged, portrayed as a dynamic individual who is suspicious of unearned wealth. He runs the steel company
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What movement did the second-wave feminist movement emulate?
The Civil Rights Movement.
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Particularly, what duality were second-wave feminists like Friedan reacting against?
The fact that whilst structural equality had been all but achieved, cultural influences still promoted the ideal woman as a housewife, employed part-time or not at all
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Major reason the second-wave feminism might've seen success with increasing female employment and representation?
Neoliberalism and declining real wages forcing more women into the workforce in previously single-earner households
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What evidence shows second-wave feminism addressed gender inequality in employment?
In 1963, women made only 58% of what men made.
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Context for Juliet Mitchell
A British socialist feminist and psychoanalyst.
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What are three facts about Juliet Mitchell?
1. Psychoanalysis and Feminism 1974
2. Used Freudian psychoanalysis to root misogyny in the fundamental interpretations of sex and its significance
3. Cultural status reflects a sexual dimorphism explained by human psychology, building on de Beauvoir's work, whereby women and girls are seen by all people as "the other"
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What is intersectionality?
Overlapping of social categorisations such as rase, class and gender to better understand the origins of prejudices in a complex society
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In what terms does Shulamith Firestone describe sex differences and the societal differences that she believes ensues from them?
"Sex class" - uses the semantic and analytical approach of Marx and Engels.
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Shulamith Firestone believes that the development of sex class is the key ongoing cause of female oppression. Where does Firestone think this sex class first originated?
The origin is biological, particularly child-rearing
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What did Firestone argue about the nuclear/biological family?
It was necessarily oppressive, without an equal distribution of labour
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Once Firestone has theorised that the biological family is a source of female oppression, she goes further to say that...
The feminist movement should seek to replace biological families with artificial methods of reproduction
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What are three contextual facts about Germaine Greer?
1. Has a difficult/brief first marriage
2. Raised in a staunchly Catholic family, but rejects her parent's religion, and their antisemitism
3. Involved with the Sydney Push - left-wing libertarianism
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What is Germaine Greer's magnum opus?
'The Female Eunuch' (1970).
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What are three seminal ideas in 'The Female Eunuch'?
1. The root of misogyny is men's explicit hatred of women
2. Women, through being hated, come to hate themselves
3. This has led women to stop collaborating but also to hate their sexuality and suppress it
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What does Greer suggest as a solution to the hatred of women?
The impetus is on the women. They need to develop the communities who will collaborate to emancipate themselves
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What do Millet, Greer, and Firestone have in common?
Emphasise that women's acceptance and interpretation of the patriarchy are essential for its continued existence
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What is Firestone's idea simply expressed?
That the history of humanity was a sexual dialectic. Applied the Marxist dialectic framework to analyse the gender struggle
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Who was the most radical feminist of this time and what did she recommend?
Andrea Dworkin - "Women Hating", 1974
All female lesbian communities. Men desire women irrepressibly and pornography is evidence of that. As long as women live amongst men they will not be seen as equals
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What key idea is associated with Greer? Eval?
Sexual liberation - that women should escape the limits of male-female relationships to cease to hate themselves. Other feminists e.g. Andrea Dworkin went further
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What is Greer's most important view on human nature?
1. It is flexible. Just as women have been taught to hate themselves, so too can they be shown to embrace their female identity
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3 Greer views on society
1. A society that blamed women for men's misogyny was hypocritical
2. The nuclear family is a bad environment for women and children
3. Adult women develop a sense of shame about themselves which is inculcated from childhood
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Does Greer see sexuality as natural?
Beyond the biological, no.
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What are Greer's two key views on the state?
1. Sydney Push - libertarian/anarchist vision of the state
2. The current state is hierarchal and patriarchal
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Whilst Shulamith Firestone gives a good Marxist framework to understanding the sex dialectic, when we think of a socialist feminist, who should come to mind?
Sheila Rowbotham.
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What are three contextual facts about Sheila Rowbotham?
1. Born in Leeds. Both her parents worked.
2. Attended a female-only Oxford University college
3. Is a prominent Labour Party activist and subsequently a Professor of Gender and Labour Studies at Manchester University
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What key difference exists between Greer and Rowbotham?
Greer disdained campaigning and preferred to write. Whilst Rowbotham was an accompanied theorist like Greer, she worked first as a campaigner
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2 key philosophical developments that Rowbotham took heed of?
1. Marxist frame of analysis for history
2. Ruskin College - rewriting history "from below" - many of Rowbotham's early works are revisionism
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What is Rowbotham's key quote?
"Revolution within the revolution"
The labour and socialist movement is not automatically more feminist than the reactionary right. It must continue to emphasise the voices and experiences of women
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What are two views of Rowbotham on human nature?
1. Flexible
2. Women's consciousness of the world is created by men
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What are three views of Rowbotham on society?
1. The only way to ensure full equality would be when capitalism is over
2. Women are the worst off in society, since they not only sell their labour as workers but they also work without pay in male-dominated households
3. UNEQUAL RIGHTS
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What is Rowbotham's most important view on human nature?
Women see the world through a male lens - key to understanding Rowbotham's emphasis on historical revisionism
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What do "unequal rights" mean in the context of Rowbotham's thought?
1. Women have biological constraints on their lives such as childbirth.
2. Granting them equal rights does not account for these differences, and still leaves women worse off than men, since employers can now merely discriminate on the basis of women not working full-time
3. Therefore, a system of unequal rights is needed
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Who does Rowbotham echo in her thinking and why?
bell hooks or Kimberle Crenshaw - identifies intersectionality as a significant problem, saying that working class women are worse persecuted than middle class women
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What did Rowbotham think was necessary?
A social revolution, as Marx had argued for
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3 views of Rowbotham on society
1. As a socialist feminist, emphasises the role of economics in creating society and the class system
2. True equality between men and women will only be achieved when men and women have "unequal" rights, reflecting the increased responsibilities imposed on women by society
3. A revolution was necessary, and initially revolutionary groups would be apt to exclude men
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2 Rowbotham views on the state
1. Marxist view that the state is the agent of capitalism and a committee of the bourgeoisie
2. The state had never gone far enough to level the economic playing field. It needed to be overthrown and replaced
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4 Rowbotham views on the economy (FUNDAMENTAL!)
1. The free market had made male workers more secure in their positions whilst using women as a "reserve army of labour" which it could pay a lower wage to
2. "Women's work" as a phrase should be banished from the English language. It justifies the subordination and indeed the enslavement of unwaged women's work
3. Housewives had it worst off, because their work went completely uncredited. Rowbotham advocated a basic income for these housewives.
4. Intersectionality at play - a working class woman had it worse than a middle class woman
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What problem did Rowbotham identify in contemporary feminism and why?
Upper-middle-class movement
Unaware of the class intersectionality of feminism and hence unable to help working-class women completely. Hence Rowbotham's emphasis on social revolution
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Why were working-class women worse exploited than working-class men, according to Rowbotham?
Because they not only had to sell their labour but were also dependent on unwaged work within the home e.g. childcare and housewife work
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4 practical reforms Rowbotham proposed to the labour market? Who argued this didn't go far enough?
1. Part-time flexibility
2. Paid creches and childcare to remove unwaged disadvantage of women
3. Automation or marketisation of household jobs
4. "UNEQUAL RIGHTS" - basic income for housewives
Shulamith Firestone - said the above was insignificant and that a revolution was required
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Where did Rowbotham set forth most of her feminist ideas?
1969 Women's Liberation and the New Politics - part of the May Day Manifesto group of publications
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How could we say Rowbotham's ideas compare to other contemporary feminists?
1. Less idealistic than Firestone
2. Less ambivalent towards men than Greer
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What is Rowbotham's major piece of historical work called?
Hidden from History - women are foremost in politics, PARTICULARLY DURING REVOLUTIONS, but the patriarchal structure of history conceals this
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Why does Mitchell study Freud?
Because Freud's ideas about identity, notably on when children become women and men, were an interesting insight into the extent to which men and women were societally influenced into gendered roles
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What reaction had American feminists had to Freud pre-Mitchell and why is this interesting?
Generally been reluctant to use his analysis because Freud placed a lot of emphasis on psychological development based on biological sex, which many feminists felt over-emphasised the significance of gender and made it a psychological rather than a cultural phenomenon
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Who was Jill Johnston?
American radical feminist and author of Lesbian Nation: the Feminist Solution
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What does Jill Johnston show?
She was highly controversial, and often seen as alienating many moderate women.
She shows that the feminist movement is often handicapped by divisions. Whilst many ideologies have this for methods, for feminism it often extends to the ends of feminism, too. For instance, should feminism encourage lesbianism
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How could we criticise the radical feminist movement? Who echoed this?
How inclusive could it really be said to be?
bell hooks
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