Today’s New York TImes has a a front page piece that offers an interesting picture of Barack Obama’s political rise in Chicago — and the style he developed there. What emerges is a picture of an intelligent political novice who turned into a politically savvy operator.
One of the highlighted quotes from the article comes from Rashid Khalidi: “People think he’s a saint. He’s not. He’s a politician.” Although perhaps meant as a criticism of Obama, the line is actually both a good summary of the lessons to be drawn from the article and a damn good reason for backing him for the presidency. No doubt we would like to elect saints to political office, but assuming that is unlikely (and probably undesirable — the arrogance of power driven by egomania is sufficiently dangerous; an individual convinced of his or her saintliness would be catastrophic!), a politician with the intellectual capacity to be reflective and the skills of a political mediator is exactly what we might need.
Although I tend to assume a “keep them guessing” posture when it comes to my political leanings (if for no other reason than it keeps my students baffled about some of my comments in class), it should be clear that I am an Obama supporter at this point — and have been a regular (if small) contributor for some months now. That said, although I am fascinated by his charismatic style and his stands on many issues, what really attracts me is his well-honed political savvy and what promises to be a very different and very intresting presidency — if we are lucky and wise enough to make it happen….
May 11th, 2008
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On Sunday night PBS began to broadcast a ten-hour documentary covering life aboard the Aircraft Carrier Nimitz on a recent tour. Each evening until May 2 two one-hour episodes are being broadcast. As important they are posting streaming versions of the full episodes (in shorter chapter segments) at the web site. It takes a bit of time to get hooked, but I have to say after the second night I am indeed fascinated.
The operations of large organized entities — not corporations, but operational entities such a a ship or university — is the “stuff” of what I study and teach. I am always on the lookout for good “case study” material, and I have even warned my grad class that this series might be the basis for their final case study assignments….
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Following up: If you were wondering whether the folks who produced Carrier could sustain a quality presentation for ten hours, the answer is YES.
April 30th, 2008
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I seem to be on a CBC kick lately — but the fact is that their Ideas broadcasts/podcasts have been among the most interesting and well produced intellectual forums posted online.
I have now listened to all the posted podcasts in their series on How to Think About Science series — they are at 18 and counting. The latest three featured Steven Shapin, Peter Galison and Richard Lewontin — brilliantly done by David Cayley! Can hardly wait for the next, which I understand will be posted or broadcast today….
And then yesterday I came across a recent show in which Ideas host Paul Kennedy interviewed Elliot Aronson who carried on the work on cognitive dissonance started by his mentor, Leon Festinger. Aronson’s latest work (with Carol Tavis) is called “Mistakes Were Made…but not by me,” and while the interview was not of the quality standard set by Cayley, it comes close.
Cognitive dissonance is a scholarly construct that like a handful of others (e.g., paradigm) has made it into the mainstream culture — or nearly so. I recall being assigned Festinger’s 1957 book ( a rare find, it turns out) in an empirical political theory seminar I took around 1970, and it was among the most stimulating works in a course filled with reading assignments drawn from anthropology, psychology, ethology, biology, etc. that can now be regarded as classics in their own fields. What was most exciting about that course was the fresh ideas it generated among those of us who had little more than the traditional and mainstream political literature under our belts. Hearing Aronson speak about Festinger brought back fond memories of that seminar and how much of my views were shaped by it….
April 30th, 2008
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Two summers ago I taught a grad course on American politics which was really about the role of religion in American political history — an interesting exploration for me and I hope the students. I am reminded of that intense several weeks each time another book or podcast about the subject comes up, and that happened this past week as I was clearing out come old, unlistened to podcasts.
One of my subscribed downloads is Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, an American Public Media show that every so often (and it is once in every dozen or so shows) has something worthwhile to listen to (see note below). Recently Tippett interviewed Steven Waldman, author of still another book (“Founding Faith”) on the role of religion in the lives of the founders. But this one seems a bit more credible than the typical ideology-ladened works of recent years — and may be worth the read.
[I can’t help adding a bit of a critique of the Tippett show. Speaking About Faith is not one my favorite podcast downloads, and I suspect it is not somuch the topics but more the sappy, New Age production values used on the broadcast that I find so annoying. Tippett’s “uh huh”s throughout otherwise interesting interviews is difficult to get use to, and the use of music throughout — intended I am sure for mood setting — drives me up the wall. They can benefit from listening to and emulating the CBC folks. That said, the show’s web site is well done. For example, each show has an annotated guide with short comments and useful links to material related to the guest or topic — and even to the music if you are so inclined. On that score the CBC folks could take a lesson from Tippett and her crew….]
April 27th, 2008
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Making my way through the “How to Think About Science” podcasts from the CBC’s Ideas radio show, I struck a bit of gold in a segment that I initially dismissed. Many of the broadcasts feature well known names from the “science studies” field and focus on very general topics. Episode #13, however, featured a relatively young academic (Dean Bavington) whose dissertation was concerned with the history of the Newfoundland cod fisheries of Canada. I was going to skip over this one, but my iPod went to it automatically as the last episode ended…
The story of the cod fisheries turned out to be a terrific case study on the potentially devastating effects of applying our well honed managerial logic to nature. I happen to be teaching a course on “management techniques in public administration” in which we have be examining various managerial “tools” drawn mainly from the private sector and seeing how they might apply to public and non-profit settings. I organized the course based on a framework that categorized various managerial tools according to which of four problems they were designed to deal with: the management of expectations, the management of resources, the management of operations, and the management of the [task] environment. These are fuzzy categories, but they seem to work for structuring this course. It is the end of the semster and we are focused on the last set of tools — which is why the issues surrounding the “scientific management” of the cod fisheries drew my attention.
What this case highlights for me is the significance of the managerial mindset in how we go about applying the vast amounts of scientific knowledge gained over the past decades — and how the resulting logic and actions (although designed with the best of intentions and with high degrees of certainty) can lead to disaster. It brings into question our capacity to control nature, even when we do so for purposes related to the conservation or restoration of our ecology….
April 25th, 2008
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Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker have been debating each other in different venues on different subjects — at least three times over the past decade (Gopnik mentions five debates; I can only find evidence of three). Two of the debates played on their status as Canadian expats, and one on the fact that they were not Ivy Leaguers (it was a debate on abolishing the Ivy League….) Of the two Canada debates the first took place in 2000 and focused specifically on the country’s health care system (Gopnik pro, Gladwell con). That debate drew attention six years later when Gladwell noted his conversion to Gopnik’s position.
The more recent debate (hosted by McLeans) was over Canadian nationalism — and actually about nationalism in general. Gladwell stresses the view of Canada as a model of how a small nation can exist as a model for others, while Gonik (who seems to have won this one) offered up a vision of nationalism based on “hopes and holidays” as opposed to the US form based on “flags and fear.”
Interesting exchange, with a couple of great lines. Perhaps the best from Gopnik: “India doesn’t have ‘Why India?’ debates, France doesn’t have ‘Why France?’ debates, America doesn’t have ‘Why America’ debates — to be honest, other countries have ‘Why America’ debates”
April 25th, 2008
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During my now very infrequent visits to New York City, I tend to recall certain things that I don’t like about the place — which are not many (after all, it is my “home town” — or at least Brooklyn is….)
One of those dislikes is any rush hour trip on the PATH trains that run across the Hudson River from Newark and Jersey City to 33rd Street and Church Street (WTC) in Manhattan. As inexpensive and convenient as the PATH is, there is something about the “tube” construction of its subway cars (designed to fit into the tubular construction of the underground tunnels) that has always brought out a clostraphobia in me that I rarely experience elsewhere (only London’s Underground generates this feeling in me).
I was reminded of that when I saw an online video at the 13thfloor blog site — it is torturous to watch. I guess that puts New York rush hours in perspective….
April 23rd, 2008
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Friend Domonic mentioned a new series of broadcasts (also accessible as podcasts) on CBC’s Ideas program (I guess that should be “programme”) focused on “How to Think About Science”. It involves seventeen distinct one-hour broadcasts that ran from April to November 2007 — and each one is a gem. The producer, David Cayley, was responsible as well for an ealier series on Karl Polanyi that was aired in 2005 or so (now available only on CD; see here for earlier post).
Now if only NPR would take on a project or two like either one of those series….
April 23rd, 2008
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No innovative approach goes unsatirized. See the McCain music video inspired by “Yes We Can”…
Oh my, this looks like it is going to be a very interesting campaign year….
February 11th, 2008
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Anyone who has been attentive to the current presidential primaries and has the hindsight of a few decades of observation cannot help but be impressed by the “movement” quality of Obama’s campaign. As a political scientist, I find it tough going in my effort to retain either an analytic or cynical perspective, and I notice the same when listening to some professional pundits who have over time cultivated a detached and hypercritical view of the political scene. Even those typically associated with informed conservative perspectives (the David Brooks of the world; certainly not the Rush Limbaughs) have seemed a bit stunned at what Obama and his campaign have brought to the table….
At the center of this “warming up” to the Obama campaign has been the rhetoric which we first witnessed at the 2004 Democratic National Convention where Obama offered a keynote that held the attention of all in the room as well as viewers. But it has been the post election speeches after Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that have defined the movement, and I know of no one (for or against Obama) who has not come away from watching those speeches without muttering something like “wow”. Like him or support him or not, you just knew there was something different going on.
Continue reading “Picking it up a notch…”
February 9th, 2008
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A blog focused on things related to accountability, governance and all sorts of other ideas that I might want to share.