Democracy's Children: Intellectuals and the Rise of Cultural Politics

by John McGowan

How do American intellectuals try to achieve their political and social goals? By what means do they articulate their hopes for change? John McGowan seeks to identify the goals and strategies of contemporary humanistic intellectuals who strive to shape the politics and culture of their time. In a lively mix of personal reflection and shrewd analysis, McGowan visits the sites of intellectual activity (scholarly publications, professional conferences, the classroom, and the university) and considers the hazards of working within such institutional contexts to effect change outside the academy. Democracy's Children considers the historical trajectory that produced current intellectual practices. McGowan links the growing prestige of "culture" since 1800 to the growth of democracy and the obsession with modernity and explores how intellectuals became both custodians and creators of culture. Caught between fears of culture's irrelevance and dreams of its omnipotence, intellectuals pursue a cultural politics that aims for wide-ranging social transformations. For better or worse, McGowan says, the humanities are now tied to culture and to the university. The opportunities and frustrations attendant on this partnership resonate with the larger successes and failures of contemporary democratic societies. His purpose in this collection of essays is to illuminate the conditions under which intellectuals in a democracy work and at the same time to promote intellectual activities that further democratic ideals.

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding book. Like all outstanding books, a disagree with a great deal of it. But these are productive disagreements, which is the point of the book.

John McGowan is implicated - productively - in the arguments posed in this book. As a professor of literature, he probes identity politics, feminism, and cultural studies. He challenges poststructuralism and postmodernism. This is all important and productive work. The arguments are sound.

There is - however - a delightful and powerful paradox in the book. There is an affirmation of the centrality of literature, high culture or - at least petit bourgeois culture. Popular culture creates some shivers. Indeed, attention to 'culture' is worrying for McGowan. Great books remain - well - great. And theory seems OK. But it is the theory that can be nested into literature and literary studies, rather than the provocative and bold theory that doesn't fit anywhere.

This is a fine, stroppy and provocative book. Impressive. Naughty. And very useful. But disciplinary. It patrols the parameters of disciplines. Let's take this book - and activate the stroppy postdisciplinarity that can take us to the next stage of intellectual life.