Friday, April 17, 2009

The Beginnings of a Theory

I had time in the previous days to start articulating my own views of the world. These views focus on the political relations and the growing schism between "academic" logico-rationality and, for a lack of better word, perceived reality of social relations. I have developed a list of observations that I endeavor to weave into a cohesive argument. Some of these observations are obvious; some are open for debate. All of these observations must be critically unpacked, however, to determine the underlying commonalities and themes to help construct my world view. To wit these observations are:
-Whereas the institution of the political academic has developed a distinct cant that resonates with only a select few;

-Whereas the theoretical scaffolding of this institution is self-reinforcing and self-perpetuating, given a lack of motivation for change;

-Whereas the academic cant is increasingly detached from the political discourse in the world;

-Whereas the current state of political discourse (the preponderance of all power relations) is bereft of genuine reflection and a weighing of policy choices;

-Whereas, through the course of human history, the chasm between the thinkers of political and ethical theory and the doers of politics has become so divided that the very language of discourse has resulted in a schism between the two realities that is either uncrossable or undesireable to cross;

-Whereas, strains of theory have highlighted the origins, methods, and raisons d'etre of this break between theoretical underpinnings of politics and the institution of political reality (exhibited through superstructures that defy prediction or usurpation);

-Whereas this schism is exacerbated by theory that attempts to define politics so abstractly as to untether it from the real social relations that affect day-to-day living;

-Whereas it is a given that the term "real social relations" defies easy definition, and it is understood that these social relationships have infinite variety, but the political landscape is defined as relationships of power, be it perceived individually or through some construct of society;

-Whereas, some forms of theory or praxis may scoff at the bifurcation of power relations, however there is a true differentiation between coercion and persuasion and must be accounted for as surely as physics must account for quantum and relativistic mechanics in astronomical calculations;

-Whereas the political discourse of day-to-day living is self-perpetuating in American politics because options for governance have been circumscribed to two choices, vying for hegemonic dominance;

-Whereas the purpose of academic postulation is to explain present circumstance but also to effect a method to address present circumstances;

-Whereas this praxis is only effective when it is portrayed through non-abstract reasoning and requires a continual rapprochemente because that is the proper place for discourse.

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