The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, by Michael Walzer
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The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, by Michael Walzer
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Many of the successful campaigns for national liberation in the years following World War II were initially based on democratic and secular ideals. Once established, however, the newly independent nations had to deal with entirely unexpected religious fierceness. Michael Walzer, one of America’s foremost political thinkers, examines this perplexing trend by studying India, Israel, and Algeria, three nations whose founding principles and institutions have been sharply attacked by three completely different groups of religious revivalists: Hindu militants, ultra-Orthodox Jews and messianic Zionists, and Islamic radicals. In his provocative, well-reasoned discussion, Walzer asks, Why have these secular democratic movements been unable to reproduce their political culture beyond one or two generations? In a postscript, he compares the difficulties of contemporary secularism to the successful establishment of secular politics in the early American republic—thereby making an argument for American exceptionalism but gravely noting that we may be less exceptional today.
The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions, by Michael Walzer- Amazon Sales Rank: #282777 in Books
- Brand: Walzer, Michael
- Published on: 2015-03-24
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x .80" w x 5.80" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 192 pages
Review "Nationalism remains the most potent ideological force in modern politics. This study of the fate of nationalism in Israel, India, and Algeria shows how easily plans for liberation have flip-flopped into their opposite. At a time when our politics continually vacillates between boredom and frivolity, Michael Walzer has reminded us of what it truly important."—Steven B. Smith, Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science, Yale University (Steven Smith)"In this remarkably innovative book Michael Walzer advances the bold thesis that national liberation movements, drunk on secular ambitions, ignored traditional religious and ethnic commitments at great cost. Decades after the liberation struggles were won, those powerful forces have come back to haunt them. This is Walzer at his incisive best."—Ian Shapiro, author of The Real World of Democratic Theory (Ian Shapiro)“With rare gifts of moral sensibility, eloquence, and humility, Michael Walzer turns three haunting stories of historical loss into stories of paradox and hope. This book is a brilliant call for commitment to the reproduction of secular democracy, and Walzer points a way forward.”—Nancy L. Rosenblum, author of On the Side of the Angels: An Appreciation of Parties and Partisanship (Nancy L. Rosenblum)“Walzer traces, with admirable lucidity, the social and cultural reasons that liberation movements in Algeria, India, and Israel ended up betraying the secular democratic hopes that they originally inspired. His rich, insightful account makes it clear why he is often acclaimed as America’s leading political thinker.”—Richard Wolin, author of The Wind from the East: French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s (Richard Wolin)"Michael Walzer is a titan among political philosophers, and The Paradox of Liberation is one of his greatest books—incisive, original, humane, bold, nuanced, timely, and relentlessly and beautifully lucid.”—Paul Berman, author of Terror and Liberalism and Flight of the Intellectuals (Paul Berman)“Why do secular liberation movements so often give rise to quasi-religious reactionary movements, and is there any way in which this problematic dynamic might be avoided? Discussing Israel, India, Algeria, and the United States, Michael Walzer, America's leading political theorist, tackles this urgent question with clarity and deep insight.”—Martha C. Nussbaum, The University of Chicago (Martha C. Nussbaum)“As vital, productive, and intellectually alive as ever . . . [with] The Paradox of Liberation, Walzer has made a major contribution.”—Michael Ignatieff, New York Review of Books (Michael Ignatieff New York Review of Books)“Fascinating . . . Walzer can rightly be called America’s greatest living political philosopher . . . A cause for celebration.”—Alan Wolfe, Chronicle of Higher Education (Alan Wolfe Chronicle of Higher Education)“One of the many virtues of Walzer’s subtlety is that he helps us understand that, while the ideologies of today’s fundamentalists and ultra-orthodox are rooted in ancient or medieval ideas, these movements are, in a peculiar way, thoroughly modern.”—E.J. Dionne, Washington Post (E.J. Dionne Washington Post)“[A] searching meditation on the trajectory of nationalism and politics”—G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs (G. John Ikenberry Foreign Affairs)“The book has much to recommend it, including Walzer’s crystal-clear prose and breadth of view . . . Compelling.”—Suzanne Schneider, Marginalia (Suzanne Schneider Marginalia)“There are lessons and questions in this moving and lucid book that demand serious thought far beyond the three countries that are its subject.”—Lucy Beckett, Times Literary Supplement (Lucy Beckett TLS 2015-11-06)“Walzer’s argument is of immense interest and importance . . . [a] rich book.”—Walter Brueggemann, Christian Century (Walter Brueggemann Christian Century)“Manifestly important. . . . Elegant and lucid. The issues [are] of wide significance and addressed with precision . . . and admirable clarity.”—Allan Silver, Columbia University (Allan Silver)
About the Author Eminent political theorist Michael Walzer, an emeritus professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, served as coeditor of the political journal Dissent for more than three decades.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. A thought provoking political essay By Shalom Freedman Michael Walzer has been for more than four decades one of America's most distinguished political scientists. In this work he again reveals an originality and special insight into complicated political realities. He takes three cases Algeria, India and Israel attempts to understand how the intentions of the secular revolutions which led to the founding of modern nations have been compromised by an unanticipated returning to traditional religion. The concluding chapter of the work is really a response to many student questions who thought to put the case of the United States in the same category. Walzer decisively disposes of that suggestion by pointing out that the United States was a new society from its very beginning, and had no such traditional religious background to overthrow.In considering his thesis I have given most thought to what he has to say about Israel a society I have lived in for over forty years and know most about. His analysis does reflect a certain truth about what has happened to Israel with the years. There has been , if not a return to religion, then a growth of religious sectors which have in some way diminished the hold on the society of the segment of the population most responsible for its founding. The secular Left was in a sense first overthrown when in 1977 Menachem Begin's Likud came to power. Many of the voters for the Likud were traditional Jews.But in another sense it is not at all true that the secular foundations of the State have been undermined. There is after all a most active even hyperactive Supreme Court at work. The Israeli parliament is by no means dominated by religious parties who can however have undue political influence due to Israel's complicated coalition government formation politics. It is also true in another sense that religious components were at the heart of Israel's founding, since the return to Zion is a central Biblical promise.In any case Walzer does illuminate the reasons for return to traditional religion, why for the masses it supplies consolations and meaning that the purely secular reality cannot. And he does provide evidence for a thought provoking thesis which might well be extended to many other societies.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. No one loves armed missionaries (or liberating secular nationalists) By Keith A. Comess The distinguished political analyst and former editor of "Dissent" magazine has in "The Paradox of Liberation" distilled the essence of several lectures on the topic given under the auspices of Yale's Henry L. Stimson series into this book. "Paradox" is a short but pithy and interesting analysis of "what went wrong" with 3 national liberation movements: Israel, Algeria and India. He concludes with a brief summary and contrast between these countries and the "exceptionalism" of the USA.Walzer is careful to define his terms, especially given the vague and multi-dimensional aspects of the politically and emotionally charged phrase, "national liberation". His model consists of, "...an ancient nation, living in exile or at home, whose religious culture, partly because of its traditional character and partly in response to foreign oppression, was passive, hierarchical, and deferential."In each of the 3 primary cases featured in "Paradox", a cadre of intellectual and thoroughly secular liberating elites attempted to initiate an anti-religious and socially liberating struggle. Why anti-religious? Because, as Walzer carefully notes, "...the standard liberationist view, which follows from the fact that accommodation to foreign rule commonly takes a religious form - in part for the obvious reason that otherworldliness offers comforts that are always available, however bad things are here and now." He further notes that, "...the secular militants of national liberation are mistaken if they describe the comforts of religion as nothing more than pie in the sky...[it] also generates fantasies of reversal and triumph and then, intermittently, revivalist and millenarian movements that are sometimes tumultuous and always ineffective." Quite so.If you are not a fan of compound sentences (as these quotes illustrate), the writing style will be unappealing. So too will the sometimes extreme focus on fine detail to the detriment of overall principles. While Walzer is careful to justify his choices of India, Israel and Algeria as his subjects for exposition, his constraints and conclusions are sometimes difficult to justify. For instance, his claim that religious millenarian movements are "always ineffective" isn't looking too convincing these days given the rise of Islamism and its so far extensive triumphs.His omission of the Iranian and the Russian Revolutions are understandable but they appear to contradict the narrative. Seemingly, these examples meet his criteria for inclusion. Algeria, of course, was dominated by France and India by Great Britain. Israel is a curious case for inclusion, as there was no "there" there from which to be "liberated".What is "the paradox of liberation"? Walzer defined it thusly: "[The secular liberators] promise enlightenment, scientific knowledge, and material advance, but perhaps more importantly, they promise victory over the oppressors and equal standing in the world...They demand total commitment to the movement...The old ways must be repudiated and overcome - totally. But the old ways are cherished by many of the men and women whose ways the are. That is the paradox of liberation." This statement, while self-evidently true is also self-evidently obvious. Just look, for instance, at the thoughts of virtually every sentient revolutionist and liberator for confirmation. To give but one example, the 19th century Russian anarchist Mikhaïl Bakunin observed in 1882, "Et même, si Dieu existait, il faudrait s'en débarrasser (God and State). Look at Russia now...or Turkey...or Iran.Walzer fails to remark on recent findings that suggest the religious impulse has some sort of biological and evolutionary roots. It appears to be not only ineradicable but irrepressible and compelling. Extreme forms seem particularly appealing for many of the reasons Walzer cites with respect to secular liberators. According to from Walter Laqueur ('The New Terrorism’), "Islam is involved in 16/20 (80%) of current armed conflicts; 9/13 UN peace mis-sions concern Muslim conflicts or interests. 45/51 states wholly or in part Muslim are 'unfree' by Freedom House." The only freedom these zealots desire is the freedom from Enlightenment ideals, illustrating the "paradox" that personal liberation and science will liberate mankind from its chains.To sum up, this is an interesting but limited book. It breaks very little (if any) new intellectual ground. In fact, it's a somewhat amplified statement of Robespierre's remark to the Legislative Assembly in 1792, "No one loves armed missionaries" and it's still true. Nobody seems to care much for liberating secularists, either.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Within this book, Walzer suggests a general mechanism - ... By Amazon Customer Within this book, Walzer suggests a general mechanism - why religious counter-revolution follows secular liberation, mainly infering from Indian, Israeli and Algerian cases. This mechanism is not presented as "just a reaction", but it is possible to identify within the liberation process the seeds that will, ultimately, lead to religious reemergence. The core causal element is a paradox that liberators face: when advancing modernization values, they risk alienating the very same people they want to liberate. Conversely, by establishing compromises with established religious authorities, liberators keep religious domination unchecked. In a more speculative tone, Walzer suggests that these two outcomes are not exaustive. Secular and religious groups could have engaged in taking in account the other side point of view. As a result, secular ideas would not be foreign and alien (as if artificially imposed), but truly an outcome of a societal argument - and not necessarely conforming to Western institutions. As a final note, I missed a bit more of historical contextualization to this later normative argument. It seems to me that these three cases happen in a moment of history when there was stronger belief in an 'one-model-fits-all' solution to secularization.
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