Compiled by
Niki Raapana, revised 3/04/05
Communitarianism (Idea and Movement in politics) -
"With
the demise of true socialism as a viable intellectual force, communitarianism is now the most active philosophical opposition to
libertarianism. Communitarianism is usually presented in a vague
terms, but it is probably best understood as a mild form of
collectivism or "democratic socialism." From the
The Ism
Book
"The theory is based on a two-dimensional political
grid that rejects the one-dimensional, liberal-conservative spectrum. It’s
explained in detail on a Web site Janda created, www.idealog.org, which also
offers a self-test to determine where you fall on the grid. Janda has found
that the average American voter is a communitarian, yet it’s the only
category that doesn’t have its own political party. He also saw many
similarities between communitarian views and the Third Way."
'New Democrats' offer moderates their version of 'compassionate
conservatism' by Matthew DeFour, Northwestern University
(also home to ABCD).
In Their Own Words
- The Communitarian Network
"The
Communitarian
Network is a coalition of individuals and organizations
who have come together to shore up the moral, social, and political
environment. We are a nonsectarian, nonpartisan, transnational
association.... The Communitarian Network investigates issues and policies
such as the
balance
between rights and responsibilities in society,
community justice,
multiculturalism, the community's
moral voice, and developing
global society."
"Communitarian thinking is not an American import.
Its roots sprout from ancient Greece and the Old and New Testaments. (I was
trained by Martin Buber in Jerusalem.) While each society must evolve its own
communitarian answers, the challenges are similar. Man and woman do not live
by bread alone; it is unwise to believe that all we need is economic
rehabilitation. We require our daily acts to be placed into a context of
transcendent meaning and their moral import made clear."
262. "Nation in need of community values" by
Amitai
Etzioni in The London Times (February 20, 1995), posted at the
Communitarian
Network.
"We establish for the moment a new world order. 11
September 2001 everything changed."
Amitai Etzioni
[the founder of American Communitarianism] on July 26, 2003 in an
interview with
Afgan Mania in Germany.
Dr.
Amitai Etzioni
is quoted in the article, "Needed: Catchword For Bush Ideology; 'Communitarianism' Finds Favor":
Officials said they see the program as an ambitious successor to
the
"thousand points of light," the private efforts
to solve public problems that Bush's father saluted in his 1988
acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. In office,
Bush's father conferred a Daily Point of Light Award. Strategists in
the new Bush administration recommend that "rather than officially
designating Communities of Character, use heroes to tell the story."
Bush aides are researching such options as encouraging public
service announcements that salute the community work of movie stars
and opinion leaders, and working with news organizations to develop
"profiles in character" about worthy citizens.
The project is built on the communitarian philosophy, which aims
to bolster the foundations of civil society -- including families,
schools and neighborhoods -- and foster a commitment to the welfare
of the community.
Amitai Etzioni, a George Washington University sociologist who
founded the communitarian movement in 1990 and has been consulted by
the Bush administration, said the plans reflect "the better Bush."
But Etzioni said the White House would have to be subtle in its
approach for the plans to be successful.
"We are all exposed to a wide variety of moral voices -- the media,
Hustler, corporations," Etzioni said. "It is part of the job of
the president to add his voice, as long as it is exhortation,
not legislation. It's one thing to tell what you think. It's
another thing to shove it down their throat. That's what they do
in Iran." (Dana Milbank (The Washington Post, February 1, 2001)
See also:
Communitarianism Explained, and
The Just Third Way: Basic Principles of Economic and Social Justice
by Norman G. Kurland, President, Center for Economic and Social Justice,
Presented at the Fifth Annual Conference of the Center for the Study of
Islam and Democracy (CSID), Wyndham Washington Hotel, Washington, D.C., May
28-29, 2004.
Intentional Community: An Index of Resources at
Progressive Living.org.
In Stanford's Encylopedia of Philosophy
The
Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy explains how it
evolved: "Modern-day communitarianism began in the upper reaches of
Anglo-American academia in the form of a critical reaction to John Rawls
landmark 1971 book
A Theory of Justice. Drawing primarily upon the
insights of Aristotle and Hegel, political philosophers such as
Alasdair MacIntyre,
Michael Sandel,
Charles Taylor and
Michael Walzer disputed Rawls assumption that the
principal task of government is to secure and distribute fairly the
liberties and economic resources individuals need to lead freely chosen
lives." (Note: Aristotle used logic, Hegel distorted logic, and
Marx
expanded on Hegel's distortion.)
Political communitarianism
The Six Waves of Communitarianism: A History by A. Allen
Butcher:
1st Wave: 1600s and 1700s: Spititual and authoritarian;
German/Swiss Pietist and English Separatist.
2nd Wave: 1840s: Secular: Anarchist Socialist,
Associationist, Mutualist Cooperative, Owenite, Perfectionist.
Religious: Christian Socialist, Adventist.
3rd Wave: Crested in the 1890s:(50 years after the 2nd wave)
Hutterite, Mennonite, Amish, and first Georgist single-tax colony.
4th Wave: 1930s:(40 years after the 3rd wave) New Deal
Green-Belt towns, Catholic Worker, Emissary, School of Living.
5th Wave: 1960s: (30 years after the 4th wave)
Peace/ecology/feminism.
6th Wave: 1990s: Cohousing, ecovillages, various networks.
Falconist Party created in 2003.
Partial
list of people associated with the Project For The New American Century.
Thousands of communitarian programs and laws have been introduced into
American communities, and hundreds of elected representatives embrace the
new ideology.
Communitarian law is the foundation for international
communitarian sustainable development programmes under
U.N.
Local Agenda 21.
Communitarianism
linked to COMMUNISM
"The Socialist Alliance programme is the foundation upon which
everything else is built, including in time our exact organisational
forms and constantly shifting tactics. The programme links our
continuous and what should be all-encompassing agitational work
with
our ultimate aim of a communitarian, or communist, system. Our programme thus establishes the basis for agreed action and is the
lodestar, the point of reference, around which the voluntary unity
of the Socialist Alliance is built and concretised. Put another way,
the programme represents the
dialectical unity between theory and practice."
Posted by
Towards a common Socialist Alliance programme,
Weekly Worker 368, January 25 2001. See also:
5. The transition to the communitarian system in
the same issue of Great Britain Communist Party's Weekly Worker.
Communitarianism
linked to the THIRD WAY:
[Niki's
observations:] Communitarians balance national laws against the undefinable notion of an
international "community." It eliminates U.S. Constitutional Law. U.S. law
protects individuals from the state and the majority. Communitarians expand
government authority over individuals and grant unrestricted power over
individuals to a minority of malcontents. Also referred to as
Civil Society (a freemason term) and
The
Third Way (a Marxist Platform), the entire philosophy is
based on vague notions of what constitutes a "good society."
The key ingredient to all communitarian thinking is the use of
undefinable words and
phrases, Marxist concepts of morality, and conflicting "values." As with
everything based in Marxist rhetoric, communitarians change their strategy
and propaganda depending on the targeted nationals.
Progressive Policy Institute
- Overview and Description. "As
the think tank for the Democratic Leadership Council, the
Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI) mission “arises from the belief
that America is ill-served by an obsolete left-right debate that is
out of step with the powerful forces re-shaping our society and
economy.” Furthermore, PPI states that it “advocates a philosophy
that adapts the progressive tradition in American politics to the
realities of the Information Age and points to a ‘third way’...
PPI is a project of the Third Way Foundation..."
The Politics of Power: a Life History of the Party System
explains the Third Way in Great Britain.
Thomas Aquinas may have coined the term The Third Way in
the 13th century, but today Communitarianism is the most powerful legal and
justice theory in the world. Hidden from the average person, it's rarely
mentioned by the mainstream press. As a combination of the ideals of the
farthest right and the farthest left, the philosophy is fully exportable and
is also the basis for the reinvented governments of Afghanistan and Iraq. It
looks like the French are following Third Way
Think Tanks. We wonder how many educated Iraqis are left
who have a historical awareness of the devastating new development of such
an old obscure idea.
World Wide Words confirms the term is not new, and helps
explain how long communitarians have practiced ways to blur and confuse the
lines between all political ideologies. There must be conflict and confusion
to create consensus in a new (and constantly evolving) global government
system.
Communitarianism and the future of social policy by
Gordon Hughs, The Open University."...in contrast to previous
overviews on national and international trends in communitarian
social control which point to a new penetrative totalitarianism,
this discussion suggests that local crime prevention/community
safety initiatives in the United Kingdom also at times draw on, and
create, agendas and projects, in the
Gramscian sense,
which are beyond the control of the reactionary penalism of central
government....
"Some conceptual and
political challenges for a radical communitarian agenda on social
justice and inclusion. Having given a specific illustration of
how communitarian ideas may be incorporated into tangible policy
initiatives at the local state level by means of the example of
community safety, I now wish to address change tack and air some of
theajor challenges, conceptual and political, which face the radical
communitarianroject around community empowerment and social
inclusion. In no particular order of priority, special attention
will be given to the role of the state and economy in radical
communitarianism....
"...we may wish
to be wary about putting our faith in either civil society or
community as benign realms populated by progressive alliances
and agents. It is likely that the social worlds we inhabit will
continue to have its ‘heavies’ and reactionary forces. Thus
the acceptance of such differences and probability of continuing
struggles between opposing groups needs to be openly
acknowledged in any radical communitarian agenda on social
justice and the common good."
The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society
(book
reviews) by John Fonte, National Review, March 10, 1997: "THERE is no doubt that the philosophical outlook called communitarianism
has influenced politics in the West. Some of its major tenets have been
advanced by Bill Clinton in America and Tony Blair in Britain. Described by
its promoters as a "movement" (it's not: it has no popular support or mass
membership), communitarianism is a public philosophy developed by a small
coterie of academics who have attempted to recast American liberal-Left and
European social-democratic ideologies into a new "centrist" mold."
Progressive Policy Institute
- Overview and Description. "As
the think tank for the Democratic Leadership Council, the
Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI) mission “arises from the belief
that America is ill-served by an obsolete left-right debate that is
out of step with the powerful forces re-shaping our society and
economy.” Furthermore, PPI states that it “advocates a philosophy
that adapts the progressive tradition in American politics to the
realities of the Information Age and points to a ‘third way’...
PPI is a project of the Third Way Foundation..."
The Politics of Power: a Life History of the Party System
explains the Third Way in Great Britain.
Where does the
Communitarian Network stand on religion?
(Update Oct 3, 2005)
"Pope John Paul's great vision of communitarianism and a New
Global Order has yet to receive the recognition it deserves in
furthering the understanding that humanity is built on religious
values, without which transformations in totalitarian regimes would
have been impossible. The essence of communitarianism, as put forth
by the Vatican, consists of seeking middle ground between Marxist
collectivism and rigid individualism and capitalism.
"Phillips traces
the history of communitarianism through Aristotelian and
Judeo-Christian writings, clarifying the proper function of the
community in helping individuals help themselves by mobilizing
church resources and countering anti-religious movements such as
Nazism and communism. Communitarianism presents an encouraging
universal notion of freedom, transcending the one-sided stances of
Marxism and libertarian capitalism and promoting the vision of a
unified human destiny."
"Communitarianism, the Vatican, and the New Global Order"
by Robert L. Phillips, Carnegie Council.org.
Here's an interesting side to the Communitarian Network we at the ACL
haven't spent much time looking into.
The
Relationship of Religion to Moral Education in the Public Schools(1)
Prepared by Warren A. Nord and Charles C. Haynes.
It appears members of the
Communitarian Network have come out in force against a group of Christians
called The National
Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools who
designed a study course that actually uses the Bible as the textbook.
Public School Bible Course Under Attack By Josh Montez,
August 3, 2005. The Communitarian "religious-left" opponents don't disagree
with the "religious-right" that the Bible can be legally studied in public
schools (as long as it's not used to "indoctrinate"), the progressive
communitarians just think that Bible students should study the Bible without
using a Bible to study it. They also think they should be the ones to
control the curriculum.
What interest does the Communitarian Network have in teaching their own
version of a Bible Curriculum in American schools? What is the
Texas Freedom Network,
"a mainstream voice to counter the religious right"? Why does a keyword
search for the term communitarian show nothing about it on their website?
Their "about" page explains: "Founded in 1995, the Texas Freedom Network is
a nonpartisan, grassroots organization of more than 23,000 religious and
community leaders. Based in Austin, the Texas Freedom Network acts as the
state's watchdog, monitoring far-right issues, organizations, money and
leaders." Communitarianism is not nonpartisan (it's the Third Way) and as
we've proven, it's definitely not "grassroots." So if they're not
communitarians, why is the Communitarian Network featuring their research?
"Twisting Truth through Group Consensus:
Using the Bible to promote interfaith dialogue and common ground"
explores the connections between Charles Haynes and the United Nations and
the tricky way the communitarians are enlisting Christian supporters. We'll
be getting back to this whole religious aspect very shortly... it deserves a
lot more attention. A lot of the links she used are gone but she provides
some very easy to understand charts that compare the new global religion to
the Bible." (Berit Kjos, 2001)
What is
Racial Communitarianism?
Daughters of France, Daughters of Allah by Marie Brenner
in Vanity Fair, April 2004: "A new code word for anti-Semitism has entered
the language— "communautarisme"—and Ramadan has been instrumental in
its spread. ..."
"The New World Order, Incorporated: The Rise of Business and the Decline of
the Nation State," by Viven A. Schmidt, Daedalus, Vol.
124, no. 2 (Spring 1995). "WHEN GEORGE BUSH ANNOUNCED the beginning of a new
world order, he had in mind a world in which democratic governments
would together keep peace in the world and make it possible for
everyone to be free to prosper in a liberalizing international
economy."
The
Individual and the Community by Tibor R. Machan
Published in The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty - September 1991. "Communitarians
wish to place community and individual on a collision course, saying there
is some kind of balance that is needed between the rights of individuals and
the rights of the community. But if we consider that 'community' means
simply a lot of other people than oneself, this makes for majority rule. And
if we consider that such other people usually leave it to a few who will
speak out in their behalf, we will have a few community representatives
dictating to the rest of us what we must do and what our 'responsibilities'
are."
The New Democrats are
Third Way communitarians. Here's the list of
New Dems in American politics. President Bill Clinton
embraced Communitarian values and was elected on a Communitarian platform
(although few Americans know this about him).
The New Covenant: Responsibility and Rebuilding the American Community,
Remarks to Students at Georgetown University by Governor
Bill Clinton on October 23, 1991.
We post updates on Senator Bayh's Third Way Senate bipartisan group at
Bayh
Watch.
The Third Way enjoys favor from both parties. (This partly explains why
Democrats like Hilary Clinton and John Kerry support exporting violent
overthrowing of foreign governments, and Bush and leading Right Wing
Republicans support formerly Leftist programs like Community Service Laws
and Faith-Based Initiatives. Senator Bayh's "new" Third Way bipartisan group
includes Dem and Republican Senators, and it expands daily. Most American
Mayors have embraced Communitarian values. We will experience more confusion
as to what each party represents as American voters get closer to the next
election, and to the final global solution.)
Clinton-Gore Rebuilding Communities
Bush Rebuilding Communities
Americans unknowingly adopted the "softer face of
communism" under DLC candidate William Jefferson Clinton in 1992.
Clinton and the Promise of
Communitarianism (1991), by William Galston, listed
by the Communitarian Network's bibliography.
I or We?, by Michael D'Antonio, Mother Jones,
May-June 1994:
"Housing Secretary
Henry Cisneros and White House domestic adviser William Galston have come out in favor of the communitarian
agenda, and Sen. Bill Bradley goes so far as to say that
communitarianism "promises to shape a new political era in much the
way progressivism reshaped our nation a century ago..... As a
consequence, people are beginning to think critically about what it
means to translate such fuzzy, feel-good rhetoric into action.
"This is the Clinton administration's version of 'family values,'
something vague and moralistic that everyone supports but no one
seems to be able to define," says Professor Walker. "I suspect
that what the communitarians, and especially Etzioni, really want is
to be influential with the White House. If that's an accomplishment,
then they may already be achieving something."[emphasis added]
|
President George Bush Jr. carries on the
communitarian torch his father carried before him
Bush Plans Values-Based Initiative to Rev Up Agenda by
Mike Allen, Washington Post Staff Writer, July 29, 2001. The Washington
Post, posted by GWU:
"'There is potential for Communities
of Character to be a four-year project for the White House that
helps define the presidency," one document says. "There seems to
be a consensus that a renewal of shared values in this
country is needed....
"Bush aides
are researching such options as encouraging public service
announcements that salute the community work of movie stars and
opinion leaders, and working with news organizations to develop
"profiles in character" about worthy citizens.
"The project is built on the communitarian
philosophy, which aims to bolster the foundations of
civil society -- including families, schools and
neighborhoods -- and foster a commitment to the welfare of the
community.
"Amitai Etzioni, a George
Washington University sociologist who founded the communitarian
movement in 1990 and has been consulted by the Bush
administration, said the plans reflect 'the better Bush.' But
Etzioni said the White House would have to be subtle in its
approach for the plans to be successful."
From Merriam-Webster.com
Main Entry: com·mu·ni·tar·i·an : of or relating to social organization in small cooperative partially
collectivist communities
From
Wikipedia the Free Encylopedia: "Communitarianism as a philosophy began in the late 20th century, opposing
aspects of liberalism and capitalism while advocating phenomena such as
civil society. Not necessarily hostile to liberalism in the contemporary
American sense of the word, communitarianism rather has a different
emphasis, shifting the focus of interest toward communities and societies
and away from the individual. Communitarians believe that the value of
community is not sufficiently recognized in liberal theories of justice."
A Few Good Communitarian Overviews
Communitarianism at the informal education hompage.
Philosophical communitarianism: The various writers that are
grouped together as communitarianism may well have expressed some
disquiet about being so labelled - and some of the conclusions drawn
by others concerning their position, but it is possible to discern a
distinctive anti-individualism in much of their work. ...
Ethically we need to look to the social individual or collective and
the significance of reciprocity, trust, solidarity etc. (what
has sometimes been discussed as social capital).
"... it is necessary
'to interpret and refine values that are immanent in the ways of
life of really living groups - societies, communities' ....
"Communitarians take issue with the idea that the individual
stands and should stand in direct unmediated relationship with the
state and with society. This is an idea that flows through a great
deal of contemporary legal and political thought in northern
countries....
"Communitarians promote a distinctive set of values. They
value community itself... They will also argue for debate and
dialogue about what constitutes the significant values in a
particular society...
The Everything Expert by Robert S. Boynton, June 26,
2003, posted by The Nation. Very nice overview of communitarianism and some
background on Amitai Etzioni. Interesting perspective on why the author
thinks it never caught on. Nothing here about communitarian laws,
policies or programs.
"Communitarians conceive of society
as a three-legged stool, held up by the forces of the
state, the market and, yes, the community.
They are skeptical of the rights-oriented, legalistic,
interest-group politics of the liberal state. A precursor to the
'third way' movements of recent years, communitarians want
to 'leapfrog the old debate between left and right and focus
on the role of the community, culture, and virtues rather
than on either the private sector or the government,'
Etzioni writes."
Liberty and Community Online by Barry Fagin, Department
of Computer Science, US Air Force Academy
Who are the New Communitarians, What do They Want, and Why Study Them?
For the Course: Contemporary Issues in Western Social Thought, Master of
Liberal Arts Colloquium, Washington University, Fall, 1993, by
Greg
Warnusz, who was "amused" to find his largely
pro-communitarian paper at our Anti-Communitarian League website. We post
all viewpoints on communitarianism at this site, and we especially
appreciate academic views like his; they prove our point that
communitarianism exists.
"Etzioni says the same thing more
simply: a year of national service 'would act as a grand
sociological mixer. At present, America provides few
opportunities for shared experience and for developing
shared values and bonds among people from different
racial, class, and regional backgrounds."(13) He is also
impressed with the possibilities the program has for
inculcating a sense of civic responsibility in the young. It
would give some an alternative to life in the streets and the
steady temptation of crime....
"The word 'communitarian' seems to have arisen in the late
1830's, when it designated the members who joined geographical
communities established 'to put into practice communistic or
socialistic theories.'"
Notes on Communitarianism University of Missouri,
Philosophy 213, R.N. Johnson. "Communitarians argue that we should prefer a
politics of the common good to liberalismís neutrality with respect
to any conceptions of the good. The "common good" for liberals is an
optimal combination of preferences, each of which is given equal
consideration, within the limits of respecting each person's rights.
John Macmurray,
Writers Try to Describe the Radical Middle. This is the
MOST comprehensive website devoted to all the variations on Third Way
thinking we've found. What a wonderful collection of quotes that help define
the entire Third Way political evolution of ideas that will bring us to the
final Hegelian synthesis. Their writer's list includes many writers the ACL
has quoted or referred to on the ACL site. The Radical Middle Newsletter's
Great Radical Middle links and review of the world's
21st Century Political Manifestos totally backs up the
ACL argument.