Jacob T. Levy

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Jacob T. Levy is an American political theorist and Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory at McGill University. Levy is the Chair of the Department of Political Science at McGill, as well as the coordinator of McGill's Research Group on Constitutional Studies and the founding director of McGill's Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds. [1] Levy is also a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center and the Institute for Humane Studies. [2] He is known for his expertise on multiculturalism, liberalism, and pluralism. [3]

Contents

Education

Levy is an alumnus of Phillips Exeter Academy [4] and holds a B.A. in Political Science from Brown University, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University, and an LL.M. from the University of Chicago Law School. [2]

Thought

Multiculturalism

Levy is one of the foremost experts on the political theory of multiculturalism. [5] In his book The Multiculturalism of Fear, Levy argues that a political theory of multiculturalism must be primarily concerned neither with celebrating ethnic identities nor with overcoming them, but with reducing dangers such as state violence toward cultural minorities and war between ethnic groups. [6] Levy's influential argument draws on the work of Judith Shklar, who famously argued that the primary concern of liberalism is to explain how the evils of cruelty and terror can be averted. Levy shares Shklar's emphasis on averting cruelty and terror in his approach to multiculturalism. [5]

Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom

Levy's book Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom examines two approaches to the relationship between individuals, intermediate groups, and states that feature prominently in liberal thought. [7] The first approach, which Levy calls pluralist, is wary of the central state and friendly toward local, customary, voluntary, or intermediate bodies, communities, and associations. The second approach, which Levy refers to as rationalist, is committed to intellectual progress, universalism, and equality before a unified law. Liberals with the rationalist mindset tend to view intermediate groups with skepticism, seeing their distinctions and inequalities as arbitrary, irrational, and inimical to freedom. They tend to be more friendly to the central state, viewing it as a means of protecting individuals against the local tyrannies of religious and ethnic groups, closed associations, families, and other intermediate bodies. [8]

Levy argues that the debate between the rationalist and pluralist mindsets cannot be resolved, and that liberal political theorists should refrain from attempting to synthesize the rationalist and pluralist approaches. According to Levy, both mindsets provide insights about freedom that should not be ignored. [7]

Selected Bibliography

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiculturalism</span> Existence of multiple cultural traditions within a single country

The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchangeably, and for cultural pluralism in which various ethnic and cultural groups exist in a single society. It can describe a mixed ethnic community area where multiple cultural traditions exist or a single country within which they do. Groups associated with an indigenous, aboriginal or autochthonous ethnic group and settler-descended ethnic groups are often the focus.

International relations theory is the study of international relations (IR) from a theoretical perspective. It seeks to explain behaviors and outcomes in international politics. The four most prominent schools of thought are realism, liberalism, constructivism, and rational choice. Whereas realism and liberalism make broad and specific predictions about international relations, constructivism and rational choice are methodological approaches that focus on certain types of social explanation for phenomena.

Pluralism as a political philosophy is the recognition and affirmation of diversity within a political body, which is seen to permit the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions, and lifestyles. While not all political pluralists advocate for a pluralist democracy, this is most common as democracy is often viewed as the most fair and effective way to moderate between discrete values. As put by arch-pluralist Isaiah Berlin, "let us have the courage of our admitted ignorance, of our doubts and uncertainties. At least we can try to discover what others ... require, by ... making it possible for ourselves to know men as they truly are, by listening to them carefully and sympathetically, and understanding them and their lives and their needs... ." Pluralism thus tries to encourage members of society to accommodate their differences by avoiding extremism and engaging in good faith dialogue. Pluralists also seek the construction or reform of social institutions in order to reflect and balance competing principles.

Cultural conservatism is described as the protection of the cultural heritage of a nation state, or of a culture not defined by state boundaries. It is usually associated with criticism of multiculturalism, and opposition to illegal immigration. Cultural conservatism is sometimes concerned with the preservation of a language, such as French in Quebec, and other times with the preservation of an ethnic group's culture such as Native Americans.

In ethics, value pluralism is the idea that there are several values which may be equally correct and fundamental, and yet in conflict with each other. In addition, value-pluralism postulates that in many cases, such incompatible values may be incommensurable, in the sense that there is no objective ordering of them in terms of importance. Value pluralism is opposed to value monism.

Richard E. Flathman was the George Armstrong Kelly Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, at Johns Hopkins University. He is known for having pioneered, with Brian Barry, David Braybrooke, Felix Oppenheim, and Abraham Kaplan, the application of analytic philosophy to political science. He was a leading advocate of liberalism and a champion of individuality. He defended a conception of social freedom according to which it is "negative, situated, and elemental."

Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, whereby their values and practices are accepted by the dominant culture, provided such are consistent with the laws and values of the wider society. As a sociological term, the definition and description of cultural pluralism has evolved. It has been described as not only a fact but a societal goal.

Judith Nisse Shklar was a philosopher and political theorist who studied the history of political thought, notably that of the Enlightenment period. She was appointed the John Cowles Professor of Government at Harvard University in 1980.

Agonism is a political and social theory that emphasizes the potentially positive aspects of certain forms of conflict. It accepts a permanent place for such conflict in the political sphere, but seeks to show how individuals might accept and channel this conflict positively. Agonists are especially concerned with debates about democracy, and the role that conflict plays in different conceptions of it. The agonistic tradition to democracy is often referred to as agonistic pluralism. Beyond the realm of the political, agonistic frameworks have similarly been utilized in broader cultural critiques of hegemony and domination, as well as in literary and science fiction.

Civic nationalism, also known as democratic nationalism and liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, individual rights and is not based on ethnocentrism. Civic nationalists often defend the value of national identity by saying that individuals need it as a partial shared aspect of their identity in order to lead meaningful, autonomous lives and that democratic polities need national identity to function properly.

Crawford Brough Macpherson was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.

Parity of esteem is a concept which can be applied in a variety of contexts.

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, right to private property and equality before the law. Liberals espouse various views depending on their understanding of these principles but generally support private property, market economies, individual rights, liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion, constitutional government and privacy rights. Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern history.

Glen Francis Newey was a political philosopher, last acting as a Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University of Leiden. He previously taught in Brussels at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and until 2011 was Professor in the School of Politics, International Relations & Philosophy at Keele University, Staffordshire, England. He was a prominent member of the "Realist" school of political philosophers which also includes such figures as Bernard Williams, John N. Gray, and Raymond Geuss. Newey also wrote extensively about toleration, casting doubt on whether it remains a coherent political ideal in modern liberal-democratic societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiculturalism in Canada</span> Canadian social situation

Multiculturalism in Canada was officially adopted by the government during the 1970s and 1980s. The Canadian federal government has been described as the instigator of multiculturalism as an ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration. The 1960s Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is often referred to as the origin of modern political awareness of multiculturalism, resulting in Canada being one of the most multicultural nations in the world. The official state policy of multiculturalism is often cited as one of Canada's significant accomplishments, and a key distinguishing element of Canadian identity and Canadian values.

Horace Meyer Kallen was a German-born American philosopher who supported pluralism and Zionism.

<i>Rethinking Multiculturalism</i>

Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory is a 2002 non-fiction book by the British political theorist Bhikhu Parekh and published by Harvard University Press. It creates and defines multiculturalism in the form of political theory as well as political practice in the modern era, being based on Parekh's experience of Multiculturalism in British society as well as other areas around the world. Parekh's book addresses several topics, primarily multicultural politics, as well as the practice and theory behind addressing these politics.

Monique Deveaux is a Canadian philosopher. She is a Full Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Global Social Change at the University of Guelph. She is known for her research on poverty, cultural pluralism and global justice.

Cécile Laborde is a professor of political theory at the University of Oxford. Since 2017, she has held the Nuffield Chair of Political Theory and in 2013 she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. Her research focusses on republicanism, liberalism and religion, theories of law and the state, and global justice. Her most recent book, Liberalism's Religion, was published by Harvard University Press in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy L. Rosenblum</span> American political philosopher

Nancy Lipton Rosenblum is an American political scientist and political philosopher. She is the Senator Joseph S. Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government at Harvard University and co-editor of the Annual Review of Political Science. She studies modern political thought and constitutional law. Rosenblum has been the Chair of both the government department at Harvard and the political science department at Brown University, and a member of the leadership of several professional organizations in political science and political philosophy.

References

  1. ↑ "Jacob Levy". Political Science. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  2. 1 2 "Jacob T. Levy, Author at Niskanen Center". Niskanen Center. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  3. ↑ "Jacob T. Levy". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  4. ↑ "Exonians in Review". The Exeter Bulletin. Spring 2015. p. 23. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Kukathas, Chandra (2003-07-01). "Jacob Levy, The Multiculturalism of Fear". Ethics. 113 (4): 891–895. doi:10.1086/374014. ISSN   0014-1704. S2CID   171340410.
  6. ↑ Snow, Nancy E. (2002). "Book Review: The Multiculturalism of Fear". International Migration Review. 36 (3): 942–943. doi: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00111.xc . S2CID   220356823.
  7. 1 2 Kuznicki, Jason (August 2017). "Book Review: Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom , by Jacob T. Levy". Political Theory. 45 (4): 570–573. doi:10.1177/0090591715627320. ISSN   0090-5917. S2CID   152001612.
  8. ↑ Hertzberg, Benjamin (2016-05-01). "Rationalism, pluralism, and freedom". Contemporary Political Theory. 15 (2): e18–e21. doi: 10.1057/cpt.2015.41 . ISSN   1476-9336. S2CID   141882074.
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