Politics Program and Dean of the College Present
[Room Change--Olin LC 120] Aristocracy in America: Tocqueville on White Supremacy
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Olin Language Center 120
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm EST/GMT-5
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Jennie Ikuta
Assistant Professor of Political Theory
Department of Political Science, University of Tulsa
This talk builds upon recent contributions to the growing literature on Tocqueville and race by exploiting underappreciated parallels in Tocqueville’s thought between European feudalism and American racial subordination. Specifically, it provides a systematic account of racial aristocracy as a parallel to feudal aristocracy, thereby yielding a comprehensive structural account of American race-relations in Tocqueville’s thought. It shows how four key features of Tocqueville’s conception of feudal aristocracy—heritability, membership, privilege, and exclusion—provide the foundation for an implicit account of white supremacy. In this way, it demonstrates that Tocqueville conceived of the United States as a racial aristocracy; specifically, an aristocracy of whiteness. Reconstructing Tocqueville’s structural account of white supremacy therefore dispels the myth that he held a “prejudice” or “anomaly” theory of racism; that is, his views on race have more in common with those of W.E.B. Du Bois and Charles Mills, for example, than Gunnar Myrdal. The talk also explores the advantages of conceiving of whiteness as a form of aristocracy rather than property, and it concludes by reflecting upon the implications for achieving racial equality in the United States.Assistant Professor of Political Theory
Department of Political Science, University of Tulsa
For more information, call 845-758-7693, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Olin Language Center 120