Full Description
With "the age of democracy" apparently coming to an end, Jeffrey C. Goldfarb offers hope against hopelessness, turning away from the canned political perspectives of the left, right, and center to recognize the beauty of the less than perfect and to emphasize the centrality of free public life. In Gray is Beautiful, he reflects on a lifetime of political engagement and scholarship, drawing upon experiences as a radical New Leftist, participant observer of the democratic opposition "behind the iron curtain," teacher in Afghanistan, and publisher of online public forums. Offering original insights, this book considers the promise rather than the problems of political uncertainty, uses Tocqueville's mistakes to understand the present state of democracy in America, and considers the ironies of collaboration. Goldfarb helps readers confront today's central challenges in fresh ways, demonstrating that the political gray is indeed beautiful and how this sensibility provides a way to confront the global retreat of democracy.
Contents
Introduction: 1. The Sensibility, the Commitment, the Context, and the Approach
Inquiries:
2. Uncertainty in Times of Pandemic: Confronting the Social Condition
3. Intellectuals in Dark Times: Reflections on Lived Experience
4. Hannah Arendt and the Radical Center
5. Art After Auschwitz
6. Teaching in Afghanistan: Acting as if we live in a free society
7. Tocqueville's Democracy in America and Making America Great Again.
8. A Collaborator: To be or Not to Be?
Conclusions
9. The Cynical Society (Revisited) and the Retreat of Democracy.
10. Confronting the Enemy: Hope Against Hopelessness
References
