POL323 Lecture Notes Week 8 - Social Equality and the Practice of Democracy
1. What questions do you have about Addams from week 6?
2. Questions of Equality in America
Presumption shared across both liberal and republican traditions in American political thought that
the country is founded on an underlying equality
This has both philosophical and material aspects:
Philosophical: individual rights at the founding, yeoman / pioneer ideal, culture of individualism,
principled equality of opportunity to make it / make something of oneself
-scene from The Wire
Material: lack of feudal class structure, “empty” wilderness providing resources / land for
exploitation, need for both skilled / unskilled labour, inheritance practices, diversity of religions,
cultures, ethnicities
-American “melting pot”
Basis for the claim seen in Emerson, Tocqueville, Hartz, and others that America is a fundamentally
democratic society—even as this has often been challenged in the structures of the federal
government, such as disagreements between:
-Hamilton / Federalist Party and Jefferson / Democratic Republican Party
-And later Whig / Republican Party and Jackson / Democratic Party
Initially, however, this claim for equality is more about political and social equality, with
specifically economic equality emerging as a primary claim later, linked to the rise of
industrialisation and urbanisation in the 19th century
Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835/1840), book written based on his travels in
the USA early 1830s. Tocqueville’s account of the emerging democratic society is highly influential
—links this to America’s “origins”
Key points:
1. Puritan founding, educated and bourgeois population, with strong sense of self-
determination and non-conformity, highly moral / religious but in an individualistic way
[Emerson fits this mould]
2. Lack of large property holding families, result of colonial condition and distinctive laws
on inheritance that broke up large family holdings
3. Emerging commercial / capitalist society
4. Opportunities created by the frontier / colonial condition [often exploitative]
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5. Social equality reinforced by expansion of democratic institutions of government, such as
expansion of the franchise
6. Civic culture based on equality and freedom, creates opportunities (though limited) for
women as well (within a proscribed social role)
Dangers American society faces:
1. Potential for material inequality to undermine social / political equality
2. Dangers of conformity within emerging mass culture
3. Tensions created by slavery / racial conflict between black and white
4. Temptation to pursue models of national and imperial development on the European
model
Notes interesting tension between this condition of social / political equality and inequalities of
wealth in an increasingly commercial society
Throughout 19th century, prior to the Civil War, increasing political power for white males without
property, creates a more populist political culture, more democratic in some ways, but puts pressure
on conservative / centralising forces concerned with protecting established wealth and economic
interests, especially with increasingly industrialisation / urbanisation
Andrew Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth” as a kind of democratic and aspirational ideology
advocating for both the opportunities for individual advancement and the social good advanced by
economic success—leads to a duty for charitable donation of wealth created by industrial /
commercial success, which we still see in figures like Bill Gates, and many other wealthy
Americans
Realities of economic / material inequality increasingly lead to class conflict between workers /
owner, poor / rich —becomes especially acute with the “closing of the frontier” and changes in the
conditions of labour created by immigration and emancipation
Rogers M. Smith on the multiple traditions account: core of his argument is the claim that the
conventional focus on liberal and republican traditions, which share an underlying (if often
imperfectly realised) political and social equality misses out, or misunderstands, the importance of
ascriptive hierarchies in both American culture and American political thought, which includes not
only class conflict but racial hierarchy, settler colonialism / imperialism, and patriarchy.
Concern here is both with realities that undermine appeals to underlying equality or democratic
character of USA, as well as traditions of thought that posit non-egalitarian and anti-democratic
ideas—which we have seen gain greater visibility in recent years
American democracy, and the claims of equality, face new challenges as the country matures into a
continental state, a primary economic player, and an emerging imperial power, as well as becoming
a mass consumer society
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3. Jane Addams and Socialisation of Democracy
Background
In her own time Addams was one of the most well known women in America, celebrated and
vilified for her work as an activist, educator, pacifist and social thinker. Influenced contemporary
notions of welfare and social services, community education and organising, and ideas of non-
violence.
Once called the most dangerous woman in America because of her opposition to World War One,
though later a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her anti-war activism.
But most famous as the founder of Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago. The creation of
which was inspired by her visit to London—and Mile End—as a young women in the late 19th
century. She describes a life changing moment experienced while riding on a double decker bus
down the Mile End Road.
“On Mile End Road, from the top of an omnibus which paused at the end of a dingy street lighted
by only occasional flares of gas, we saw two huge masses of illclad people clamoring around two
hucksters’ carts. They were bidding their farthings and ha’ pennies for a vegetable held up by the
auctioneer, which he at last scornfully flung, with a jibe for its cheapness, to the successful bidder…
He had bidden in a cabbage, and when it struck his hand, he instantly sat down on the curb, tore it
with his teach, and hastily devoured it, unwashed and uncooked as it was.” (From The Snare of
Preparation)
The desperation she saw in London, and on her travels in Europe, inspired her to commit herself to
some form of moral reform and philanthropic effort.
-Inspired by Toynbee Hall and the People’s Palace—decides to start a settlement house in
Chicago, founds Hull House in 1889, runs it until her death in 1935.
Work at Hull House
Key motivations:
-understanding poverty required engaging with the experience of the poor
-relief of poverty requires social change, what she describes as the socialisation of
democracy
-focus on building partnerships with neighbourhood rather than providing service / expertise
Socialisation of Democracy needs to extend beyond political democracy, focused on voting, to
include economic and social democracy. For Addams, democracy requires interaction. And in the
emerging mass society of the late-nineteenth century, this requires democratic organisation.
“…if in a democratic country nothing can be permanently achieved save through the masses of the
people, it will be impossible to establish a higher political life than the people themselves crave;
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that it is difficult to tot see how the. notion of a higher civic life can be fostered save through
common intercourse; that the blessing which we associate with a life of refinement and cultivation
can be made universal and must be made universal if they are to be permanent; that the good we
secure ourselves is precarious and uncertain, if floating in mid-air until it is secured for all of us and
incorporated into our common life.” (From The Subjective Need for Settlement)
Obligation to contribute to the betterment of all grows out of our ability to sympathise with the
suffering of others, despite difference between people. Should lead to a desire to work for the
common good on equal terms—rejecting conventional notions of benevolence informing
philanthropy (see Carnegie on the Gospel of Wealth)
As we saw in the reading on women’s conscience last week, Addams thinks this sort of moral
sentiment is strong in women, as part of their role facilitating family life, but needs to be expanded
beyond the home—and women need opportunities to act publicly for the betterment of society.
For Addams, our moral sentiments needs to be expressed in practical action, which includes sharing
a common life with the poor and seeking to be of service to others, which are expression of a love
of humanity.
-Links her to Christian reform movement in the US
-For Addams, this kind of Christian love for humanity must be expressed in action
-Expresses a commitment to radical democratic equality, as everyone can and should be
enabled to contribute to society—Hull House becomes a place for this kind of work
-Hull House, and settlement movement, gives space to experiment in solving social and
industrial problems of modern urban life, focused on addressing inequality in ways that are
flexible and practical
-Way of expressing and developing virtues of citizenship by seeking to improve the social
conditions of the worst off and reducing social divisions between groups
Hull House located in a poor immigrant neighbourhood in South Chicago, where local community
is mostly newly arrived immigrants from across Europe, with varying levels of wealth /
employment, and inadequate services / infrastructure and very little in the way of democratic
participation.
Hull House develops four key areas of activity:
1. Facilitating social life—freeing social life from constraints by providing (a) social
“luxuries”, (b) literacy, and (c) cultural activities
2. Education and intellectual enrichment through classes and events, college extension
courses, tutoring, public lectures, reading room, summer school, industrial education
-practical / vocational element, but also learning for its own sake
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3. Humanitarian services, what we would think of as welfare / social services today,
including information and interpreters for immigrants, health care, a nursery, food and
cooking classes, a gymnasium, and public baths
4. Encouraging civic engagement, including providing space for labour organising, legal
advice and support, political education, space for political / civic discussions and meetings
Provided a space to practice and develop virtues of good democratic citizenship.
Link Between Equality and Support for the Labour Movement
Focus on developing solidarity between workers and wider society. Hull House makes a distinctive
contribution by both attending to the social injuries of industrialisation and creating awareness of
these injuries, especially for those most in need.
Addams seeks to contribute to the organisation of workers, which she sees as necessary to creating
a more humane and socially beneficial economic system. Isolation leads to suffering and
disconnects our moral ideals / hope from reality, making them ineffective. Organising workers,
then, is a moral obligation.
But she also focuses on the challenges / complexity of organisation, as trade unions can become
sources of social conflict as well, both between workers and with other elements of society. Sought
to find space for accommodation between groups with differing interests and ideological
commitments. Aims to support positive development of the labour movement leading to better
economic system and improved work / labour for all.
Connects the labour movement to the pursuit of the common good / betterment of society, expresses
scepticism of Marxist focus on inevitability of class conflict
General Commitments Addams Develops
The importance of action and the need to have a experimental / responsive attitude in pursuing
social and political change in a democratic way.
Importance of sympathy for, or what she calls imaginative understanding of, the views of others.
4. Persistent Exclusions of American Democracy
But exclusions persist—and even grow—as the American economy and social conditions remain
dynamic and changing. So, how does Addams deal with exclusion? And what can her vision of
social democracy offer us today?
For Addams, a central need in a democracy is the creation of a common culture / tradition that
upholds democratic values, attitudes, and behaviours.
She considers the practical need and difficulty of this throughout her work, especially in her
writings about integration / assimilation of immigrants and how to address the racial antagonism
between white and black Americans.
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At the centre of these writings is a claim that social tradition and custom is an important element of
individual development and social order. And a challenge for America in her day, in the midst of
urbanisation and modernisation, is creating an inclusive democratic culture, which does not exist in
America at the time.
The Questions of Assimilation
For Addams, assimilation is assimilation into a still developing democratic American culture, rather
than into an established culture that immigrants are expected to accept in order to “fit in”.
Essay on public schools and immigrant children examines this issue in more depth:
Addams recognises the importance of the public school for immigrant communities, seeing it as one
of the few social institutions present in poorer immigrant neighbourhoods and giving a great deal to
the children and wider community.
But she’s concerned about education providing an ineffective, even dangerous, kind of assimilation,
which breaks the bonds of existing culture and tradition in immigrant communities, creating
antagonism between generations, and sending young people into the world before they are ready.
Further, Addams argues that public schools should be preparing immigrant children for the world of
industrial work they will enter after school and spend much of their lives in (concern here for boys
and girls entering the work force). She suggests children should be instructed in the processes and
principles of industrial labour, using materials from the world of work, which are already
international because of the composition of the American work force in the early 20th century.
Finally, she is concerned about the effects of the separation of children from the values and
traditions of their parents as it relates to their future role as parents. Here she is especially concerned
about girls and women. But she’s an opportunity here, where girls in public schools, if taught who
to do so, could help their families cope with the difficulties of living in a new culture and country,
while also encouraging young girls to see the connection between family life and the wider social
life, including the state.
Example of South Italian mother / daughter and the issue of unclean milk.
We see here Addams’ insistence on taking experience seriously and the social an political
importance she gives to everyday life.
Question of Racial Hierarchy in America
Social Control article, published in W.E.B. DuBois’ magazine for the NAACP, “Crisis”
Difficulty for white Americans to properly understand the “racial problem,” but whatever the
challenges to fully understanding the problem there is clearly a racial antagonism throughout
America, not only the South. Addams wants to address this.
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Social Control - important to understand what Addams means here. She’s not suggesting there need
to be social institutions controlling black Americans, like social workers or police. She’s suggesting
that one of the harms of enslavement was that black Americans could not develop family structures
and wider social support networks and traditions, which she sees as essential for helping individuals
control their behaviour, to act in socially responsible ways. She doesn’t think social tradition is
always beneficial, but she does see it as potentially important and beneficial in many circumstances,
especially for in a democratic society extending equal freedom to all.
Added to this lack of “social control”, racial segregation exposes black Americans, as individuals
and a community, to more social dangers, increasing the risk of being victims of exploitation /
harms, and to fall into immoral or illegal behaviour.
Racial animosity creates an additional layer of friction, exacerbating tensions created by city life
and rapid modernisation. Frames such animosity as “primitive” and something society should have
outgrown
Her concern here is white opposition to black Americans, especially in sharing a space, sees
lynching as expression of white Americans allowing their primitive racial antagonism to override
law and morality. Further, white Americans’ embrace of this racial antagonism undermines decent
and orderly social life in a democracy.
Sees this antagonism, along with sex based antagonism, as leading to violence and undermining
rights and justice. And she suggests NAACP’s efforts to ensure the law is upheld and rights of black
Americans are respected represents a service not only to black Americans effected by this, but to the
whole of the US / all Americans, as an expression of the nations underlying promise of freedom and
equality for all.
For Addams, then, key ways of addressing exclusion include:
1. Recognising differences between groups
2. Finding value in the different cultures and traditions that make up modern America,
especially in cities
3. Extending sympathy and understanding across differences
4. Looking for ways to create / encourage a common and universal cultural / tradition that is
distinctively American and democratic / equal
Sounds good, right? Where does this vision succeed? Where does it fall short?
Cultural pluralism in the midst of hierarchical racial thinking
Addams sees value in all human cultures, including folk cultures often see as “lower”
Social cultures / traditions are central to people’s sense of self and to loose it is a realm harm. This
motivates Addams to consider how culture / tradition can be preserved while also remaining
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dynamic and response to changed conditions—looks to find a way to bridge immigrant cultures
with the new democratic American culture emerging in its increasingly diverse cities.
Her cultural pluralism is democratic and cosmopolitan, which she thinks should define American
culture—this social democratic vision requires reciprocity and interaction. Here, Addams argues
that valuing immigrant cultures / traditions provide a way of actualising this reciprocity. Of
realising an American identity and culture that was both national and cosmopolitan.
Addams vision of American culture and identity, however, is not one of many nationalities brought
together in an American context (and certainly not of a melting pot). Instead, her cultural pluralism
is focused on how individual and communities are always dynamic and marked by internal
diversity. Culture and tradition are resources for managing the demands of modern American life,
for both new immigrants and people with more established identities. They are resources for
socialising democracy in America.
But how / why does Addams address black Americans efforts to integrate into the economic, social,
and political life of America differently?
Following DuBois, the focus is on how the traumatic reality of slavery cut black Americans off
from the customs and traditions required to maintain the African cultural worlds lost to
enslavement. And while some enslaved peoples were brought into European cultures this was done
on unequal terms, and most black Americans were denied even this modest opportunity.
Addams sees both advantages and disadvantages for black Americans. On one hand, they have more
space to create a new culture for themselves in America. But on the other, the cultural resources that
encourage stability and community, and provide support in coping with change, have been
destroyed by slavery and racial subjugation.
For Addams, social control does not mean white rule or instruction over black Americans. Nor does
she think that black Americans are lacking in comparison to other immigrants.
But why not invoke cultural pluralism in the same way as with immigrants?
Addams lacked the deep and prolonged personal experience of working and living with black
Americans, though she had many working relationships with black Americans and was involved in
campaigns opposing racial injustice.
But there was a wider ignorance of African culture and its preservation / revision by black
Americans despite the experience of enslavement, especially in white intellectual circles. For
example, Alain Locke, a contemporary of Addams, was hugely influential from the 1920s onward in
documenting, collecting, and defending African and African American culture.
But why insist on the value of the inner lives and everyday traditions of immigrants, and their
contribution to America, but seemingly fail to do this in the case of black Americans? Especially in
light of work like DuBois’ Souls of Black Folks, which she knew and read.
Key point, then, is that Addams saw immigrants bringing a new culture to America, but saw black
Americans as having lost their original culture. And, by failing to fully appreciate that black
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Americans and black American culture were as American as the individuals and culture originally
from Europe, she failed to see the huge contribution made to American culture as black Americans
struggled against slavery and subjugation.
One of the defining legacies of black Americans is continued cultural creation and innovation,
making Addams blindness on this point all the more troubling. At root, her understanding of both
immigrant cultures and black American culture is shaped by presumptions about the historical
evolution of cultures from primitive to civilised. In turn, this meant she could not see black
Americans as modern, civilised Americans preserving and innovating under conditions of
subjugation.
This gets at a deeper tension in Addams’ thinking, which is that despite her insistence on reciprocal
relationships between different groups, which should serve a common cosmopolitan culture, she
neglects the role of power in these reciprocal interactions. The fact of shared relationships alone
does not guarantee true reciprocity, as the benefits of interaction across difference may be unequal.
For example, immigrant cultures are valued but seen as more primitive than white Anglo-Saxon
culture, with immigrant cultures providing new energy / vitality. This would be a hierarchical form
of reciprocity.
Further, Addams appears to be of two minds about whether group differences (based on ethnicity or
race) should be minimised to create a common cosmopolitan / American culture, or should be
preserved, which suggests a necessary degree of separation between groups. Which we take up in
the coming weeks.
REFERENCES
Jane Addams, "Social Control," Crisis, Vol. 1, No. 3 (January 1911): 22-23. [QMPlus] Online
at [Link]
Jane Addams, “The Objective Value of a Social Settlement,” (1893) in Jean Bethke Elshtain, ed.,
The Jane Addams Reader (New York: Basic Books, 2002), 29-45. [Print]
Jane Addams. “The Public School and the Immigrant Child,” (1908) in Jean Bethke Elshtain,
ed., The Jane Addams Reader (New York: Basic Books, 2002), 235-239. [Print] Online at http://
[Link]/items/show/6946.
Marilyn Fischer, “Addams on Cultural Pluralism, European Immigrants, and African Americans,”
The Pluralist, Volume 9, Number 3 (Fall 2014), 38-58.
Rogers M. Smith, “Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in
America,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 87, No. 3 (1993), 549-566.
Shannon Sullivan, “Reciprocal Relations Between Races: Jane Addams's Ambiguous Legacy,”
Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, Volume 39, Number 1 (2003), 43-60.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, (London: Penguin, 2003). [Ebook and Print, various
editions]
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