Category Archives: audio and video

the case for viewpoint diversity

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Here is a quick interview of me for Tufts’ Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education. I think the question was something like this: “Why is it important to include diverse points of view?” Even though I appear to be looking heavenward for answers, I stand by my claim that ethical reasoning is comparative; and we need direct exposure to diverse views to be able to make comparisons.

A subtle point: for reasons that Andrew Perrin and Christian Lundberg present in this Boston Globe editorial, I don’t love the metaphor of viewpoints. It implies that each person has a stance that explains all their specific views, and we either stand in the same place as another person (in which case our mentalities are identical) or in a different place (therefore destined to disagree). I prefer to think in terms of networks of beliefs that may overlap.* Nevertheless, John Stuart Mill’s basic argument for diversity of values applies.

I would also note that the argument for value-diversity conflicts with the goal of objectivity. If we can use objective methods to settle issues related to policy or social criticism, then it doesn’t matter what values we bring to the conversation. On the other hand, if values are simply manifestations of our viewpoints or identities (or preferences), then there is no point in reasoning about them. Ethical reasoning is neither subjective nor scientific but discursive and comparative.

*See Mapping Ideologies as Networks of Ideas (Journal of Political Ideologies 29 (3), 464-491) and People Are Not Points in Space: Network Models of Beliefs and Discussions ( Critical Review 36 (1-2), 119-145)

a resource for students on social movements and activism

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In a recorded interview with the Story Preservation Initiative, I discuss “landmark cases and civic turning points—including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Brown v. Board of Education, the United Farm Workers boycott, and Watergate—to illustrate how people came together to reinforce core democratic principles of equality, justice, and the rule of law.”

This recording and related documents are meant as a resource for teachers and students, particularly in high schools.

I also discuss “the ‘nuts-and-bolts’ skills young people need to participate effectively in civic life—how communities organize, how coalitions form, and how citizens can work together to effect change.” And I mention “skills that support meaningful participation, including listening, debating, respecting opposing viewpoints, and learning from history.”

Friends and Fellow Citizens podcast

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This is a recent conversation with host Sherman Tylawsky, a political science PhD student at the University of Alabama, my friend Harry Boyte, and me.

In the 1960s, Harry worked for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a field secretary with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and we have known each other since the late 1980s, workeing together on such efforts as the National Commission on Civic Renewal, the early years of CIRCLE, and the formation of Civic Studies.

In this podcast, Sherman interviews Harry and me about civic education and civic life.

The Great Battlefield podcast

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For his podcast, The Great Battlefield, Nathaniel G. Pearlman interviewed me about my whole life so far (starting with my childhood), my recent visit to Ukraine, and my take on the state of US democracy. The result–an hour’s conversation–is here:

In Ukraine: Building Civic Life Amid War

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In this episode of The Stakes, host Brad Rourke speaks with Kettering Foundation Senior Fellow and retired Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Kettering board member and Tufts professor Peter Levine. They reflect on their recent experiences helping to build democracy and civil society in Ukraine—O’Connor working to vet candidates for the embattled Constitutional Court, and Levine teaching Civic Studies in a war-torn Kyiv.

Both offer firsthand insight into the resilience of Ukrainian civil society and the country’s struggle to build democratic institutions. O’Connor describes the bomb shelter where judicial reforms are being debated, and Levine details the micro-decisions citizens must make under constant threat. Together, they explore what the U.S. can learn from Ukraine’s resolve—and how psychological, civic, and symbolic support from the West matters more than ever.