Wilson Carey McWilliams
Encyclopedia
Wilson Carey McWilliams (2 September 1933 – 29 March 2005), aka Carey McWilliams, Jr., son of Carey McWilliams
, was a political scientist with a storied career at Rutgers University
. He served in the 11th Airborne Division of the United States Army
from 1955–1961, after which he took his Masters and Ph.D. degrees at the University of California, Berkeley
. There he studied under Sheldon Wolin
, John Schaar
and Norman Jacobson, and also recognized the influences of political theorists Leo Strauss
and Bertrand de Jouvenel
. He wrote a Masters thesis on the political realism of Hans Morgenthau
and Reinhold Niebuhr
. He was also active in the early stages of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement
and the student activist group SLATE
.
McWilliams was author of The Idea of Fraternity in America (1973, University of California Press), for which he won the National Historical Society prize in 1974. In this book, McWilliams argued that there was an "alternative tradition" to the dominant liberal tradition in America, which he variously traced through the thought of the Puritans, the Anti-federalists, and various major and minor literary figures such as Hawthorne, Melville, Twain and Ellison. He argued that this tradition drew philosophical inspiration from ancient Greek and Christian sources manifested in an emphasis upon community and fraternity, which was properly the means to achieving a form of civic liberty. He contrasted this tradition with the liberal tradition, which conversely held that individual liberty was thought to culminate in political fraternity. A major influence on McWilliams's thought was the book Democracy in America
by the French theorist Alexis de Tocqueville
, and like Tocqueville, McWilliams commended to modern liberal democracy the arts of association and a chastening form of religious faith.
McWilliams was also a prolific essayist, whose works appeared in Commonweal
and other journals. His essays on American elections from 1976-1998 were collected in two volumes, The Politics of Disappointment (1995, Chatham House) and Beyond the Politics of Disappointment (2000, Chatham House). In 2011, two edited collections of his essays were published, co-edited by Patrick J. Deneen and his daughter, Susan J. McWilliams. The books were entitled, respectively, Redeeming Democracy in America (University Press of Kansas, 2011) and The Democratic Soul: A Wilson Carey McWilliams Reader (University Press of Kentucky, 2011).
McWilliams was the recipient of the John Witherspoon Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities, conferred by the New Jersey Committee for the Humanities, and also served as a Vice-President of the American Political Science Association.
Prior to teaching at Rutgers University he taught at Oberlin College
and Brooklyn College
. He was also a visiting professor at Yale University
, Harvard University
and Haverford College
. He came to Yale in the Spring of 1969 with a timely and provocative seminar on "American Radical Thought". At Harvard he taught the evening seminar "American Political Theory in the 19th Century" during the spring of 1998, a popular course attended by several professors including Harvey Mansfield
. As a visiting professor he went out of his way to connect with the students in his courses (and sometimes in nearby bars).
Recordings are available of his last class, American Political Thought since the Civil War, which was continued after his death by his daughter, Susan Jane McWilliams, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of politics at Princeton University
at the time and currently a professor of politics at Pomona College
.
At the time of his death, McWilliams had been married for more than 30 years to the psychoanalyst and author Nancy Riley McWilliams. Their daughter Helen McWilliams is the lead singer of VAGIANT Boston.
Carey McWilliams (journalist)
Carey McWilliams was an American author, editor, and lawyer. He is best known for his writings about social issues in California, including the condition of migrant farm workers and the internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II...
, was a political scientist with a storied career at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
. He served in the 11th Airborne Division of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
from 1955–1961, after which he took his Masters and Ph.D. degrees at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. There he studied under Sheldon Wolin
Sheldon Wolin
Sheldon S. Wolin is a political philosopher. He is professor emeritus of Princeton University and a writer on contemporary politics. He is married to Emily Purvis Wolin.-Early life:He attended Oberlin College as an undergraduate...
, John Schaar
John Schaar
John H Schaar is a scholar and political theorist. He is a Professor Emeritus at the [University of California, Santa Cruz]. Schaar was born in Montoursville, PA, USA and raised on a farm in a Lutheran family....
and Norman Jacobson, and also recognized the influences of political theorists Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss was a political philosopher and classicist who specialized in classical political philosophy. He was born in Germany to Jewish parents and later emigrated to the United States...
and Bertrand de Jouvenel
Bertrand de Jouvenel
Bertrand de Jouvenel des Ursins, usually known only as Bertrand de Jouvenel was a French philosopher, political economist, and futurist.-Life:...
. He wrote a Masters thesis on the political realism of Hans Morgenthau
Hans Morgenthau
Hans Joachim Morgenthau was one of the leading twentieth-century figures in the study of international politics...
and Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
. He was also active in the early stages of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement
Free Speech Movement
The Free Speech Movement was a student protest which took place during the 1964–1965 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley under the informal leadership of students Mario Savio, Brian Turner, Bettina Aptheker, Steve Weissman, Art Goldberg, Jackie Goldberg, and...
and the student activist group SLATE
SLATE
SLATE, a pioneer organization of the New Left and precursor of the Free Speech Movement, was a campus political party at the University of California, Berkeley from 1958 to 1966.-Origins:...
.
McWilliams was author of The Idea of Fraternity in America (1973, University of California Press), for which he won the National Historical Society prize in 1974. In this book, McWilliams argued that there was an "alternative tradition" to the dominant liberal tradition in America, which he variously traced through the thought of the Puritans, the Anti-federalists, and various major and minor literary figures such as Hawthorne, Melville, Twain and Ellison. He argued that this tradition drew philosophical inspiration from ancient Greek and Christian sources manifested in an emphasis upon community and fraternity, which was properly the means to achieving a form of civic liberty. He contrasted this tradition with the liberal tradition, which conversely held that individual liberty was thought to culminate in political fraternity. A major influence on McWilliams's thought was the book Democracy in America
Democracy in America
De la démocratie en Amérique is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. A "literal" translation of its title is Of Democracy in America, but the usual translation of the title is simply Democracy in America...
by the French theorist Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution . In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in...
, and like Tocqueville, McWilliams commended to modern liberal democracy the arts of association and a chastening form of religious faith.
McWilliams was also a prolific essayist, whose works appeared in Commonweal
Commonweal
Commonweal is a American journal of opinion edited and managed by lay Catholics. It is headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City.-History:...
and other journals. His essays on American elections from 1976-1998 were collected in two volumes, The Politics of Disappointment (1995, Chatham House) and Beyond the Politics of Disappointment (2000, Chatham House). In 2011, two edited collections of his essays were published, co-edited by Patrick J. Deneen and his daughter, Susan J. McWilliams. The books were entitled, respectively, Redeeming Democracy in America (University Press of Kansas, 2011) and The Democratic Soul: A Wilson Carey McWilliams Reader (University Press of Kentucky, 2011).
McWilliams was the recipient of the John Witherspoon Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities, conferred by the New Jersey Committee for the Humanities, and also served as a Vice-President of the American Political Science Association.
Prior to teaching at Rutgers University he taught at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
and Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
. He was also a visiting professor at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
. He came to Yale in the Spring of 1969 with a timely and provocative seminar on "American Radical Thought". At Harvard he taught the evening seminar "American Political Theory in the 19th Century" during the spring of 1998, a popular course attended by several professors including Harvey Mansfield
Harvey Mansfield
Harvey Claflin Mansfield, Jr. is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1962. He has held Guggenheim and NEH Fellowships and has been a Fellow at the National Humanities Center; he also received the National Humanities Medal in 2004 and...
. As a visiting professor he went out of his way to connect with the students in his courses (and sometimes in nearby bars).
Recordings are available of his last class, American Political Thought since the Civil War, which was continued after his death by his daughter, Susan Jane McWilliams, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of politics at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
at the time and currently a professor of politics at Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
.
At the time of his death, McWilliams had been married for more than 30 years to the psychoanalyst and author Nancy Riley McWilliams. Their daughter Helen McWilliams is the lead singer of VAGIANT Boston.
External links
- Deneen, Patrick, My Teacher, My Friend, Front Porch Republic