Public intellectual and self-proclaimed gadfly, Jim Block, DePaul University Professor of Political Science, is not bound by disciplinary boundaries. In fact, one of his major contributions to knowledge production is questioning the social production of boundaries entirely. His newest book The Crucible of Consent: American Child Rearing and the Forging of Liberal Society (Harvard University Press, 2012) draws from religious sermons, childrearing literature, American history and a lot of “dreck and drivel” of American thought in order to see “through a window people have not often looked through.”
His aim? To understand why American progressives are so well-behaved, and to draw us into a conversation about the costs of following the rules. Ultimately, The Crucible of Consent pushes readers to consider what it would take to get American progressives to wake up from their well-behaved ennui, in order to be politically motivated to organize and affect real and lasting change.
What is a free society? What is a free individual? How are children being raised to be productive but non-questioning political agents? And what are the social costs of this compliance? Block’s newest book tackles these questions head-on. And so can you. On May 24, at 5:30pm in the John T. Richardson Library, Block hopes not only to share from his newest book, but to lead a discussion.
A moderately well-behaved reception will follow.
Thursday, May 24, 5:30-6:30, John T. Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave, Program Room 115 located just off of the Kenmore entrance to Kelly Hall. For further information, please contact Brent Nunn, Library Outreach Services Coordinator.