Barack Obama and Twenty-first Century Politics

Description

Barack Obama has been called a transformative and transcendental figure, and this book shows just how significant the movement behind him was for the politics of the United States. Horace Campbell examines the networks that made the electoral victory possible and discusses the importance of self-organization and self-emancipation in politics. Situated in the context of the agency of new social forces galvanised in the 2008 electoral season, the book develops a theory of politics that starts with the humanist principles of ubuntu, healing and reparations for the 21st century. It argues that key ideas like quantum politics and a 'network of networks' move away from old forms of vanguardism during a period in history that can be characterised as a revolutionary moment. This book is an essential undergraduate guide to new forms of political organization in the US. CONTENTS PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1. REVOLUTIONARY MOMENTS AND RUPTURES REVOLUTIONARY MOMENTS: LESSONS FROM THE FRENCH AND CUBAN REVOLUTIONS NEW CONCEPT OF SHARED HUMANITY UBUNTU ELEMENTS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY MOMENT BEYOND VANGUARDISM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CLASSICAL MUSIC MEETS JAZZ REPARATIONS AND REVOLUTION NEW MILITANTS AND SITES OF POLITICS CONCLUSION 2. THE POLITICAL TRAINING OF BARACK OBAMA UBUNTU AND NON-RACIAL DEMOCRACY LESSONS IN UBUNTU TOOTS AND THE DIGNITY OF WORK TRAINING AS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER IN CHICAGO SEARCHING FOR LIFE PURPOSE AND HEALING IN KENYA REDEMPTION MICHELLE ROBINSON: THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL CONCLUSION 3. CONFRONTING RACISM AND SEXISM IN US POLITICS PHASE I: THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND “THREE-FIFTHS OF A HUMAN” PHASE II: THE CIVIL WAR AND THE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY PHASE III: AUTONOMOUS ORGANIZING AND THE HARRIET TUBMAN PRINCIPLES RECONSTRUCTION AND THE THIRD PHASE COUNTER-REVOLUTION BENJAMIN TILLMAN, SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE, AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF RACISM LONG-TERM LEGACIES OF THE THIRD PHASE EUGENICS AND THE IDEOLOGICAL VICTORY OF THE SOUTH EUGENICS AND TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY CONCLUSION: DEMOCRATIZATION AS A PROCESS RACISM AND THE OLD LEFT BEYOND THE LIMITATIONS OF LIBERAL THOUGHT 4. GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING CONFRONTS THE MACHINE REVOLUTIONS BY ORDINARY PEOPLE – THE MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY OBAMA’S LEARNING FROM THE ELLA BAKER PRINCIPLES BEYOND VANGUARDISM THE CONSERVATIVE COUNTER-OFFENSIVE IN THE UNITED STATES BEFORE THE RISE OF THE OBAMA PHENOMENON THE ATTEMPTED INTERVENTION OF JESSE JACKSON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND THE HIERARCHY OF POWER LEADERISM, VANGUARDISM, AND THE PARTY BOSS TECHNOCRATS, BOSSES, AND POLITICAL PATRONAGE FROM BOSSES TO POLITICAL CONSULTANTS THE CLINTONS INHERIT THE PARTY MACHINERY CONCLUSION 5. FRACTAL WISDOM AND OPTIMISM IN THE PRIMARY CAMPAIGN OF 2008 CAMPAIGNING AS A HUMAN BEING, NOT A BLACK CANDIDATE HOPE AND CHANGE SCALING, SELF-SIMILARITY, AND RECURSION IN THE CAMPAIGN UBUNTU MEETS UBUNTU PROVING GROUND IN SOUTH CAROLINA BUILDING A NATIONAL PRESENCE AND BOTTOM-UP FUNDRAISING OBAMA’S AMAZING MONEY MACHINE THE STRUGGLES IN THE PRIMARIES THE CENTRALITY OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICS THE INTERVENTION OF THE YOUTH VOTE AND THE GRASSROOTS THE IOWA CAUCUS THE CENTRALITY OF RACISM IN US POLITICS INTERNAL COLLAPSE OF THE VAST CLINTON APPARATUS CONCLUSION 6. BETWEEN THE PAST AND THEFUTURE: THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION BURDENS OF THE PAST NEW AND OLD FORCES AT THE CONVENTION SHADOWS OF THE PAST AND THE DENVER SETTING THE PROMISE OF A GREEN CONVENTION T. BOONE PICKENS AND FORGIVENESS INSIDERS AND OUTSIDERS IN DENVER THE CLINTON BRIGADE IN DENVER MICHELLE OBAMA AND THE CAUCUSES THE LATINO/HISPANIC CAUCUS AT THE CONVENTION WHO ARE THE LATINOS? ROLL CALL AND NOMINATION ACCEPTANCE SPEECH AND MARKETING THE CANDIDATE CONCLUSION 7. GROUND OPERATION FOR VICTORY: CHALLENGING THE RUTHLESSNESS OF THE WOUNDED CORPORATE BANKERS THE MOMENT OF SEPTEMBER RUTHLESSNESS AND RECKLESSNESS THE WORLD OF DERIVATIVES, POLITICS, AND RUTHLESSNESS FINANCIALIZATION AS ECONOMIC TERRORISM HENRY PAULSON AND THE DRAMA OF THE MOMENT OF SEPTEMBER ELEMENTS OF THE COUP SPEECHLESS AND POLITICS OBAMA AND THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN THE LEGACIES OF JESSE HELMS IN NORTH CAROLINA RESPECT, EMPOWER, INCLUDE – OBSERVING THE GROUND OPERATION AT FIRST HAND YOUTH ACTIVISTS AND THE WALL OF HOPE TOLERANCE AND THE NETWORKS ROWAN COUNTY AND SALISBURY TOWN MECKLENBURG COUNTY AND CROSSING INTO SOUTH CAROLINA THE NERVE CENTER IN RALEIGH-DURHAM A DIVIDED MILITARY CONCLUSION 8. BEYOND MESSIAHS: NETWORKS FOR PEACE AND TRANSFORMATION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY INTRODUCTION THE TRAP OF MESSIANISM AND MILITARISM LIBERALISM, MISSIONISM, AND THE LONG WAR WAR AS PEACE WOULD OBAMA END UP LIKE TOUSSAINT? NETWORKING AND SOLIDARITY THE PEACE, ANTI-RACIST, AND REPARATIONS NODES OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS PEACE AND THE MEANING OF WORK REVOLUTION AND THE TIPPING POINT PEACE AND THE INHERITANCE OF BLACK LIBERATION PROGRESSIVE WOMEN AND THE PEACE MOVEMENT BUILDING A NEW DEMOCRACY CONCLUSION 9. UBUNTU AND TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY REVOLUTION THE SETTING AND THE CHALLENGES UBUNTU, QUANTUM POLITICS, AND THE REVOLUTIONARY MOMENT ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, A FRACTAL OUTLOOK, AND QUANTUM LEAPS UBUNTU, SELF-ORGANIZATION, AND SELF-MOBILIZATION ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE SECOND REVOLUTION IN THE UNITED STATES UBUNTU, SELF-ORGANIZATION, AND NEW LEADERSHIP NEW LEADERSHIP AND OPTIMISM IN SOCIETY OPTIMISM AS A POLITICAL ACT NOTES FURTHER READING INDEX