Author Meets Critics: Political Evil by Alan Wolfe
Alan Wolfe, Boston College
Martha Minow, Harvard Law School
James Traub, New York Times Magazine
惭辞诲别谤补迟辞谤:听Erik Owens, Boston College
Date:听September 21, 2011
Abstract
Acclaimed 精东影业 political scientist听Alan Wolfe听argues in his latest book,听Political Evil: What It Is听and How to Combat It听(Knopf, September 2011), that in an age of partisan blame-assigning,听therapeutic excuse-making, and theological question-dodging, we need to get serious about听the problem of evil once again. While there will always be something incomprehensible about听evil, we are very much capable of understanding and combating the use of evil means to听obtain political ends. Wolfe鈥檚 new book is a provocative challenge to widely-held beliefs about听genocide, intervention and the use of force to combat evil in the world. In this panel听discussion he will address critical responses from distinguished thinkers听Martha Minow听(dean of Harvard Law School) 补苍诲听James Traub听(international affairs journalist for the New听York Times Magazine).听
Speaker Bios
Alan Wolfe听is the founding director of the Boisi Center and Professor of Political Science at Boston College. He is author of more than a dozen books, including, most recently,听Political Evil: What It Is and How to Combat It听(2011),听The Future of Liberalism听(2009),听Does American Democracy Still Work?听(2006),听Return to Greatness听(2005),听The Transformation of American Religion: How We actually Practice our Faith听(2003),听Moral Freedom听(2001) 补苍诲听One Nation After All听(1999). Widely considered one of the nation's most prominent public intellectuals, he is a frequent听contributor to the听New听York Times,听Washington Post,听The New听Republic听补苍诲听The Atlantic, and has delivered lectures across the United States 补苍诲听Europe.听
Martha Minow听is the Dean and Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor at Harvard Law School where she has taught since 1981. An expert in human rights with a focus on members of racial and religious minorities and women, children, and persons with disabilities, her scholarship also has addressed private military contractors, management of mass torts, transitional justice, and law, culture, and social change. She has published over 150 articles and her books include听In Brown鈥檚 Wake: Legacies of America鈥檚 Educational Landmark听(2010) 补苍诲听Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence Politics and Law听(1998). Her edited and co-edited books include听Government by Contract听(2009),听Imagine Co-Existence: Restoring Humanity After Ethnic Conflict听(2003).
Following nomination by President Obama and confirmation by the Senate, she serves as vice-chair of the board of the Legal Services Corporation. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan and the Harvard Graduate School ofEducation, Minow received her law degree at Yale Law School before serving as a law clerk to Judge David Bazelon and Justice Thurgood Marshall. A member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, her awards include the Sacks-Freund Teaching Award at Harvard Law School; the Holocaust Center Award, the Radcliffe Graduate Society Medal and honorary doctorates in Education (Wheelock College) and law (University of Toronto).
James Traub听is an international affairs journalist for the听New York Times Magazine,听and a former writer for听The New Yorker. After publishing a number of books and articles on domestic issues, he began to focus on foreign affairs in 1999. Traub has since traveled extensively through the Middle East and remote regions in Africa and has written on issues of peacekeeping, state-building, repression and democracy.听He is the author of听The Freedom Agenda, which explores the Bush Administration鈥檚 attempt to foster democracy in the Middle East, 补苍诲听The Best Intentions, a commentary on the complex relationship between the United States and the UN. Traub appears frequently on CNN鈥檚 鈥淚n the Arena鈥� and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is currently writing a biography of John Quincy Adams, tentatively titled听Militant Spirit听(expected 2014). Traub graduated听magne cum laude听from Harvard University. He has taught at NYU in Abu Dhabi and is a fellow at both the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect in New York City and the Center for International Protection in Kyrgyzstan.
Event Photos
James Traub, Alan Wolfe, and Martha Minow speaking on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 (moderated by Erik Owens, left).
Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center (Boston College) and Author of Political Evil: What It Is and How to Combat It, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011.
James Traub, The New York Times Magazine
Alan Wolfe and Martha Minow respond to questions from the audience, Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
Erik Owens (Boston College) moderated the panel on Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
Martha Minow, Harvard Law School Dean, on Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
Event Recap
Evil does in fact exist in the world today, argues Boisi Center director Alan Wolfe in his newest book, but too many of us confuse and conflate its different varieties, and as a result we make poor decisions about when, where and how we should act to combat it.听Political听Evil: What It is and How to Combat It听(Knopf, 2011) aims to clarify the issue and analyze its implications for American foreign policy. On September 21 the Boisi Center hosted a vigorous conversation about the book鈥檚 central themes with James Traub and Martha Minow, two distinguished authorities on international relations and conflict resolution.
Wolfe opened the discussion with a summary of his key arguments. When considering the need for military intervention around the world, he emphasized, we must first understand which kind of evil is operative in the conflict. 鈥淧olitical evil鈥� is strategic in nature, focused on realizable objectives, and can therefore be opposed and redirected through strategic negotiations and/or the use of force. Not all evil is amenable to political resolution, however: the 鈥渞adical evil鈥� of dictators like Hitler and Stalin is employed in pursuit of unrealizable and abstract goals (such as the extermination of a race or class), while the 鈥渆veryday evil鈥� of serial killers or isolated random shooters have no political relevance at all. Still, Wolfe said, four of the central problems we now face鈥攖errorism, ethnic cleansing, genocide and 鈥渃ounter-evil鈥� (i.e., torture and other evil acts employed by states to combat evil)鈥攁re forms of political evil with specific means and ends that call for specific responses.
New York Times听Magazine听contributor 补苍诲听Foreign Policy听columnist James Traub focused his comments on the conflict in Darfur, which Wolfe argued the West was too hasty to call 鈥済enocide.鈥� On the ground, Traub said, the Darfur conflict clearly combined civil war and genocide, and a purely local and political response would have been insufficient to stop the massacres. Traub agreed that the world鈥檚 response to Darfur has been a failure, but not because of the moral hyperbole Wolfe criticized. Rather, the existing lack of international support for large-scale military intervention was bolstered by rhetoric from Sudan鈥檚 African neighbors that cast the conflict as nothing more than a regional political dispute.
Martha Minow, Dean of Harvard Law School and author of several books on post-conflict reconciliation, applauded Wolfe鈥檚 analysis of political evil but questioned how, in the midst of an unfolding conflict, we can know when atrocities are committed for 鈥減olitical鈥� instead of 鈥渞adical鈥� ends. Imperfect information makes the proper response difficult to discern, she said. Furthermore, if we want to educate and inspire the American public to act to end massacres like those in Darfur, we must employ precisely the sort of strong moral language that Wolfe deplores.
Following Wolfe鈥檚 brief response to each of the other panelists, the packed audience leapt into the conversation with a number of incisive comments and questions about humanitarian intervention, the continuing perils of colonialism and empire, and above all, the many ways we talk about evil in the world today.
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Further Reading
Alan Wolfe.听听in the听Chronicle of Higher Education, September 11, 2011.
An excerpt from his book,听听(Knopf, 2011).
","听The Hedgehog Review. Summer 2000.
This special issue on evil offers reflections on the sociology of evil, its transformation and relationship with suffering, and its history.
Hitchens, Christopher.听听Slate Magazine. 5 September 2011.
Hitchens writes that a decade after 9/11, "simply evil" remains the best description and most essential fact about al-Qaida.
Mamdani, Mahmood.听"鈥� in听London Review of Books听5: 5-8 (2007).
In听The Politics of Naming,听Mamdani calls attention to the often times ambiguous manner in which we brand conflicts and violent situations. He suggests that the confusion of terms such as genocide, civil war, and insurgency might yield greater consequences than a slap on the wrist for poor word choice.
Minow, Martha. 1999.听. Beacon Press.
Minow prioritizes healing and the restoration of human dignity as the pathway to eliminating the political evil responsible for atrocities against mankind.
Schrag, Calvin. 鈥溾��听in听International Journal for Philosophy of Religion听60 (1/3): 149鈥�156 (2006).
Schrag鈥檚 attempt to comprehend the 鈥淧roblem of Evil,鈥� revolves around a pressing question: 鈥淗ow does that which is other become evil?鈥� In this piece, he examines the intensification of moral evil in our domestic international affairs.
Traub, James. 2008.听听Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
Traub offers a narrative of America鈥檚 effort to promote democracy around the world. While he acknowledges some of the agenda鈥檚 failed attempts, he remains hopeful about America鈥檚 ability to spread liberal democracy in a 鈥渕ore honest, more modest, and more generous鈥� way.
听The Economist. 6 June 2011.
This piece comments on the frequent misuse of the term genocide and explores how we have expanded its definition in order to more easily converse about violence and oppression.
听The Economist. 2 June 2011.
In the same vein, the听Economist听criticizes the overuse of the word genocide, maintaining that it must be reserved to characterize only the most horrific crimes so as to note dilute their severity.
In the News
In his recent Slate article, "," Christopher Hitchens writes that a decade after 9/11, "simply evil" remains the best description and most essential fact about al-Qaida."