Tinkering with the ‘Temple of Science’
While the expanding literature on populism highlights many reasons for the rise of the new politics of anger and resentment, David Ricci, former chair of the department of American Studies and Political Science at Hebrew University, focuses on economic factors, in particular the distorting impact of neoliberalism and the acceptance of market-driven forms of “creative destruction” by mainstream economists.
Part advocacy, part analysis, Ricci’s elegant work critiques the over-specialization of academic life.
This he frames as a “Temple of Science” in which individual disciplines are isolated as separate pillars and in which only economics (with a misplaced sense of scientific, quantitative rigor) appears to provide a superstructure or roof to allow for effective policy solutions. In contrast, Ricci argues that political science, based both on qualitative analysis and engagement with public life, is better placed to respond to the populist challenge. The solution is to engage with the substantive and procedural aspects of political life, to question the dominant view of the individual as a rational economic actor, to look for collective, historical and philosophically informed alternatives to neoliberal capitalism, and above all to develop compelling narratives in favor of policy reforms consistent with traditional American political (not economic) liberalism. Ricci offers a moderate manifesto for change, persuasively challenging many mainstream assumptions of public discourse.
Kim’s casestudy approach, offers a nuanced and valuable reading of trilateralism.
Global Asia.