(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Cornel West (born 1953) is today considered one of America's most central public debaters. He has been described as "the foremost African-American intellectual of his generation." On a daily basis, he works at Harvard University, where he is a professor of philosophy of religion and African-American studies. Although his book Race Matters has sold more than 400,000 copies, he is virtually unknown in Norway, and a presentation may be in order.
Background
Cornel West was born in Oklahoma, and is influenced by the African-American community in his hometown. His grandfather was a Baptist pastor, and he comes from a Christian family. This has led West to speak of his family and Christianity as an important background for his thinking: “The most important influence in my life has not been my academic life or political organizations, but my closely intertwined family and overlapping communities of church and friends. ” He emphasizes Christianity's focus on humility and charity, while at the same time being marked by Marxist-inspired social criticism and activism. He came to Harvard University as a student in 1970. During his studies he participated in idealistic work and immersed himself in philosophy and not least black thought. Eventually, he received his doctorate in philosophy from Princeton in 1980, followed by various teaching positions, and a radical writing career.
Prophetic intellectual
West is a prolific author who has put his name to 15 books and a number of articles in magazines and journals. He is not a desk philosopher, but a kind of philosophical activist who tries to reform society and work for the rights of minorities. He writes: "the existential search for meaning and the political struggle for freedom are at the center of my thinking". Inspired by Kafka and Russian novelists, he is a thinker who wants to take suffering seriously, and who seeks to give a correct description of human life. Thus he says that “to be an intellectual is to speak a truth that allows suffering to speak. That is, to create a vision of the world that draws attention to the social misery that is hidden or underpinned by the dominant view of society. ” This is how West appears as a cultural critic and thinker who dares to put the social and existential problems on the agenda. What he wants is a society with more equality and less racism.
His doctoral dissertation was about Marx, and West argues that Marxist theory is indispensable for anyone who wants to fight for freedom. He believes that Marxism as a tool of analysis is more important today than before the fall of communism in the Soviet Union. This is according to West because Marx was concerned with injustice associated with the fact that some political and economic elites sat with disproportionately large privileges, which one also finds today. West is critical of the major economic differences that exist both internally in the United States and globally today, and claims that in the United States today there is a parallel between class differences and race differences.
For West, Marxism becomes a tool for analyzing the social and economic inequalities in society. At the same time, he does not consider himself a Marxist, but as a Christian socialist. He argues that Christianity as well as black music speak of existential and more personal aspects of human life such as love, suffering, joy and friendship, and that these are themes of Marxism neglected.
West calls himself a "prophetic freedom fighter". The Prophets in the Old Testament were people who came forward with criticism of society and visions of how society could be. West adopts this idea, and develops the idea of intellectuals working for social transformation. "Prophetic" does not mean in this context that the "prophet" in question has received a supernatural message, but refers to social criticism that takes the side of the weak and that points to a possible new future. The African-American author Toni Morrison is one of his examples of a prophetic intellectual. She is a writer who addresses racism and social distress, while at the same time presenting a vision of the possibilities for a better society. West's ideal is to criticize evil and cynical aspects of society, and to work visionarily and constructively for a better world. He therefore says that his philosophy is not an abstract discipline, but a polemical tool for reaching human potential and improving democracy.
Anti-racism
West, however, is primarily known for his fight against racism. These days he is currently working on a rap / hip hop CD entitled Sketches of My Culture. Here he sings lyrics about African-American activists like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, and about hope for the blacks in the United States. Among West's research interests is the black urban underclass, and he has followed up with lecturing activities for poor city youth in the United States. At a high school in a busy neighborhood he visited, 30 percent of students had tried to take their own lives, and 70 percent engaged in drugs, and these are the realities West is trying to change. He has participated in work for a better relationship between Jews and African-American citizens in the United States, and the slogan here is "let the healing begin" ("let the healing begin"). Cornel West has designed a black theology, and preaches in churches with black members. His fight against racism appears to be relevant in Norway today because we are getting more and more immigrants and after the racist murder of Holmlia experienced a massive mobilization against racism.
The bestseller Race Matters is probably West's most important contribution in the fight against racism. In the preface to the book, he tells how he was stopped by the police while driving to a lecture. He told the police officer that he was a professor of religion, to which the police officer replied: “Yes, and I am a flying nun. Let's go nigger! ” Racism is still a problem in the United States. West believes there are two basic aspects of what he calls the "black America crisis": too much poverty and too little self-esteem. West blames the market economy and its influence on culture for the situation as it is. The inequality between rich and poor must be counteracted, and American society must be cured of its "historical amnesia", ie not forgetting the abuses and discriminatory practices of the past. At the same time, West believes that there are deep problems on the personal and existential level of many African Americans. West talks in Race Matters about "black nihilism", ie the despair, meaninglessness and lovelessness of many poor African Americans. For West, this is a fundamental aspect of the analysis of racial problems in the United States today, and he sees black nihilism as a disease that must be cured.
The Blacks today lack leadership traditions and environments that form a critical awareness of what is still a racist society, as well as being victims of a commercialized economy and culture. While Martin Luther King Jr. was a dissident who wanted to make a difference in society, West in Race Matters argues that many of today's black leaders today are investing in their own careers. He believes black intellectual leaders in the United States are needed, and that African Americans need to organize themselves to create alternatives to market values and actively work against the black nihilism that exists today.
Vain?
Like everyone else, Cornel West can be criticized. Leon Wieseltier has criticized West New magazine for being vain. He seems to have a special humility in him that he always enters into dialogue even with his opponents, and shows respect for those who have a different view than himself. But at the same time he can also occasionally refer to himself with great superlatives. He has been accused of being "a sea wide, and an inch deep." He embraces many topics and some will say that his work does not go into enough detail.
But just this breadth of his writing has made him one of the foremost dissidents in America today. His writing business embraces pop music, nihilism, American philosophy, social criticism, racism, a book on the parental role today and more. He has appeared in Oprah Winfrey's talk show and gives lectures in many different contexts.
No matter what you think of West, it is clear that he is characterized by tremendous creativity and passion. Cornel West is on the field and has come to stay.
