Monday, February 16, 2009

Reformation versus Transformation?

Of late, we've seen a resurgence on the political left of the term "progressive."  This I've found problematic, in no small part because even during the so-called Progressive Era, there was no single progressivism, but many (often contradictory) progressivisms.  Nate Silver suggests we distinguish between two strains of modern progressivism -- the rational and the radical.  In some ways, he's really reaching back to an older distinction between urban progressivism and rural populism, but there's more at work here.  I find a lot to argue with in his formulation, but you should click through and read his post.  His summary chart below.


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