Who’s Afraid of Politics? On the Need to Teach Political Engagement

“[K]nowledge is already political, and it is our task... to make that explicit, in order to take responsibility for how it is political.”—Elizabeth Minnich on John Dewey “I’ve learned very much about how important I person-ally am to this democracy. Everything that needs to be done starts with one person and the organization of ordinary people. I have become increasingly aware that if I don’t do something personally about a problem I care about, nothing may ever get done.”—Chris Manor, student in “Reclaiming Democracy” IntroductionT here is a crisis in the political body today and we, as pro-fessors at institutions of higher education, share respon-sibility for it. The crisis of which we speak is widespread cynicism, inaction, and disengagement from the political realm and from political processes. While bemoaning students ’ political apathy, individualism, and obedience in the name of grades, we rarely ask about our role in this state of affairs. Dare we admit tha