This thesis focuses on the rise to prominence, during the 1980s and 1990s, of a coterie of African American intellectuals associated with the powerful networks and institutions of the New Right. It situates the relatively marginalised phenomenon of contemporary black conservatism within its historical context; explores the nature and significance of the racial discourse it has generated; and probes the intellectual character of the individuals whose contributions to this strand of black thought have stood out over the past three decades. Engaging the writings of the major black conservative figures and the literature of their supporters and critics, I then evaluate their ideas in relation to the key debates concerning race and class in American life debates that have centred, for the most part, on the vexed issues of affirmative action, poverty and public education. In illuminating this complex, still largely misunderstood phenomenon, this thesis reveals the black conservatives as more than a group but as individuals with their own distinctive arguments.

Thesis (M. A.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Peter Garretson, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept.14, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vi,142 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 transformed the way in which Americans and their leaders viewed the world. The tragic events of that day helped give rise to a foreign policy strategy commonly referred to as the “Bush Doctrine.” At the heart of this doctrine lay a series of propositions about the need to foster liberal democracy as the antidote to terrorism. President George W. Bush proclaimed in a variety of addresses that democracy now represented the “single surviving model” of political life to which all people aspired. In the course of making this argument, President Bush seemed to relate his policies to an overarching “teleology” of progress. This discourse implied that the United States might use force to hasten the emergence of liberal norms and institutions in selected states. With a sense of irony, some commentators soon referred to the Bush administration’s position as “Leninist” because of its determination to bring about the so-called “end of history” today. Yet, surprisingly, these critics had little more to add. This thesis is an attempt to assess in greater depth the Bush administration’s claim to comprehend historical eschatology. Developing a concept termed “democratic vanguardism,” this study investigates the idea of liberal modernity, the role of the United States as a force for democracy, and the implications of using military intervention in the service of idealistic ends. It examines disputes among political theorists, public intellectuals and elected statesmen which help to enrich our understanding of the United States’ efforts under President Bush at bending history to its will.

This thesis offers a new policy history of the National Endowment for the Arts, the federal agency responsible for providing grants to artists and arts organisations in the United States. It focuses in particular on the development of conservative perspectives on federal arts funding from the 1950s to the 1980s, and hence, illuminates the broader evolution of conservative political power, especially its limits. The most familiar narrative holds that the Endowment found itself caught up in the Culture Wars of the late 1980s when Christian right groups objected to certain federal grants, particularly to Andres Serrano's Piss Christ and Robert Mapplethorpe's Self-Portrait with Whip. This thesis, however, uncovers the older origins of conservative opposition to state support for the arts, analyses conservative conceptions of art, and illuminates the limited federal role the right sought to secure in the arts in the post-war period. Numerous studies have analysed the meanings and origins of the Culture Wars, but until now, scholars had not examined conservative approaches to federal arts politics in a historical sense. Historians have generally been too interested in explaining change to the detriment of examining continuity, but this approach under-emphasises the long-term tensions that underlie seemingly sudden political eruptions. This work also offers a deep account of the conservative movement and the arts world, an area that has so far been almost completely ignored by scholars, even though a focus on marginalised players is essential to understanding the limits of conservatism. In a general sense then, this thesis evaluates the range and diversity of the conservative movement and illuminates the overall odyssey of the right in modern America. In so doing, it provides a new insight into the ways we periodise political history and also invites a broader view of how we understand politics itself.

Orientadores: Reginaldo Carmello de Moraes, Armando Boito Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T13:17:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Assis_Lucianode_M.pdf: 3678413 bytes, checksum: e82a69904f5cf6f20e88b07834923ef2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: o objetivo geral da presente dissertação de mestrado é explorar a ideologia política individualista contemporânea em busca de seus pressupostos, matrizes e fluxos lógicos. Para tanto assumimos o objetivo específico de sintetizar algumas das teses favoráveis ao recuo da intervenção social do Estado, recolocadas no debate político nos EUA, nas décadas de 1970 e 1980.Propostas por autores contemporâneos entre si, e por vezes conterrâneos - novayorkinos -, as teses sobre as quais nos debruçamos estão associadas em geral ao que se convencionou chamar de neoliberalismo, e de modo mais circunscrito, ao termo neoconservadorismo. Empreendemos, portanto, uma ,síntesedas idéias deste grupo sobre o papel do Estado, precedido por uma breve localização histórica do debate. Ao final do presente trabalho propomos alguns pontos de partida para futuras pesquisas que visem o avanço na compreensão dos objetivos gerais propostos acima / Abstract: The general purpose of this research is to explore the contemporary individualístic polítical ideology, to finally undertake they bases and logical fluxoTherefore was assumed as specific issue, the synthesis of some thesis that criticizes the social State (Govemment) interferences, disputed in USA, on 1970 and 1980 decades. Them authors, in general contemporaries and neighbors - citizens ofNew York City of cited decades- produced thesis associated with the term neo-liberalísm, in general, and with neo-conservatism, more precisely. In sum, was made a synthesis ofthe main idea about the social role ofthe State (Govemment), preceded by a briefhistoricallocalization ofthe debate. Finally, at the end ofthis work, was presented some hypothesis and virtual interpretation ofthis intellectual movement, as an initial starting point to other researches / Mestrado / Ciencia Politica / Mestre em Ciência Política