Reforming the Nation offers a bold message of political hope in a time of pessimism and despair, using the lessons of the past to chart a new way forward.
The United States is more divided than ever, torn apart by entrenched narratives that separate the righteous “us” from the evil and corrupt “them,” often along partisan, religious, and racial lines. Many point to populist rhetoric as a major source of current hostility.But for Michael J. Elozi, the solution may be in an alternative and optimistic version of populism; a populist narrative that seeks to heal the rift and unite people of different political and social orientations. He argues that these “reform narratives” offer a way to reclaim the promise of “we the people.”In response to Trumpism, many scholars have drawn on political theories of democracy and universality to provide the intellectual basis for the reactions of the left to the political right. But Elozi argues that those who reject the mantra of “Make America Great Again” do not need a new opposition theory as much as they need a better narrative of what brings people together.To tell this story, Elozie turns to the champions of political reconciliation, activism, and organizing in U.S. history: Abraham Lincoln, Social Gospel Mayor Samuel Jones, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Rainbow Coalition for Fred Hampton, the Black Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter movement, and the New Poor Campaign under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Rev.Dr. William Barber II. This tradition uses “stories of the prophetic people's restoration” to bring people together, highlighting the way religious rhetoric often acts as a connecting force for social reform.As trust in our political institutions declines, charismatic authoritarian leaders exploit the stories of their hated enemies to enrage people and persuade them to accept increasingly violent and illegal authoritarian practices. The question is: Can narratives that correct prevailing concepts, reject the idea of the superiority of “us” and dehumanize “them”, offer an attractive alternative capable of changing our political future?
Reforming the Nation shows that such stories have worked in the past - and perhaps they can work again.
