Humanities for the Interregnum

Hey There, ‘Communitarian Revolutionary Subject’ Texting in My Class

Abstract

The under-appreciated problem that this article addresses is a lack of widespread contemporary theory for Community Change Studies in dialogue with the Humanities. There are many articles, textbooks and trainings that take on “how to” organize, social movements, and educational theory. But there is little contemporary theory of how, in specific, the humanities contribute to, and are problematic for, a community change subjectivity, a “revolutionary consciousness.” This article addresses that problem through a grounded theory, participatory approach. Through an examination of practices in a U.S. community college and public university network that credentials many Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant and low- and moderate-income community organizers, a framework of cross-cutting praxes is developed. Finally, brief implications are offered for “organizing curious” college and university faculty in the humanities.