en.wikipedia.org

Anne Norton - Wikipedia

  • ️Sat Dec 30 2023

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anne Norton

Born1954
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Chicago (BA, PhD)
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania, University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, University of Texas at Austin.

Anne Norton (born 1954) is an American political scientist and a Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Norton studied political theory at the University of Chicago where she completed her BA and later her PhD in 1982.[1][2] She has held academic positions at University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, and The University of Texas at Austin. Since 1993, she has been a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania.[2]

Norton's central intellectual interest has been the meaning and consequences of political identity. She has explored this theme in two books on American politics and one on the concept of political identity itself, drawing on work in the areas of anthropology and semiotics (Norton 1986, 1993, 1988). She has also written a wide-ranging critique of the current practice of the social sciences, particularly political science (Norton, 2004).

In a 1995 essay,[3] Norton criticizes Hannah Arendt's writing about Africans and African-Americans.[4][5][6] She states: "Arendt gave a voice to the Boer. She left the African silent.”[6][4][7]

While Norton was a student at the University of Chicago, she encountered many Straussians, i.e. people who were influenced by the ideas of the university's former professor Leo Strauss.[1][8] In Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire (2004), Norton writes about Strauss's impact on neoconservatives,[1][9] alleging that many have misapplied his ideas,[10] particularly in regards to US foreign policy towards Iraq and Israel.[8][11] Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. praised the book as an accurate account of the intellectual origins of US foreign policy,[11] while Charles Butterworth and Clifford Orwin wrote that the book misinterprets Strauss's ideas.[12][8]

In her book On the Muslim Question (2013), Norton writes about Western societies' debate regarding how to treat Muslims and compares it to their debate about how to treat Jews in the 19th century.[13][14] Norton criticizes the idea that Islam and the West are engaged in a "Clash of Civilizations" and unable to co-exist.[15][16] According to anthropologist Lawrence Rosen, Norton's book provides an insufficient proposal for how Western societies should address their differences with Muslims.[15] Elsewhere, Norton has credited discrimination and state violence with contributing to violent acts committed by some Muslims.[17]

In 2021, Norton's student Mackenzie Fierceton was investigated by the university for misrepresenting her family background in her Rhodes Scholarship application. Norton supported Fierceton throughout the investigation and criticized the university's treatment of Fierceton, alleging that it had defamed and harmed her.[18][19]

During the Gaza war protests, Norton was named in a letter to the University of Pennsylvania administration from 200 alumni. The letter asked that Norton and seven other professors be investigated for anti-semitism. Norton tweeted: "Those who accuse me of antisemitism rely on — and perpetuate — a complete erasure of Palestinians".[20]

Selected Publications

[edit]

  • Wild Democracy: Anarchy, Courage, and Ruling the Law, Oxford University Press, 2023.
  • On the Muslim Question. Princeton University Press, 2013.
  • Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire. Yale University Press, 2004.[21][22]
  • Reflections on Political Identity Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988.
  • Alternative Americas University of Chicago Press, 1986.
  • Republic of Signs University of Chicago Press, 1993.
  • Bloodrites of the Poststructuralists Routledge, 2003.
  • 95 Theses on Politics, Culture & Method Yale University Press, 2004.
  • Review of The Persistence of the Palestinian Question: Essays on Zionism and the Palestinians, by Joseph A. Massad. Journal of Palestine Studies, 36, no. 2 (2007): 89–90. doi:10.1525/jps.2007.36.2.89
  • "Heart of Darkness: Africa and African Americans in the Writings of Hannah Arendt". In Honig, Bonnie (ed.) Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0-271-01446-3
  • “Gender, Sexuality and the Iraq of Our Imagination.” Middle East Report, no. 173 (1991): 26–28. doi:10.2307/3012628
  1. ^ a b c "Rewilding Democracy: On Anne Norton's "Wild Democracy"". Los Angeles Review of Books. 2023-12-30. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  2. ^ a b "Norton, Kohli Named as Program Co-Chairs for 100th Annual Meeting". PS: Political Science & Politics. 36 (1): 111. January 2003. doi:10.1017/S1049096503001835. ISSN 1537-5935.
  3. ^ Norton, Anne (1995). "Heart of Darkness: Africa and African Americans in the Writings of Hannah Arendt". In Honig, Bonnie (ed.). Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 247–261. ISBN 978-0-271-01446-3.
  4. ^ a b Owens, Patricia (2017-06-01). "Racism in the Theory Canon: Hannah Arendt and 'the One Great Crime in Which America Was Never Involved'". Millennium. 45 (3): 403–424. doi:10.1177/0305829817695880. ISSN 0305-8298.
  5. ^ Isaac, Jeffery C. (Sep 1996). "Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt". The American Political Science Review. 90 (3). ProQuest 214434123.
  6. ^ a b Klausen, Jimmy Casas (2010). "Hannah Arendt's Antiprimitivism". Political Theory. 38 (3): 394–423. doi:10.1177/0090591709359594. ISSN 0090-5917. JSTOR 25704822.
  7. ^ Benhabib, Seyla (2003-07-01). "The Public Sphere and Totalitarianism". The Reluctant Modernism of Hannah Arendt. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 85–86. ISBN 978-1-4616-4541-2.
  8. ^ a b c Orwin, Clifford (Spring 2005). "The Straussians are Coming!". Claremont Review of Books. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  9. ^ George, Larry N. (2006). "Review of Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire". Political Theory. 34 (3): 401–408. doi:10.1177/0090591705284143. ISSN 0090-5917. JSTOR 20452468.
  10. ^ Altschuler, Glenn C. (2004-11-01). "Ivory Tower vs. Seat of Power: Leo Strauss and the Straussians". Observer. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  11. ^ a b Schlesinger, Arthur (2004-09-23). "The Making of a Mess". The New York Review of Books. Vol. 51, no. 14. ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  12. ^ Butterworth, Charles E. (Fall 2005). "Leo Strauss: Philosopher and Neither Straussian nor Imperialist Reflections on Anne Norton Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire" (PDF). The MIT Electronic Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: 80–83.
  13. ^ Kalin, Ibrahim. "Europe's 'Muslim question' and the new secular crusade". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  14. ^ ON THE MUSLIM QUESTION. Kirkus Reviews. 2012-12-12.
  15. ^ a b Rosen, Lawrence (2013-05-10). "On the Muslim Question by Anne Norton – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  16. ^ Ahsen, Shabbir (2014). "On the Muslim Question by Anne Norton (review)". Philosophy East and West. 64 (3): 800–802. doi:10.1353/pew.2014.0044. ISSN 1529-1898.
  17. ^ Al-Arian, Ali (2016-01-19). "Why Western attempts to moderate Islam are dangerous". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  18. ^ Aviv, Rachel (2022-03-28). "How an Ivy League School Turned Against a Student". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
  19. ^ Bartlett, Tom (2022-01-07). "Her University Celebrated Her Inspiring Story. Then It Started Asking Questions". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
  20. ^ Snyder, Susan (2024-04-23). "Penn leaders plan 'listening session' as campus unrest escalates nationally over Gaza-Israel conflict". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
  21. ^ Costopoulos, James. "Anne Norton and the 'Straussian' Cabal: How Not to Write a Book: Review of Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire" (PDF). Interpretation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-21.
  22. ^ Schaefer, David Lewis. "The Ass and the Lion: Anne Norton, Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire: Review of Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire" (PDF). Interpretation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-21.