Interpreting the Marianne Williamson Presidential Phenomenon: "Flakey" Problem
Date
2021-01-21
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Abstract
With the recent publication by Fisher (2020) of The Marianne Williamson Presidential Phenomenon: Cultural (R)Evolution in a Dangerous Time, the author has noticed patterns of critiques against Williamson and her work, of which are often exaggeratedly mis-placed, stereotypic, and dismissive. In this paper he argues there are more important lessons to learn from her work in order to undermine the critics’ formation of ‘the Other’ in regard to who she is and what she has to offer democracy today and in the future. The labelling of “flakey” is one such criticism that negatively circulates and persists. The author gives examples of this criticism and analyzes how it is oppressive in itself, that is, if there isn’t more than just that label being applied. He also shows how Williamson has responded to this criticism (the author calls, a form of intellectual supremacy) and in some ways she has fed into it. If we want to improve how we relate to each other as all having something to offer to the political sphere, while remaining critical in a healthy civil sense, this paper will demonstrate how to re-vise such labelling and its un-useful results.
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Keywords
fear, fearlessness, In Search of Fearlessness Project, American politics, history, education
Citation
Fisher, R. M. (2021). Interpreting the Marianne Williamson Presidential Phenomenon: "Flakey" Problem. "In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute, technical paper No. 118". pp. 1-21.