Michele Moody-Adams, "Making Space for Justice: Social Movements, Collective Imagination, and Political Hope" (Columbia UP, 2022)
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What is the main focus of Michele Moody‑Adams’ new book?
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Hello, thanks for joining us for this episode of New Books in Philosophy, which is part of the New Books Network. I'm Robert Talise, I am professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co-host this program with Carrie Figder, Malcolm Keating, and Sarah Tyson. Today, my guest is Michelle Moody Adams. Michelle is Joseph Strauss Professor of Political Philosophy and Legal Theory at Columbia University. Professor Moody Adams is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on normative issues and political, moral, legal theory. Her new book, which has just been published with Columbia University Press, is titled Making Space for Justice Social Movements, Collective Imagination, and Political Hope.
Now, a standard way of proceeding in political philosophy is to begin with some formal conceptual inquiry. We might first try to figure out what justice, equality, autonomy, or freedom are, and then we may eventually begin thinking about how these goods might be pursued and achieved under real-world conditions. On this approach, although social activism is perhaps a necessary is perhaps necessary to counteract the worst kinds of social deprivation, it's almost always regarded as premature from the point of view of philosophy, because we're still debating what justice is. Efforts to bring about justice are risky. На Макьезфіс, Мишел Моді Адамс травила диффер. She begins by looking at social movements and argues that they not only can teach us about what justice is, but that they often play a necessary role in clarifying normative concepts like justice.
So as usual, there's a lot to talk about. But why don't we begin as we normally do with our guest? Good morning, Michelle.
Good morning, Bob. Thank you for inviting me. I really appreciate the chance to talk about making space for justice.
Well, wonderful. I I really enjoyed reading the book. Um You know, we usually begin these interviews uh with uh asking the author to uh to share a little bit uh uh uh about uh him or herself. So can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Absolutely. So I'll start by t telling you something about a poem that was very influential in shaping my understanding of what I do in philosophy. It's a poem called Sometimes by the poet Mary Oliver. a passage in which she offers what she calls instructions for living. And they come down to three. First is pay attention be astonished and then tell about it. And I ha I have to say I think of myself as fortunate for having had an upbringing that gave me the gift of wonder, the capacity really to be astonished that Oliver's talking about and to hold on to that sense of wonder even in times of challenge.
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