Socialism and Pragmatism have had an ambiguous history in the United States. Many historians, theorists, and political activists have considered the two philosophical and reform traditions complementary, while others have considered them fundamentally antagonistic. A previous generation of historians, from James Kloppenberg to Robert Westbrook to David Hollinger, explored this history with depth and insight, but more recently the history of Pragmatism and its connection to socialist and social-democratic politics has diminished. We hope this roundtable will provide the oppurtunity for renewed discussion of this important history. Specifically, we want to spark conversation about a classic question: can we make a socialist politics from the historical tradition of American Pragmatism?

We are interested in exploring this question in historical perspective, but also in light of renewed social-democratic movements in contemporary politics to match the resurgence of authoritarian energy around the globe. What are the prospects for such a question in the 21st century? To this end, we have assembled a roundtable primarily of historians, alongside a political theorist and a contemporary political activist. Pragmatism as a reform philosophy has always been a “living tradition” and has privileged thought in action. Historically, it also provided the foundation for much of the historical discipline’s own method, given the twined birth of the modern historical discipline in U.S. universities with classical Pragmatism in the late 19^th century. We hope to have a multilayered conversation about the history of Pragmatism, Pragmatism in history, and historical work as pragmatic political action.

Our aim more specifically is to map out the makings of a socialist-pragmatism tradition from the 19th century to today—ending with contemporary political activism. Francis Russo (History, Univ. of Penn.) will sketch out an origin story for American Pragmatism in the utopian socialist reform movements within the U.S. in the 1820s-40s. Daniel Judt (History, Yale) will revisit the classic Marxist/Pragmatism debates of the 1920s-30s and tie them to later efforts to fuse Marxism and Pragmatism across the 20th century. Casey Eilbert (History, Princeton) will trace the evolution of discourses about means and ends in the politics of bureaucracy that eclipsed the Pragmatist paradigm in the mid-20^th century. Larry Cohen (Chairman, “Our Revolution”) will reflect on the importance of “pragmatic socialism” on the American left today, drawing on his experiences as a veteran union leader and political activist. Loren Goldman (Political Science, Univ. of Penn.) will act as discussant and reflect on the status of Pragmatism and Marxism in contemporary political theory.

Our intended audience for this roundtable include intellectual, social, and political historians of the 19th, 20th, and 21st century United States, as well as those broadly interested in history’s application to contemporary political life, the history of leftist political thought and action, and the history of ideas in interdisciplinary perspective.