Roundtable on New Genealogies of Pragmatism: Materialist Influences, Institution Builders, Hands-on Work

Nearly four decades ago, in The American Evasion of Philosophy, Cornel West offered a novel genealogy of American pragmatism. This roundtable builds on that tradition, inviting submissions that further expand our understanding of the origins and development of pragmatist thought. We are particularly interested in contributions that are attentive to the material conditions from which pragmatist ways of thinking arose. Did CS Peirce’s poverty in later life influence his writings on pragmaticism (particularly his emphasis on experiment)? How did ideals of agrarian return to the land and communion with nature shape the proto-pragmatism of Thoreau and Emerson (or how did their relative privilege affect the practical implementation of those ideals). Can such analysis help us identify underappreciated pragmatic thinkers and doers?--people like Booker T. Washington or Anna Julia Cooper, whose material realities, very much related to taken lands, spurred them to do meaningful hands-on and institution building work.