Activism vs. Intellectual Work

[Leo Casey]

I generally find myself in strong agreement with
Nathan, but I think he is off target on this issue.
This is a classic problem of balance, of how to avoid
ungrounded, useless theorizing, on the one hand, and
mindless, useless activism, on the other hand. It is,
of course, a helluva lot easier to talk about the
unity of theory and practice then it is to bring into
being, especially in social contexts that millitate
against it. I have spent most of my life trying to
figure out how to balance the two in it, and I have
never been able to find a position where I could do to
my satisfaction. But to elevate activism over
intellectual work in some general way, as Nathan seems
to do, is to run the risk of feeding into an
anti-intellectualism which is characteristically
American. In this particular national context, I just
don't think that useless intellectual work is the
major danger we face.

Leo Casey
United Federation of Teachers
260 Park Avenue South
New York, New York 10010 212-=598-6869

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Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never has and it never will.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who eant crops without plowing the ground. They want run without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass

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