Ep. 27: Decentralization, Localism, and Mutual Aid: The Thought of Robert Nisbet
Feb 19, 2021
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Explore Robert Nisbet's perspectives on decentralization, authority, and community. Discuss the impact of political centralization and the decline of traditional sources of authority. Delve into the influence of family power dynamics, war, and centralization. Contrast Nisbet's views on individualism with Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. Analyze the significance of social capital in historical and contemporary societies. Examine the influence of associations on societal values and the importance of local politics and civil society.
Robert Nisbet highlights the decline of community due to the centralization of state authority, leading to a quest for communal structures in modern society.
Nisbet discusses the waning of diverse forms of authority beyond politics, emphasizing the negative impact of centralized state power on social bonds and individual behavior.
Nisbet contrasts individualist ideologies with the necessity of community interactions, warning against unchecked individualism and advocating for a restoration of traditional authorities through decentralization and functional autonomy.
Deep dives
Robert Nisbet's Key Ideas on the Decline of Community
One of the central themes in Robert Nisbet's work is the decline of community since the medieval period. He emphasizes that modern life exhibits a quest for community due to the breakdown of traditional communal structures. Nisbet discusses how societal movements, such as national movements and communal experiments like the communes of the 1970s, reflect this yearning for community. He attributes the breakdown of community to factors like the centralization of authority within the state, which led to the weakening of social bonds and the absorption of traditional community functions by the state.
Robert Nisbet's Insights on the Waning of Authority
Nisbet highlights the waning of authority, not just political but also non-political forms, as a significant societal trend. He observes a shift towards increased centralization of state power, resulting in the disappearance of diverse forms of authority like kinship, community, family, and church. Nisbet explains the negative impact of this centralization on social bonds and the diminishing presence of authoritative structures that once shaped individual behavior and societal norms.
Robert Nisbet's Perspectives on Individualism and Social Change
Nisbet critically examines the rise of individualism and its profound influence on societal transformations. He contrasts his views with prominent individualist thinkers like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, emphasizing that true human interactions are within the context of various associations and communities rather than isolated individuals. Moreover, Nisbet delves into the effects of the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, highlighting how these historical events reshaped social structures, labor conditions, property ownership, and urban environments, leading to a complex interplay between individualism, centralization, and societal change.
The Influence of the French Revolution
The podcast discusses how the French Revolution sparked a conservative critique of industrialism, focusing on thinkers like Burke. Burke's concerns about the erosion of property rights and the complexities of human nature highlighted the conservative response to the abstraction and radical changes brought about by the revolution. The effects of the French Revolution, as pointed out by Tocqueville and Nisbet, led to a shift towards individualization, abstraction, and generalization, reshaping societal norms and structures.
Community, Authority, and Individualism
The podcast delves into Nisbet's key concepts of individualism and centralization, highlighting the interconnectedness between the two. Nisbet, influenced by Burke and Tocqueville, emphasizes the importance of balancing individual responsibility and political centralization. He warns against the dangers of unchecked individualism leading to increased state power and the erosion of traditional associations like family, church, and local communities. Nisbet advocates for a restoration of authority through functional autonomy, decentralization, hierarchy, and tradition to counter the trends of unitary political communities and promote pluralism.
This episode features a lecture of mine from 2011 on the thought of Robert Nisbet. Nisbet is an important figure and his thought is very relevant to our time. I discuss the main themes of his work on community, authority, social change, and more.
