Andrew Seal, Author at Public Seminar

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The New History of Capitalism

And what it owes to poststructuralism

January 9, 2019 • by Andrew Seal

Where did the new history of capitalism come from? I would like to break from the common sense narrative and argue that the new history of capitalism should not be understood as rooted in or as a response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Certainly the crisis drew attention to the field ...

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The Moral Reader and the Moral Life

Exploring Timothy Aubry’s essay, ‘Should studying literature be fun?’

December 20, 2018 • by Andrew Seal

Earlier this month, English professor Timothy Aubry published an essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education Review with the rather querulous title “Should Studying Literature Be Fun?” The essay was a kind of précis (as far as I can tell) of his new book Guilty Aesthetic Pleasures. I have not been able to read the ...

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Progressives and the Court

A Response to Samuel Moyn’s “Resisting the Juristocracy”

October 18, 2018 • by Andrew Seal

There’s an old saying among lawyers: When you have the facts on your side, pound on the facts. When you have the law on your side, pound on the law. When you have neither, pound on the table. At first glance, that seems to be Samuel Moyn’s counsel in a widely shared Boston ...

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The Political Chill of Snow

Anti-Semitism, Populism, and the Present

March 25, 2018 • by Andrew Seal

In New Hampshire -- where I live -- decisions to cancel classes are based more on what time the snow stops falling rather than how much snow is expected to fall. If it stops early enough the night before, school will be open the next day, whether the snow gauge ...

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The Controversy Over Democracy in Chains

A Review Essay

July 18, 2017 • by Andrew Seal

You may be aware that the new book by Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (Viking, 2017) has received a lot of notice over the past week or two. Some of this notice has been very positive, but much more has been ...