Mark Weiner's "The Paradox of Modern Individualism"
(2014) provides still more observations about the significance of the clan
form. This article appears in an issue of the journal Cato Unbound, along with three review articles by other Cato-related
authors. Weiner's article, plus the review articles, all focus on how and why
living under clan rule, versus living under government rule, can alter the
prospects for individualism versus collectivism.
• Here Weiner reinforces his theme that government rule
benefits individual freedom:
"As I argue in my recent book The Rule of the Clan, among its
important benefits, a strong central state provides the most effective means to
ensure that persons are treated as individuals, not merely as cousins. In its
absence, people are forced to look to other institutions to address their
social and legal problems, and the most enduring such organization in human
history is the extended family, the clan — for which group loyalty trumps individual
rights.
"… Clan organization is now
capable of taking a variety of new forms beyond traditional kinship
associations, which underscores the fact that individuals must claim their
freedom not only against the state, but also through it."
• Here Weiner reiterates what he means by "rule of the
clan":
"First, and most prominently,
by the rule of the clan I mean the legal institutions and cultural values of
societies organized primarily on the basis of kinship —
"Second, by the rule of the
clan I mean the political arrangements of societies governed by what the U.N.’s
2004 Arab Human Development Report calls “clannism.” These societies possess
the outward trappings of a modern state but are founded on informal patronage
networks, especially those of kinship, and on traditional ideals of patriarchal
family authority.
"Third, and most broadly, by
the rule of the clan I mean the antiliberal social and legal organizations that
tend to grow in the absence of state authority or when the state is weak,
including in modern democracies where the writ of government fails to run.
These groups include associations dedicated to unlawful activity, such as petty
criminal gangs, the Mafia, and international crime syndicates, such as the drug
gangs of Mexico — which in their cultural markers of solidarity, their lack of
opportunity for exit, and their feuding patterns look and act a great deal like
traditional clans. Today racial identity groups and multinational corporations
have the potential to transform into similar clanlike systems."
•. Here Weiner explains in more depth the paradox he sees
for individualism in the context of the clan versus the state, assuming a state
performs effectively:
"In this respect, modern
individualism rests on a paradox. For persons to be treated as individuals, and
for clans to become clubs, we require the state. If modern individualism is to
survive, society needs effective government institutions dedicated to advancing
the substantive end of personal autonomy. The state I have in mind need not be
centralized (I am personally a strong supporter of federalism in the American
context), but it must at all levels be dedicated to vindicating the public
interest, defined as policies most citizens would rationally support regardless
of their position within society at any given moment.
"Equally, to maintain its
legitimacy, government must seek to address the needs that the rule of the clan
meets far more directly. It must pursue policies that moderate economic
inequality; it must provide a space for the flourishing of voluntary civil
society organizations that provide opportunities for solidarity; and it must
ensure that individuals have fair opportunities to exercise their autonomy
within the marketplace and that they can effectively navigate the host of
bureaucratic state institutions that provide the conditions of modern
life."
There is surely much more material in Weiner's book, but
I've not read it yet. Anyway, this completes my effort to provide two supplements to the major reading (#15) about Weiner's sterling writings about clans and clannism.
To read for yourself, go here:
https://www.cato-unbound.org/2014/03/10/mark-s-weiner/paradox-modern-individualism
[I posted an earlier write-up of this reading on my Facebook
page, on July 25.]
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