Who, We?

• Author: Hugh T. Miller
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399704272403
• Published date: 01 March 2005
• Date: 01 March 2005
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/0095399704272403ADMINISTRATION & SOCIETY / March 2005Miller / WHO, WE?

Disputatio Sine Fine

WHO, WE?

HUGH T. MILLER

Florida Atlantic University

It was unsettling to see laid out so starkly where the critical humanist val-

ues that I myself have long embraced may be headed. For me, Kelly

Campbell’s (2005) article calls into question the bold and hopeful, yet

sometimes naïve, aspirations of applied humanism.

The idea that bureaucratic functionaries are going to serve as agents of

citizen transformation did not seem to me like a viable policy proposal,

but did inspire an offbeat daydream. Imagine if such a program were put

into place.

The transformation of disengaged people into authentic citizens would

be privatizedat the first opportunity, turned over to faith-based institutions

most likely. Religious groups and nonprofit organizations would clamor

for their piece of the action, and, assuming a suddenly burgeoning knowl-

edge base regarding the processes and techniques of citizen transforma-

tion, headlines such as this one in Sun-Sentinel, Faith & Community sec-

tion, would become commonplace: “Women Empowered at Seminar,”

declared the bold-faced headline (Volz, 2004). The seminar was prima

110

EDITOR’SNOTE: The following are responses to Kelly Campbell’sarticle “Theorizing the

Authentic: Identity, Engagement, and Public Space” published in January, 2005. We hope

that these responses will motivate other readers to join in the dialogue.

ADMINISTRATION & SOCIETY, Vol. 37 No. 1, March 2005 110-115

DOI: 10.1177/0095399704272403

© 2005 Sage Publications