Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Waging War at Two Levels Simultaneously

 

Waging War at Two Levels Simultaneously

 The analytical framework for of my posts since 2023 has been idea that we are in a battle for hegemony over the values that will define what it means to be American in the 21st Century. We have used the terms war of position and war of maneuver as alternative ways to conceptualize the political tools most appropriate to taking on the challenges faced in given periods in time.

I argued that ...

the conditions of liberal democracy in the US called for a Gramscian ‘war of position,’ or ‘trench

warfare’ in the institutions of the state and civil society. The war of position is a way to fight for incremental change, and sometimes fairly significant reforms, while continuing to make value-

based ‘what does it means to be an American’ arguments to support policy initiatives.[1]

 

This is in contrast to ...

           

the “war of maneuver” where military forces are in movement and ground is being taken and lost

rather swiftly ... In the war of maneuver minoritized races build cultural and institutional sources

of power to survive and also to defend themselves from the hostile larger society.[2]

 

In February as Trump 2.0 began to take effect I exclaimed that we were entering the war of maneuver as it indeed appeared that Trumpist forces were taking political and institutional ground at a breathtaking pace. I mentioned minoritized races, because, as you know, my broader research focuses on the role of race in defining Red and Blue Nation Americas. I likened the plight of Blue America to the maroons, escaped slaves who formed communities in remote mountains or swamps as one example of how people of color carved out geographical spaces where they might exercise the autonomy to live according to their own values. This is the war of maneuver, the fight for survival of our way of life against an external enemy.

 

Under Trump, the federal government has gone Red and is indeed an external enemy of our Blue way of life. But we must not abandon the dense trenches of the national state wholesale. Federal district and appeals courts have ruled against challenged Trump’s policies on several occasions already. But in the instances where his executive orders have reached the Supreme Court, it has chosen not to rule on the constitutionality of his orders, but more narrowly.

 

For example, when three federal district courts ruled that Trump’s executive order terminating birthright citizenship was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court “partially paused” the district courts rulings saying they had no authority to impose their localized rulings nationwide.[3]

 

More recently, regarding the wholesale firing of Department of Education employees, a federal judge in Boston ruled that Congressional approval was required for such a move. But the Supreme Court ruled that it was okay for the Trump administration to continue its gutting of the agency and rescinded the lower court order.  [4]

 

The high court rulings in each instance sidestepped the ultimate legal and constitutional issues. Regarding birthright, the court would eventually have to rule on the constitutionality of the 14th Amendment, of which birthright is a part. That is a ball its conservative members likely, want to kick down the road as far as they can. On the Department of Education, Trump wishes to render it unable to function It would be unconstitutional for the executive to close down the department without Congress’s approval. However, freezing the disbursement of funds already allocated by Congress is illegal --- an overreach of the executive power, and therefore also unconstitutional!

 

Pay close attention to these and other cases that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court. They illustrate that although we are in a war of maneuver, a military-styled battle against an external power we must continue to fight the war of position in institutional settings around our constitutional rights to stave off victory of the MAGA forces.

 

Institutions outside of the state in civil society are sites where dogged trench warfare must also be waged. Two examples from my home state of Ohio are salient here. The Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati is a museum dedicated to telling the heroic story of Black people escaping from slavery and the role Black and White allies in facilitating that great escape. In April Woodrow Keown Jr, the president of the center was reporting that a $500,000 federal grant to support the completion of an exhibit on social justice movements was on hold. I was not able to find out what the status of that grant was at the time of this writing. But the center, though it is a Smithsonian museum, is mostly privately funded. Keown said in April that private donations to support the exhibit were already coming in and the exhibit, though delayed, would open sometime in 2026.[5]

 

At the other end of the state the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, formerly known as the Indians, came under attack by Trump who called for the name to be changed back. The change came after a years long public education and pressure campaign. Team ownership indicated it was focused on the “opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future."[6]

 

In Prison Notebooks Antonio Gramsci cautioned the left about the interior defenses that often fortified oppressive regimes after the initial assault and left them intact. His words are timely today for progressives as we face a withering attack from MAGA on the systems we’ve built up over the generations. Gramsci trenchantly observes that

 

... at the moment of their advance and attack the assailants would find themselves confronted by a

 line of defence which was still effective ... the defenders ae not demoralized, nor do they abandon

their positions, ... nor do they lose faith in their own strength or their own future.[7]

 

Arts and cultural institutions, our sports franchises, universities like Harvard[8] ... these institutions are not behaving as if they are “demoralized,” nor have they lost “faith in their “strength or their own future.” As progressives we must follow these examples.

 

“Keep the Faith Baby!”[9]


[1] “From War of Position to a War of Maneuver,” Damani: Let’s Talk Politics, July 23, 2023.

[2] “War of Position, War of Maneuver and the Battle for Hegemony,” Damani: Let’s Talk Politics, February 25, 2025.

[7] Hoare, Q.  & Smith, G.N  (Eds.). (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. New York:
International Publishers. 1971, p. 235

[8] In reference to Harvard’s cases suing the federal government for blocking research monies awarded to it.   https://www.npr.org/2025/07/21/nx-s1-5462675/harvard-trump-court-hearing-boston

[9]Slogan popularized by activist Congressman and pastor Adam Clayton Powell in the 1960s https://www.adamclaytonpowell.com/keep-the-faith-baby

 

 

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)