Edwards Book Award winner highlights challenges and hopes for American democracy and solidarity
UVA Batten was honored to host this year's Rodel Institute Edwards Book Award, which recognizes books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding and practice of democracy and American politics. This year's winner, “Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis,” was written by James Davison Hunter, a longtime faculty member in UVA’s Department of Sociology.
The UVA Batten School was honored to host this year’s Rodel Institute Edwards Book Award, which recognizes books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding and practice of democracy and American politics.
This year’s winner, “Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis,” was written by UVA’s James Davison Hunter, a longtime faculty member in the Department of Sociology. The book centers on the state of American democracy through the lens of cultural solidarity. Hunter, has published 10 books and helped shape national conversations about culture, religion, and democracy. His 1991 work on “culture wars” introduced that phrase which continues to frame political debate. He is also the executive director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.
After Hunter was given the award, he sat down for a discussion with Batten Dean Ian H. Solomon. Batten is an institutional partner with the Rodel Institute, where Solomon serves on the board of directors.
American democracy is in crisis, Hunter said. “At its heart, democracy was an ethical vision for the reconstitution of public life against the backdrop of centuries of tyranny,” Hunter explained. “It sought to expand the boundaries of freedom and equality, to raise the lot of ordinary people, and to contribute to the flourishing of the world.”
Solomon noted the book’s relevance to students and scholars alike. “It’s a rich, textured wrestling with the intellectual and cultural history of this country,” Solomon said, adding that its themes are already influencing new generations of leaders.
The event concluded with reflections on solidarity as a potential remedy for division. Solidarity requires seeing one another not only as competitors, but as partners in sustaining public life, Hunter emphasized. With democracy under duress worldwide, the event offered both sober analysis and solutions to that strain, including a return to ethical servant leadership and solidarity with political adversaries.
“It’s not about the other side,” said Hunter. “The real culture war that we need to fight is against nihilism itself, a nihilism that has insinuated itself into all aspects of American society.”
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