A concept that refers to a state of mind characterized by an unending desire to acquire knowledge and information about society against the background of specific ideational and methodological approaches, of which these four are central: (1) civilization; (2) objectivity; (3) truth; and (4) the status quo. (1) Civilization. A politically conscious person recognizes that civilization has two dimensions to it: the moral, and the material; and it is the former that is of paramount importance. By moral civilization I mean the attainment of civilized attitudes and behavior vis-à-vis other human beings, and other forms of life on this planet. Central to moral civilization is the attitude and behavior that is motivated by concrete efforts to respond to the question: What can I do, in terms of my personal attitudes and behavior toward all life forms (beginning with my immediate family and then extending outward to my relatives, friends, community, other communities, society, other societies and other planetary life forms, etc.) to make this planet a better place for them to live in? Underlying this question would be such positive behavioral things as altruism, love, morality, humanity, magnanimity, forgiveness, charitability, amicability, open-mindedness, and so on.
(2) Objectivity. Conservatives like to talk about being “objective,” but the quest for “objectivity” as normally understood is inherently chimerical. The problem was raised by, among others, Gunnar Myrdal (1969) two decades ago. He framed it thus:
The ethos of social science is the search for “objective” truth . The most fundamental methodological problems facing the social scientist are therefore, what is objectivity, and how can the student attain objectivity in trying to find out the facts and the causal relationships between facts? How can a biased view be avoided? More specifically, how can the student of social problems liberate himself from [a] the powerful heritage of earlier writings in his field of inquiry, ordinarily containing normative and teleological notions inherited from past generations and founded upon the metaphysical moral philosophies of natural law and utilitarianism from which all our social and economic theories have branched off; [b] the influences of the entire cultural, social, economic, and political milieu of the society where he lives, works, and earns his living and his status; and [c] the influence stemming from his own personality, as molded not only by traditions and environment but also by his individual history, constitution and inclinations? (1969:3-4.)
The answer to his question, as he himself, implied is that objectivity is impossible in the social sciences in the sense in which conservatives (also referred to as positivists) advocate. Consequently, any study of any phenomenon or “object” in the social sciences will invariably be colored (not necessarily consciously) by the researcher’s own subconscious proclivities, and manifest at the level of choice of questions asked, choice of data collected and examined, choice of methods used, and so on. There is, however, another problem too: all work in the social sciences, even that which purports to be for the sake of the advancement of basic knowledge alone, is ultimately (and if not directly at least indirectly) programmatic. That is, all studies in the social sciences contain within them a mission—whether articulated or not—relating to the ultimate value or purpose of the study: which is to either preserve or change the status quo; this also has a bearing on “objectivity” in the social sciences. (Some, such as Kuhn [1970], have gone so far as to say that even in the natural sciences there is no such thing as “objective” science.) However, guys, I must also emphasize here that the position that “objective” social science does not exist is not to say that anything goes; that anything any one says about anything is all valid. Rather, it is to say that the quest for knowledge must adhere to the principle of critical thinking.
(3) Truth. A person who is politically conscious is a person who seeks the truth in relation to society as a whole with the objective of understanding how that society can become a better society for all its members in terms of social justice, economic progress, environmental safety, and so on. What kind of truth? It is truth relating to how the status quo has come about and how it is maintained—that is who benefits from it and who suffers from it. This task requires one to be fully conversant with all historical processes that explain the status quo, which in turn requires him or her to be multi-disciplinary in approach given the multidimensional nature of all human existence. For, in the words of that brilliant intellectual, Paul A. Baran, “ the seemingly autonomous, disparate, and disjointed morsels of social existence under capitalism—literature, art, politics, the economic order, science, the cultural and psychic condition of people—can all be understood (and influenced) only if they are clearly visualized as parts of the comprehensive totality of the historical process” (1961:12-13). Since no society is perfect in terms of social justice, human advancement, and general human happiness, the politically conscious person is of necessity continuously questioning the status quo and striving for its perfection. Consequently he/she is by definition an insurrectionist, a revolutionary (but whose weapons are pens and whose ammunition are words) because he/she does not wish to permit the beneficiaries of the status quo (the rich and the powerful) from obfuscating the truth: that the status quo, especially in capitalist societies, benefits primarily the rich and the powerful and that it has evolved to this end through human agency and not some supernatural being or even just “nature.” This point was best presented by Barrington Moore, Jr. in his magnum opus some thirty years ago:
[A]ny simple straightforward truth about political institutions or events is bound to have polemical consequences. It will damage some group interests. In any society the dominant groups are the ones with the most to hide about the way society works. Very often therefore truthful analyses are bound to have a critical ring, to seem like exposures rather than objective statements, as the term is conventionally used.… For all students of human society, sympathy with the victims of historical processes and skepticism about the victors’ claims provide essential safeguards against being taken in by the dominant mythology (1966: 523).
It follows from this that even in those instances where an unjust order has been overthrown and a new just order is being constructed, the task of those who are politically conscious is not over. The new order will still have imperfections. Hence, as long as human societies remain imperfect the job of the politically conscious is a permanent one. To put it differently: a politically conscious person is someone who is essentially, to use Baran’s words: “a social critic, a person whose concern is to identify, to analyze, and in this way to help overcome the obstacles barring the way to the attainment of a better, more humane, and more rational social order. As such he[/she] becomes the conscience of society and the spokes[person] of such progressive forces as it contains in any given period of history. And as such he[/she] is inevitably considered a “troublemaker” and a “nuisance” by the ruling class seeking to preserve the status quo.” (1961:17)
(4) Status quo. A politically conscious person is never satisfied with the status quo. Or to put the matter differently: a politically conscious person is not a political conservative; that is he/she shuns the ideology of political conservatism.
Guys, it follows from the foregoing that a person who lacks political consciousness is not simply one someone who lacks political knowledge about society. After all, there are many political science professors who would easily qualify for membership among the ignorantsia. Political consciousness goes beyond the matter of knowledge and information. Knowledge, of course, is very important, but it is not a sufficient factor.