Humanism, the Humanities, and the Human
Abstract
This essay argues that traditionally the humanities have made claim to freedom but been in fact a part of the dominant order, contributing to its domination. I then argue that social science alternatives are at least as dangerous and complicit. I conclude by describing the ways certain writers, especially John Steinbeck and Bruce Springsteen, can be used as the basis for practice within the humanities that can lay claim to be part of a progressive project.