We’ve seen a flurry of activity on the left. Yes, this includes activism on a wide range of issues. But I’m not talking about that here. Here, I’m talking about a flurry of new ways to label or describe our actions. The left increasingly uses elevator words to do these things.
What does that mean? The left uses loftier words for its actions than those actions warrant. It inflates the language. During the early months of COVID-19, activists proposed modest, temporary rent subsidies. But they called those subsidies ‘cancel rent.’ Even though the subsidies would do no such thing. I’ll post plenty more examples below. For now, I’ll note that things like this happen a lot these days.
I want to ask why. And not only why, but is it a bad thing? If so, how bad is it?
Hacking on Elevator Words
The term ‘elevator words’ comes from philosopher Ian Hacking. I’ve written about Hacking many times in the past – from an article to a book to a post on the label ‘bisexual.’ But Hacking’s overall project is one of studying how people interact with the labels scientists foist on them.
In a connected project, Hacking also works on issues of social constructionism. He summed up much of that work in a book, The Social Construction of What? Philosophers interested in these issues tend to talk about John Searle (The Construction of Social Reality) more than Hacking, even though Hacking has much more to say. In fact, this is a common problem with philosophers and Searle. They frequently cite him on the issue of artificial intelligence, even though Hubert Dreyfus – Searle’s colleague at UC-Berkeley – had more to say.
But I digress. What Hacking says here is that social constructionists often focus on lofty language as the target of their thesis. They say words like ‘objective,’ ‘fact,’ ‘truth,’ and so on are constructed. These are ‘elevator words.’ Hacking points out that it’s one thing to say words like these are socially constructed, and quite another to say that more grounded, material things are constructed.
The Left Elevates Its Actions
Elevator words operate at a higher level than the words around them. They pick out certain aspects, features, et al. in the world. They’re not literal things in the world.
And the left uses elevator words. It uses loftier, more revolutionary language that goes beyond what it’s actually doing. Leftists routinely describe their activities as a step or two to the left of where those activities really sit. We tend to use flowery, romantic language for more pragmatic things.
For example, leftists start charitable or aid groups. But they call it ‘mutual aid.’ Leftists take part in GOTV efforts, a classic example of mobilization. But leftists call it ‘organizing,’ a term picking out a more sustained campaign. Leftists hold a one-time demonstration. But they call it a ‘protest.’ Leftists propose rent subsidies. But they call it ‘cancel rent’ or even a ‘rent strike.’
Using Elevator Words: The Good and The Bad
None of this is necessarily a bad thing. Yes, the left frequently exaggerates its actions and accomplishments. But we have to look at the practical effects.
Sometimes it’s a good thing. I wrote not long ago about the Iowa Freedom Riders and their actions. They called their actions ‘protests’ from the very beginning, even though the actions clearly began as demonstrations rather than protests. However, as time went on, the IFR built up significant steam. They turned those actions into protests. I think the initial inflated language helped create momentum.
The IFR achieved quite a bit in a short time. And so, it’s possible to describe actions as more leftist than reality dictates and then come to make it so. But it doesn’t usually go that way. The Iowa Freedom Riders are an unusual success story.
The Left and Clarity
There’s nothing bad about charity, demonstrations, or rent subsidies. Nor is there anything dishonest happening in most of these cases.
But the left needs clarity. Many leftists – especially newer or younger ones – seem to really not understand the difference between rent subsidies and rent strikes, between mobilizing and organizing, and between aid and mutual aid (note: the word ‘mutual’ does a lot of work here).
Mislabeling our actions can prevent clarity. And lack of clarity prevents us from laying out the right goals and working toward those goals. We can’t organize for socialism if we don’t know what ‘organizing’ is and can’t think beyond social democracy.
