Countering the Left’s Long March
2023 Fall Meeting
September 22-23, 2023
Cleveland, OH

Countering the Left's Long March

Milton Friedman, a founding member of The Philadelphia Society, observed that turning the intellectual tide away from the romance with Marxism is the “essential element in strengthening and preserving a free society.” He argued that creating the intellectual foundations for a free and ordered society would require contributions not only from economists but also from “sociologists, historians, novelists, playwrights, etc.” This cultural turn was in part a response to the rise of the New Left in the second half of the 20th century. Thinkers of the Frankfurt School, such as Herbert Marcuse, helped advance the Gramscian strategy of developing a new cultural hegemony to displace the cultural hegemony of the “bourgeois.” Thus began the Left’s long march through the institutions, which sought to break down the cultural influence of prevailing religions, scholarly establishments, and civic mores.

The contest between the New Left and the increasingly politically oriented Conservative movement in the U.S. has left us with deracinated institutions and unmoored individuals. Can we turn the tide in the battle of ideas? Can we restore or re-imagine the institutions that will best protect and promote human flourishing? This conference will challenge us to consider the needed responses to cultural Marxism, which will include attention to the inseparable relationships between a nation’s economy and its culture.

Additional details forthcoming. Please contact Charissa Reul for more information. 

Friday, September 22
4:00–6:00

Registration

5:30–6:00 

Fellowship Orientation

5:45–6:50


"Welcome to Ohio" Reception
Sponsored by The Buckeye Institute

7:00–9:00


Dinner & Program
Chair: Bridgett Wagner, President, The Philadelphia Society
Keynote Address: Glenn Loury, Brown University - "The Case for Black American Patriotism"

Saturday, September 23
8:30–10:00





Ideology, Power, and the Distortion of American Institutions
Chair: Paul Kengor, Grove City College 
Paul Dragos Aligica, Mercatus Center
Virginia Arbery, Wyoming Catholic College
Phil Magness, American Institute for Economic Research

10:00–10:30

Coffee Break

10:30–12:00




The Role of the Entrepreneur in Shaping Institutions
Chair: Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute
Michael Munger, Duke University
Ramón Parellada, Universidad Francisco Marroquín
Nikolai Wenzel, Universidad de Hesperides 

12:00–1:30




Luncheon Program
Chair: Danny Boggs, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
Keynote Address: Alice Batchelder, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit -
“Progressivism’s Long March Through the Law” 


2:00–3:30




The Role of Culture and Community: Renewing Social Institutions
Chair: Andrew Graham, Alliance Defending Freedom
Jason Jewell, Faulkner University
Luke Sheahan, Duquesne University
Delano Squires, The Heritage Foundation

3:30–4:00

Coffee Break

4:00–5:30





Subsidiarity, Federalism, and the Common Good
Chair: David Bobb, Bill of Rights Institute 
Paul Ray, The Heritage Foundation
Alexander Salter, Texas Tech University
Tony Woodlief, State Policy Network

5:30–6:30

Reception

 

Please contact Charissa Reul with questions or for more information.