Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Problem of American Oligarchy

• In Event: American Democracy in Black Political Thought

Abstract

In recent years, the field of political theory has experienced newfound interest in African American political thought generally and Martin Luther King, Jr. specifically. Scholars now recognize that King was both a world-historical public philosopher and a systematic thinker, who creatively weaved together different intellectual influences (i.e. Shelby and Terry ed. 2018). This essay reframes are understanding of King’s life and work by situating King within the tradition of anti-oligarchic theory. The chapter reveals important continuities between King’s work and other theorists of oligarchy, like Aristotle and John Stuart Mill, while engaging with questions of American racial hierarchy that the latter two authors could not have addressed.

King’s reference to a “cohesive” form of minority domination captures what he elsewhere calls “Southern oligarchy;” a pathological political form distinct to the United States. Southern oligarchy emanates from the old plantation economy. Its “cohesion” allows different forces— local politicians, sheriffs, agricultural elites, Southern Congressmen—to work alongside reactionary forces in the North, preventing America from achieving European-style social democracy.
Yet oligarchy was not exclusively a Southern phenomenon, and King’s analysis of Northern politics proved equally trenchant, informed by activist work in New York, Detroit, and Chicago.

The essay shows how attention to the concept of oligarchy intersects with other important elements of King’s political thought, such as his theory of democratic leadership, non-violent coalition-building, antiwar activism, and his wider mobilization around economic issues such as consumer boycotts and poverty reduction.

Ultimately, King’s confrontation with American oligarchy underscores the wisdom of his leadership strategy, one focused on coalition-building across race and class and on outreach to the union movement.

Author

• Gordon R. Arlen, Swarthmore College