Word: mainstreaming
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...Feminism seeded the democratization of art," says Schapiro. Traditionalists may snicker, but under its influence mainstream critical discourse has broadened to consider the social, historical and political contexts in which art is produced. Rediscovered female artists are not listed in every syllabus, but more and more students, art educators point out, are eager to learn about ignored talents. How to select which ones to study? Says Spero: "It's so subjective. It always comes down to that old chestnut, quality." Whether feminists like it or not, the viewer's quest for quality may be as fundamental, and inevitable...
Most of the policy recommendations of the New Mainstream are not new at all. Without even bothering to create new metaphors, Wilder talks of "cutting the fat out of the budget" and of eliminating "pork barrels." He makes the same trite (though admittedly salient) attacks on members of Congress for not being responsive to constituents. And he waxes patriotic on how America made Europe and Japan what they are today...
Today's "new" Democrats--typified by Wilder--sound like Reagan (or at least Bush) Republicans. Underpinning this New Mainstream is a centrist agenda through which the first elected Black governor hopes to achieve Democratic control of the White House. The agenda compromises former Democratic beliefs on many issues...
Government spending. The "New Mainstream" stresses "fiscal responsibility," which appears to mean slashing all sorts of spending programs (none of the Democrats are specific about which programs will be cut). And unlike the Democratic Party of old, which sensibly fought much of the Reagan defense buildup, the "New Mainstream" does not call for a preponderance of these budget reductions to come from the Pentagon's coffers. Wilder himself has never explicitly called for cuts in the Strategic Defense Initiative...
Some argue that the Democrats need to reach moderate voters to retake the White House. But even those who support the ideas of the New Mainstream must worry that the result will be two parties with different names but the same face. Political wrangling and policy debates have long been the life-blood of democracies. Losing lively political discourse (always a danger with a two-party system) can only lead to more apathy and lower voter turnouts...