Shadia Drury

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Shadia B. Drury (born 1950) is a Canadian academic and political commentator of Egyptian Christian origin. She is Canada Research Chair in Social Justice at the University of Regina, in Regina, the provincial capital of Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2005, she was elected to fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada.

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[edit] Education and academic interests

Drury was educated at Queen's University (BA Hons, MA), in Kingston, Ontario, and York University (Ph.D., Political Science, 1978) in Toronto, Ontario. Her doctoral thesis was entitled The Concept of Natural Law.

Drury has taught Political Science and Philosophy at two western Canadian universities: first at the University of Calgary and now at the University of Regina, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Social Justice. Her objective in the position is to undertake an extensive publishing program, which includes books on St. Thomas Aquinas's theory of justice and its relation to the current Darwinian trends, a critique of the rise of populism in Canada, an analysis of the liberal and conservative approaches to tradition (Tradition and Taboo), and a book on the relationship between Western liberalism and the growth of radical feminism.[citation needed]

Drury has stated her aim as an interdisciplinary social scientist is to temper enthusiasm for social ideals and values that are taken too seriously and which thus threaten moderation and justice.  In her opinion, when society starts to believe that its ideals and values are "worthy of every sacrifice, every hardship and every abomination", moderation and justice are threatened.  Accordingly, much of her writing is aimed at a debunking of, or an attempt at critique of, extreme political views, as she sees them.[citation needed]

[edit] The Straussians

In Drury's opinion, contemporary society is threatened by a small school of American academics labeled Straussians,[citation needed] after the German born, Jewish-American political scientist, Leo Strauss (1899–1973). She has not shied away from voicing a critical interpretation of Strauss' work, linking it to American right-wing public policy. In print and on the airwaves she has stated that Straussians are a "cult" (CBC Radio, Michael Enright interview CBC Sunday Edition), a group of dangerous people who need to be exposed and analyzed not in terms of what they say, but what they do.

Drury has produced a body of work on the impact of Strauss that has placed her in the position of authority for many students, academics and media personalities. In an effort to use political theory to explain modern political practice, Drury has developed a rather controversial position on American politics. She has received criticism as a result of her latest book where she examines "two equally arrogant and self-righteous civilizations confronting one another".[citation needed] In Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Politics, and the Western Psyche, Drury regards the contemporary political problem as "thoroughly Biblical." "Each (civilization) is convinced that it is on the side of God, truth and justice, while its enemy is allied with Satan, wickedness, and barbarism."

[edit] Current interpretations

Drury is a scholar of political theory and recognized as such by her peers.[weasel words] Others express concern that her polemic views are primarily concerned with the rise of the so-called Straussians in the United States.[weasel words] There are those who consider the implications of her interpretation on practical politics superficial and misleading, of note is the author of "Reading Leo Strauss" Steven B. Smith, who graduated from University of Chicago toward the end of Strauss's life.[weasel words]

Drury has been active in publicly countering members of the Calgary School, a group of right-wing academics at the University of Calgary who have advised the Conservative Party. She often compares American right-wing policy with the Alberta-bred Reform Party-Canadian Alliance Party, one of the predecessors of the Conservative Party formed through a merger between it and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada which has formed a minority government since 2006, with former Reform Party MP Stephen Harper as its leader and Prime Minister.[citation needed]

[edit] List of works

  • The Concept of Natural Law, Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 1978. Canadian Theses Division, National Library, Ottawa, Canadiana: 790230615
  • Law and Politics: Readings in Legal and Political Thought. Edited with introduction and essay by Shadia B. Drury ; associate editor, Rainer Knopff. Calgary: Detselig, 1980. ISBN 0-920490-12-3
  • The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss, Revised Edition. New York: St. Martin's Press,(originally published in 1988) 2005.
  • Alexandre Kojeve: The Roots of Postmodern Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. 1994. ISBN 0-312-12092-3
  • Leo Strauss and the American Right. Palgrave Macmillan. 1999. ISBN 0-312-21783-8
  • Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Politics, and the Western Psyche. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004 ISBN 1-4039-6404-1

Professor Drury's web page has a great number of links to her work, including many full text articles that are downloadable, as well as link to a CBC Radio interview. [1]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Canada. Canada Research Chairs. (web site) available online[2] 5 August 2005.
  • Drury, Shadia B. Alexandre Kojeve: The Roots of Postmodern Politics. Palgrave Macmillan: London, 1994. ISBN 0-312-12092-3
  • Drury, Shadia B. The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss. 1st ed. Macmillan: London, 1988. ISBN 0-333-41256-7
  • Drury, Shadia B. Leo Strauss and the American Right. Palgrave Macmillan: London, 1999. ISBN 0-312-21783-8
  • Drury, Shadia B. Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Politics, and the Western Psyche. Palgrave Macmillan: London, 2004. ISBN 1-4039-6404-1

[edit] See also

[edit] External links