Fashion And Democratic Relationships 
Polity
. Volume 37, Number 1 . January 2005
r 2005 Northeastern Political Science Association 0032-3497/05 $30.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/polity Fashion and Democratic
Relationships*
Joshua I. Miller
Lafayette College
Clothing has political significance because it affects the relationships among citizens. Clothing is not simply a private or personal matter; it implies the existence of an intersubjective social world in which one presents oneself and is seen by others. In examining the implications of fashion for political relationships, I will concede that fashion aggravates antagonistic relationships among citizens when it is used to flaunt one’s status and wealth, but I will also argue that clothes can also be used to exhibit respect toward others and allegiance to a group. Clothes, therefore, sometimes facilitate the democratic ideal of widely distributed power.
Fashion can provoke dialogue about social and political matters, and that dialogue is democratic. When fashion manifests creativity, respect, allegiance, or membership, the relationships that it fosters are potentially democratic.
Polity (2005) 37, 3–23. doi:10.1057/palgrave.polity.2300002
Keywords
fashion; clothes; democracy; citizens; action; respect
Joshua Miller, Professor of Government and Law at Lafayette College in
Easton, PA, is the author of The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Early America,
1630–1789 (Penn State Press, 1991) and Democratic Temperament: The Legacy of William James (University Press of Kansas, 1997). His essay ‘‘No Success Like
Failure: Existential Politics in Norman Mailer’s The Armies of the Night,’’ appeared in Polity in 1990. He invites correspondence at: millerj@lafayette.edu.
Introduction: Central Arguments and Definitions
What does fashion have to do with politics? Many people take fashion to be private and trivial, while politics is public and important, yet from time to time fashion’s political importance is easier to see.1 For instance, much of the tension
. Volume 37, Number 1 . January 2005
r 2005 Northeastern Political Science Association 0032-3497/05 $30.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/polity Fashion and Democratic
Relationships*
Joshua I. Miller
Lafayette College
Clothing has political significance because it affects the relationships among citizens. Clothing is not simply a private or personal matter; it implies the existence of an intersubjective social world in which one presents oneself and is seen by others. In examining the implications of fashion for political relationships, I will concede that fashion aggravates antagonistic relationships among citizens when it is used to flaunt one’s status and wealth, but I will also argue that clothes can also be used to exhibit respect toward others and allegiance to a group. Clothes, therefore, sometimes facilitate the democratic ideal of widely distributed power.
Fashion can provoke dialogue about social and political matters, and that dialogue is democratic. When fashion manifests creativity, respect, allegiance, or membership, the relationships that it fosters are potentially democratic.
Polity (2005) 37, 3–23. doi:10.1057/palgrave.polity.2300002
Keywords
fashion; clothes; democracy; citizens; action; respect
Joshua Miller, Professor of Government and Law at Lafayette College in
Easton, PA, is the author of The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Early America,
1630–1789 (Penn State Press, 1991) and Democratic Temperament: The Legacy of William James (University Press of Kansas, 1997). His essay ‘‘No Success Like
Failure: Existential Politics in Norman Mailer’s The Armies of the Night,’’ appeared in Polity in 1990. He invites correspondence at: millerj@lafayette.edu.
Introduction: Central Arguments and Definitions
What does fashion have to do with politics? Many people take fashion to be private and trivial, while politics is public and important, yet from time to time fashion’s political importance is easier to see.1 For instance, much of the tension