Cesar Chavez and the Ethics of Exemplarity. Issue 3 (16th August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maya, Gustavo
• Is Part Of: Journal of religious ethics. Volume 47:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 601
• Page End: 625
• Publication Date: 2019-08-16
• Subjects: exemplarity -- sacrifice -- fasting -- picketing -- Cesar Chavez -- Gandhi -- United Farm Workers; Ethics -- Periodicals; Religious ethics -- Periodicals; Morale religieuse; Religion; Théologie; 205
• DOI: 10.1111/jore.12280
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0384-9694

Abstract

Abstract: In recent years, Cesar Chavez's life and legacy have been subjected to increased scrutiny. The ensuing reevaluations of Chavez, wittingly or not, are matters of ethical, as well as historical and biographical, concern. This article has two aims. First, it reconstructs Chavez's account of exemplarity and uses it to assess his legacy. Second, it provides an account of exemplarity situated within social practices. As I argue, exemplarity operates through social practices, rather than mystically as posited by a contagion model. The end result is an ethically nuanced reassessment of Chavez and an account of exemplarity that includes its social dimension.