ABSTRACT
This chapter invites a reinvestigation of the role of value in political discourse. It lays out the requirements of this reinvestigation by identifying a tension between material and aspirational discourses of value and by looking at the ways theorists, political actors, and social movements navigate this tension to draw particular boundaries around political communities. Claims to value can be resources for democratic action when they reveal choices yet to be made about the people and activities we prioritize. When we ignore these choices we avoid, discourage, or otherwise disavow political contestation.
