From: "Harald Beyer-Arnesen" <haraldba-AT-online.no>
Subject: Re: AUT: Difference of Concept: Empire & Imperialism
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 23:13:18 +0200



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Hamilton" <s_h_hamilton-AT-yahoo.com>
To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: 17. oktober 2002 11.51
Subject: Re: AUT: Difference of Concept: Empire & Imperialism


> Yet the attention of the world has been focused, over
> the past few months, on a couple of buildings in a
> single city in a single country, the United States,
> where a handful of people are making decisions which
> will have more influence, in the short term at least,
> over the future than the actions of billions of other
> inhabitants of the globe. The decision to attack is
> not being made in Jakarta or Warsaw or even London,
> but in Washington DC. In what sense, then, are we
> seeing a 'decentred apparatus of rule'? In no sense at
> all, I would suggest. The apparatus of rule is no more
> being decentred than the nation state called the US is
> fading away.
> 
> Cheers
> Scott

I am no fan of Negri's neo-Spiniozism (which I find a bit
too close to religious mysticism) but as a whole, the
theory of Empire seems sound to me, while not
necessarily agreeing with each and every argument in
support for it.
        The developments since Septemember 11th last
years seem only to have strenghtened the tendency
towards empire. The central role played by the U:S, 
and the almost endless list of states brought within the
sphere of "the war on terror," is only reinforcing this,
while stronger (capitalist) counterforces at this point
of history, just might have put a temporary brake on
such a development.
        I see the the underlying forces to be the develop-
ment of technology (including weapon-tecnology)
infrastructure, transport and communication. 
        It is not in any way a question of doing away with
states but that the role of states are in part changing.

(Otherwise I find it quite amazing that you cannot
see that every state is also essentailly an imperialist
state.)

Harald







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