From: Unleesh-AT-aol.com
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 18:53:19 EST
Subject: Re: New Year, Same Old Crap


In a message dated 1/5/99 4:39:39 PM Pacific Standard Time,
N.E.Widder-AT-lse.ac.uk writes:

<< critical of the Marxist notions you are invoking >>

How interesting! That you classify these as "Marxist" notions. How convenient
for establishment intellectuals to have this one signifier, "Marx", with which
they can compress hundreds of years of working class thought and critique,
thousands of years of critique of ruling establishments and the state. This
signifier "Marx" helps them get all this critique under control, to feel it's
in their grip, like it's their property, like they're the exclusive
proprietors, and if they just deal with this one little handful they call
"Marx", then the whole thing will go away. But unfortunately, living in
hierarchical social systems, the critique of those hierarchies will continue
no matter what sleight-of-hand intellectuals engage in. Besides, the fact
remains that even "Marx" as a signifier remains an open and problematic
signifier not so easy to shelve and put away.

(un)leash