From: "Widder,NE" <N.E.Widder-AT-lse.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: New Year, Same Old Crap
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 12:02:26 -0000 


Grow up.  Do you think the use of the term Marxist necessarily intends to
denote a monolith?  Most intelligent people, academic and non-academic,
realize the diversity of work that goes under the label.  And quite a number
of "academics" have been central in opening up these terms to multiplicity
-- as well as other "isms" such as feminism, other political movements such
as gay and lesbian movements, and the like.  Your pathetic attempt to accuse
me of not recognizing these sorts of multiplicity will not succeed in
diverting attention from your stupid comments.  Your top down theory of
power (we need not call it Marxist if you like) shows such little
understanding of D&G's thought it is laughable.  Your more recent attempt to
expand the notion of state to include media and other institutions in no way
changes the top-down concept you are invoking.  If you do not mean to invoke
it, you probably should explain yourself better.  Your previous posts,
however, indicate that that is something you are not capable of doing.

Nathan
n.e.widder-AT-lse.ac.uk

-----Original Message-----
From: Unleesh-AT-aol.com
To: deleuze-guattari-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
Sent: 1/6/99 11:53 PM
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