Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 09:56:35 -0800
From: hugh bone <hughbone-AT-worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: who's here?


Michael J. M. Maranda wrote:
> 
> I'm here lurking.
> 
> I like what you wrote in terms of a description of the way things are...
> not that I like them, but rather I find the description accurate, if
> depressing.
> 
> I wonder if Lyotard writes anything making reference to James Coleman, who
> in The Asymmetric Society contrasts natural persons and corporate actors.
> 
> That contrast seems to underlie a lot of the tension in your description.
> 
> As I read through the description....  I was struck by the thought Why
> Theory/Academia?
> It seems that there is a certain futility to it, as well as an impotence.
> This is in part hidden behind all the "freedom" of inquiry.  So many people
> pursuing so many questions...  Anyone can pursue whatever topic they want
> to, practically.  Maybe.  But I think this freedom hides from us the
> seriousness of our situation (which you describe).  This hiding, is a
> hiding from ourselves... We dont want to face it, and we dont want to face
> our relative powerlessness.
> 
> With my reference to James Coleman you may hear strains of the Chicago
> School. 
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REPLY:  I tried to find a review of the Coleman book on the Web, but
only found it in lists of books missing from a library.  Probably a good
sign.  Can you tell us more about it?

And don't know what is meant by "Theory/Academia".  My rambles in
Webland
convince me that in philosophical and political matters there are tens
of 
thousands of academics reading, writing, speaking, mostly of the dead. 
Which is relatively harmless, I guess.

Hugh
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 The contrast dran out in the book above is traceable to Park and
> Burgess textbook.  Despite what I take to be rather depressing
> circumstances, I feel a balance of hope.  But it isnt a mindless hope.  It
> is a hope thgat recognizes that I too play a role in what will occur, and
> that all is not written.
> This is an echo of Park and Burgess.  With positivism there was
> progressivism and general hope for the future.  New techniques,
> technologies and forms arise and grow in power.  This was clear with the
> rise of corporations and the corporate actor--an example of this.  With
> this newness, as with new forms of communication, power shifts and
> accumulates in new and different ways.  In a sense it takes a while for
> humanity to catch up with this increased potential.  And by no means is it
> guaranteed that humanity will do so, or how quickly it will do so...  I
> think that though we have had corporations for quite a while, they are
> still growing in power and potential, and this makes it difficult to
> humanize these new power relations.  First we have to recognize that we can
> do so.  This is a serious obstacle.  If we dont think we can, we wont.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Michael J. M. Maranda
> U of Chicago-Dept. of Sociology
> M-Maranda-AT-uchicago.edu
> mjmarand-AT-midway.uchicago.edu
> http://student-www.uchicago.edu/users/mjmarand/