File spoon-archives/lyotard.archive/lyotard_2002/lyotard.0204, message 31


Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 19:29:13 +0100
From: "steve.devos" <steve.devos-AT-krokodile.com>
Subject: Re: Another God that Failed


Eric/all
but not as powerful as a book...

a couple of observations to make around neo-liberalism and the specifics 
of the ideology. It begins from the establishment of the necessity for 
the free market economy,  structured against the grand ideological 
projects which it identifies either as utopian or dystopias. Howver it's 
always worth establishing the the neo-liberal project is itself a grand 
modern utopian project. That is if we understand utopian projects as 
some grand global systemic machine which when applied to all of human 
and non-human societies will bring about a state of progress and the joy 
that we are supposedly looking for - and of sourse the 
free-market-economy is precisely such a means, which when we work within 
it, for it will supposedly bring about a utopian society....

now we can consequently say to those who criticise, those like Negri and 
Hardt that wish to reclaim the utopian aspects of social theory, that 
the utopian impulse is not complete, not over as  has often been said - 
because the right's version of a utopia is precisely the wierd mixture 
of the the 'free market' and 'populism' . The other aspect that is worth 
rembering is that an ideological project is not only a project of 
 social change which may or may not have a realistic chance of success 
but also the anti-utopian position that dominates the perspective of 
those who refuse and refute all global projects of social change. The 
biggest block towards social change is the act of pre-closure that is 
the very act/event which stops the imagining of social change and 
improvement...

just because the right's utopian vision has been successful of the past 
few decades does not mean that their utopian project will remain 
succesful - neo-liberal capitalism has been extraordinarily successful, 
however we should also take note of the rising tide of new 
'contradictions', new issues which are increasingly appearing as new 
areas of implosion...  perhaps capital in its globalising mode is 
actually reaching the end of its ability to saturate the world - it is 
after all making a very poor job of expanding off-planet... if so then 
it may be reaching its inherent limits and be on the verge of cancelling 
itself out...

on this cheery note.

regards
steve


Mary&Eric Murphy&Salstrand wrote:

>Hugh, All,
>
>I'm not sure if you are familiar with it, but "Another God that Failed" is
>an allusion to a book entitled "The God that Failed" that came out during
>the Stalinist era. That book referred to the disillusionment of various
>intellectuals of that time period with communism.  
>
>My feeling is that something similar is going on among thoughtful people
>today with regard to neo-liberalism. Despite the rhetoric of the wonderful
>new worlds capitalism is creating, the reality of what is actually
>happening, like the gulags of Stalin, is becoming harder and harder to
>hide.  Even though the media is now controlled in the United States in a
>manner much like an ancient Soviet politburo, leakages still occur thanks
>to the internet, global agencies and the individual courage of many.
>
>All of which points to the obvious. Neo-liberalism isn't going to disappear
>overnight.  It took approximately forty years after the death of Stalin for
>the Berlin wall to come tumbling down.  It will certainly take a long
>period of time to eradicate the traces of neo-liberalism. All the king's
>horses and all the king's men and even the forces of Harvard University are
>arrayed against us.
>
>What gives me hope is the innate power of people to creatively resist the
>structures that are imposed upon them and by this very act of resistance to
>change the reality of what is occurring. That is the value I see in the
>politics of Lyotard as well as in the politics of Negri and Hardt. It is
>the impious power of the great refusal. The voice that cries out, even in
>silence: "No God, No Master, No Man".
>
>Beyond the spectacle of the metanarratives, there is the power of the
>multitude, and, if that is Negri's one big idea, then I say let's make the
>most of it. It is all part of the political revisioning of global
>possibilities that is occurring today.
>
>Along these lines, I came across the following blurb for a new book by John
>Holloway that argues along similar lines. It is another piece of the
>growing dissensus among the multitude to continue the fight against
>neo-liberalism today.  Here is a summary of the book.
>
>"The various political demonstrations since Seattle have crystallized a new
>trend in left-wing politics. Popular support across the world for the
>Zapatista uprising and the enthusiasm which it has inspired has led to new
>types of protest movement that ground their actions on both Marxism and
>Anarchism. These movements are fighting for radical social change in terms
>that have nothing to do with the taking of state power. This is in clear
>opposition to the traditional Marxist theory of revolution which centres on
>taking state power." 
>
>"In this book, John Holloway asks how we can reformulate our understanding
>of revolution as the struggle against power, not for power. After a century
>of failed attempts by revolutionary and reformist movements to bring about
>radical social change, the concept of revolution itself is in crisis.
>Holloway opens up the theoretical debate, reposing some of the basic
>concepts of Marxism in a critical development of the subversive Marxist
>tradition represented by Adorno, Bloch and Lukacs, amongst others, and
>grounded in a rethinking of Marxs concept of fetishisation-- how doing
>is transformed into being." 
>
>"The struggle for radical change, Holloway argues, far from being
>marginalised, is becoming more and more embedded in our everyday lives.
>Revolution today must be understood as a question, not as an answer." 
>
>The contents are as follows: 
>1. The Scream 
>2. Beyond the State? 
>3. Beyond Power? 
>4. Fetishism - The Tragic Dilemma 
>5. Fetishism and Fetishisation 
>6. Anti-Fetishism and Criticism 
>7. The Tradition of Scientific Marxism 
>8. The Critical-Revolutionary Subject 
>9. The Material Reality of Anti-Power 
>10. The Material Reality of Anti-Power and the Crisis of Capital
>11. Revolution? 
>
>To order, visit the Pluto website: www.plutobooks.com The ISBN is
>0745318630 for paperbacks and 0745318649 for hardbacks.
>
>Also, the magazine "Rethinking Marxism" currently has a double issue on the
>book Empire which features a response by Negri and Hardt to the various
>articles.
>
>The time has come to prevent World War III from taking place.  Being
>informed is a beginning.
>The internet is mightier than a heat-seeking missile.
>
>eric 
> 
>
>
>



   

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