File spoon-archives/marxism-thaxis.archive/marxism-thaxis_1997/marxism-thaxis.9708, message 175


Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 01:06:10 +1000
From: Rob Schaap <rws-AT-comserver.canberra.edu.au>
Subject: M-TH: Re: M-I: Derrida Gossip


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>Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 22:04:29 +1000
>To: marxism-international-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
>From: Rob Schaap <rws-AT-comserver.canberra.edu.au>
>Subject: Re: M-I: Derrida Gossip
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>G'day all,
>
>Of Derrida's latest effort, one critic writes:
>
>"Reading Derrida's extended and laconic essay, it is not hard to work out
>why he has endorsed Marx just when he is out of fashion. The attraction of
>Marx for Derrida is not the case for overthrowing capitalism, but the case
>merely for calling it into question. All through the seventies and eighties
>postmodernists inspired by Derrida were attacking Marxism precisely for its
>claim to represent the interests of humanity as a whole. That offended
>their preference for a plurality of different viewpoints.
>
>When capitalism seemed to triumph in the wake of the Cold War, however, it
>was the capitalist triumphalists who stood - or pretended to stand - for a
>common humanity.
>
>Consequently, Derrida has turned his deconstructive ire on capitalism, and
>used Marx to do it.  Derrida relates his own theory of deconstruction to
>Marxism: 'Deconstruction has never had any sense or interest in my view at
>least, except as a radicalisation, which is to say also in the tradition of
>a certain Marxism, in a certain spirit of Marxism.' (p92) But the
>radicalism that Derrida reads into Marxism is precisely its ability to
>undermine the claims of capitalism to be the best possible society. The
>minute that the Marxists claim to have an answer to the problems of how to
>organise society, deconstruction takes its leave from Marxism, or as
>Derrida puts it 'radicalises' Marxism."
>
>The reviewer goes on to bag Derrida's idea of 'radical' and appositely
>concludes with the big fella's 11th thesis on Feuerbach.  Good on ya, James.
>
>It is no surprise that Derrida thinks it's time to bag Capitalism.  It
>really is quite easy.  But if your 'logic' is such that no system of social
>life can humanly be conceived to replace it, you're not contributing
>anything of earthly use.  Habermas did not get the support he deserved when
>he took this lot on, practically all by himself, back in 80/81.
>
>No answer = neoconservatism.  And a neoconservatism dressed up as
>radicalism = the treacherous dissolution of the left.  Oh, and claiming
>textual analysis is, all by itself, even particularly political, never mind
>radical, is just so much wind.
>
>And when we do analyse the text?  Why then we find we may not even
>interpret the world ...
>
>If Louis's sources are good, I reckon Jacques's erstwhile lover has gone to
>a far better place than she has ever been before.  Perhaps not a great
>place, but a far, far better place ...
>
>Cheers,
>Rob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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