File spoon-archives/marxism-thaxis.archive/marxism-thaxis_1997/marxism-thaxis.9711, message 208


From: LeoCasey-AT-aol.com
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 14:25:14 -0500 (EST)
Subject: M-TH: Derrida


In a message dated 97-11-22 10:17:42 EST, James writes:

<< What Derrida et al do express is a kind of self-perception of a ruling
 class that elevates play over work, that values questions of identity
 and difference, that sees things in terms of consumption rather than
 production, and that has abandoned the sense of mission that was so
 important to its predecessors (the end of grand narratives). (I'll back
 off from slagging Bordieu, though, as I'm less confident of my ground)
  >>

I have much respect for what I have seen as the serious, intellectually deep
contributions of James to this list, but I must say that this I find this
statement to be characteristic of the political space where the sectarian
fades into the absurd. One starts from a Manichaean world in which there is
the one true revolutionary faith and its various counter-revolutionary
opponents, and attempts to show how every expression outside of the one true
faith is an expression of the ruling class, no matter how it presents itself.
Indeed, the greatest vitroil is reserved for those closest in the political
spectrum, since they are the imposters, the devil appearing in the form of
the angel. Thus, social democracy becomes, in the Third Period, social
fascism.

Just where is this ruling class, with its love for play and the politics of
difference, which has found in Derrida its expression? Maybe I have missed it
because I lack the insight of the elect. But, for me, this statement is an
expression of hallucinatory politics.

Leo Casey
   


     --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---

   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005