File spoon-archives/marxism-thaxis.archive/marxism-thaxis_1997/marxism-thaxis.9712, message 632


Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 20:05:09 -0500
From: Yoshie Furuhashi <Furuhashi.1-AT-osu.edu>
Subject: The State and Neo-Liberalism (was Re: M-TH: Sex, Law, Rape, and


Rebecca responds to James:
>James: I agree with Yoshie that it is difficult to project the idea of
>worker's justice, where that could only have an ideal existence. I agree
>that the critique of the state is important to Marxism. The important tactical
>question, it seems to me, is that Marxists should oppose the extension
>of state powers.
>
>Rebecca: This matter of opposing the extension of state powers does not seem
>to make sense. If, for example,  the state is cutting back on state spending
>in health, welfare and education is not the correct response of
>revolutionaries >to challenge this and perhaps even call for the expansion
>of such state >spending. Without an approach along these lines it seems to
>me that it is then >impossible for revolutionaries to hook into any
>concrete struggle over the cut >backs.
>
>Personally I would like it take the more purist line. However, as I said, it
>precludes concrete political intervention and leaves out in the abstract
>cold >where all cows or bulls are grey.

I agree with Rebecca that we need more nuanced approaches to the State,
even though marxist critiques of the capitalist state, social democracy,
social + ideological control and repression of the working class, etc. have
been important and must be continued in some manner.

One of the major reasons that we cannot afford to employ a simple critical
+ oppositional stance toward the state is that we live under the hegemony
of *neoliberalism*; neoliberals have tried to extend the *repressive*
functions and powers of the state (the "war on drugs," anti-immigration
policy + militarization of the "national" borders, crack-downs on so-called
"quality-of-life" offenses [such as begging, loitering, street-walking, and
so forth], state censorship of sexual/political expressions [pornography,
electronic communications, sex clubs/bathhouses, sex in public places such
as parks, and so on], "anti-terrorist" laws, curtailment of people's right
to appeal convictions, etc.), but they have worked hard to *dismantle, cut
back, or privatize* the state-funded programs (health care, public
assistance for the unemployed, disability benefits, old-age pensions,
workers' compensation [for injuries + occupational diseases], public
housing, public schooling, home care for the elderly, and so on) that used
to and still contribute to--however inadequately, with many negative and
contradictory effects--the physical and social *reproduction* of the
working class. And they have largely succeeded in doing both, though the
results are uneven and complex.

To repeat, the rich guys have been doing a great job attacking + eroding
the latter (reproductive functions) for the last couple of decades while
augmenting the former (repressive functions) of the state. Marxists, in
general, had better, at this moment in history, concentrate our efforts on
critiquing and resisting the repressive functions of the state while
defending the reproductive functions. This general principle must, however,
be complicated by our critical analyses of what acts are labeled "criminal"
and repressed.

Regarding the questions of rape, justice, etc., I suggested that we
*disaggregate* what is often homogenized under the name "crime." We must do
so because whether by liberal bourgeios or working-class standards of
justice, certain acts must be judged criminal and those who commit them
have to be incarcerated and, when possible, rehabilitated. Rape is a
preeminent example of the kind of act I am talking about here.

What we must resist includes the following: criminalization of "victimless"
crimes (drug use, prostitution, consensual sex, etc.); criminalization of
status offenses (underage drinking, smoking, hanging out in the street
after the "curfew", etc.); criminalization of "quality-of-life" offenses
(loitering, begging, etc.); and harsh treatment of offenders that violate
property rights.

But we must *criminalize and prosecute (and/or organize against) viorously*
corporate crimes such as violations of laws and regulations that protect
workers, consumers, and people in general (labor rights, workplace safety
laws, consumer protection laws, environmental regulations, housing codes,
etc.).

Also, we must *criminalize and prosecute (and/or organize against)
viorously* police brutality. Despite what Justin said, I am of the opinion
that cops routinely slap false charges on those whom they see as
"disrespecting" them ("disorderly conduct", "resisting arrest," "inciting a
riot," etc.), either simply to harass them or to cover up their own
brutality + violations of laws.

I am of the opinion that the words like the state and crime may not so much
reveal as obscure the *concrete acts + social relations + balance of
material/ideological powers* that we must confront directly.

Yoshie





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