File spoon-archives/postanarchism.archive/postanarchism_2003/postanarchism.0312, message 54


Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 19:38:35 -0800 (PST)
From: "J.M. Adams" <ringfingers-AT-yahoo.com>
Subject: [postanarchism] May and Schurmann on Praxis


Okay here is a little on what has been said about
practice by the two first thinkers to really think
about anarchism and poststructuralism in depth. 

Schurmann states in his "On Constituting Oneself an
Anarchistic Subject" (1985) that:

"as opposed to nineteenth century anarchism, the one
that is possible today is poorer, more fragile. It has
no linear narrative to justify itself, only the
history of truth with its attendant history of the
subject. But these are fractured breaks. The
transgressive subject still fetishizes the law in
daring what is forbidden. The anarchistic subject
echoes Nietzsche's Zarathustra: 'Such is *my* way,
where is yours?...For *the* way - that does not
exist'". 

Then in May's "Is Poststructuralist Political Theory
Anarchist?" (1989) he states that:

"it is not in favor of chaos that posstructuralism has
abjured the notion of foundations, humanist or
otherwise, for its political theorizing. What it
offered instead are precise analyses of oppression in
its operation on a variety of registers. None of the
poststructuralists claim to offer unsurpassable
perspectives on oppression...instead they engage in
what has often been called 'micropolitics', political
theorizing that is specific to regions, types or
levels of political activity, but makes no pretensions
of offering a general political
theory...poststructuralism leaves the decision of how
the oppressed are to determine themselves to the
oppressed; it merely provides them with intellectual
tools that they may find helpful along the way". 

Finally, from the "Interview With Todd May" (2000) in
Perspectives:

"I think that change comes not only through the ideas
themselves, but, especially in academics, who's
spouting them. The real question, it seems to me, is
whether people are living these ideas out or whether
they are just holding them as ideas".

I think these quotes more or less speak for themselves
in regard to the question of practice; in other words,
you might say, they are arguing that oppressed peoples
should speak for themselves.

Jason

===="“Marx says, revolutions are the locomotives of world history.  But perhaps it is really totally different.  Perhaps revolutions are the grasp by the human race traveling in this train for the emergency brake.” 

- Walter Benjamin

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