Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 11:24:42 -0700
Subject: Re: Why Throw Americans Out of Middle East... by Taliban




Richard Wah wrote:

> At the risk of being branded pro-American and pro-Jew and pro-Christian, I
> want to make a few comments to the post by Taliban. Please pardon my lack
> of appropriate jargon.
>
> I agree that "the postcolonial is about attending to the social and political
> >processes that struggle against and work to unsettle the architecture of
> >domination established through imperialism"
>
> But I do not agree with and do not feel there is any benefit to be gained
> by continuing with the various dichotomies by Nationalities, colour, race
> etc .... for want of better  terminology ... "deterministically essential"
> by these markers. For to do so would lead to the conclusion that one is
> conquered and the opressed becomes the oppressor and the dichotomy starts
> all over again.
>
> I am of the view that the strategy being pursued will only lead to
> continuation of the binary oppositions. WIthin my own work I am
> experimenting with the notions of Lefreve's (Soja) thirdspaces and Wilden's
> "both and."

I would like to know more about these notions. Would you please post the titles
of the works you refer to. Thanks,OP

> I posit these two strategies not as compromises of the various
> positions of the contestation but as alternate perceptions or conceptions
> (not quite sure) criticing to underlying assumptions of the constitutions
> of the various groups (e.g. are all Christians, Jews, American such
> horrible people and all Muslims good?), contexts, concepts, value systems
> and ways of doing. I realise in my work that a lot of this is abstract and
> appear to be non-pragmatic but I feel out of theoretical framings line this
> could come so more lasting solutions to the contestations and conflicts
> rather than the strategy that has been used up to now wher the dominant is
> replaced by the dominator etct etc.
>
> I realise that this maybe detract from the realities ... comments.
>
> Richard
>





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