"These are the regimes [the oil monarchies] that are militarily and politically supported by Western powers, all too happy to get some crumbs to fund their soccer clubs or sell some weapons. No wonder our lessons in social justice and democracy find little welcome among Middle Eastern youth."
--Thomas Piketty.
"Feminism's ambivalence has been resolved in favour of (neo) liberal individualism."
---Nancy Fraser
~~
Uncomfortable thoughts, no doubt. That is not to say, of course, that inequality is the cause of, or even the major reason for, the rise of Isis. But unless someone starts to talk about Saudi (and its funding of a particularly narrow, bigoted, conservative and pernicious ideology all over the world (including the West) we're going to miss out on an essential part of the story.
Of course, that's not going to happen because 'the West' has, well, how to put this, been in bed with these crackpots for an awful long time. Money and "national interest" over what is ethically right. That's why you'll never see any criticism of "mystical" India when it comes to Kashmir.
Seriously, I don't know why I don't give up.
~
Haven't read much Nancy Fraser (her Marx's Hidden Abode is superb, though). But, again, this is a sophisticated, nuanced and perhaps somewhat controversial view. It is, of course, not about praising the hierarchical structures of dominance that are usually associated with pre- or non-capitalist factors (culture, religion, tradition) nor, obviously, is this about romanticizing the past.It's more to do with how the left can move forward in the face of neoliberalism co-opting the language and modes of thought of any resistance to it (or, to put it the other way around: how resistance to capitalism is shaped by the type of capitalism it opposes).
Culture, like identity, is a construct. A sense of belonging, identity over time, the notion of 'place' or of value persisting over time..all that must be deconstructed, thrown out of the window as a fiction. How very convenient for late capitalism which emphasizes fluidity and "flexibility", transgression and the erasure of all boundaries, markers (unless they serve a purpose to the machine)
--Thomas Piketty.
"Feminism's ambivalence has been resolved in favour of (neo) liberal individualism."
---Nancy Fraser
~~
Uncomfortable thoughts, no doubt. That is not to say, of course, that inequality is the cause of, or even the major reason for, the rise of Isis. But unless someone starts to talk about Saudi (and its funding of a particularly narrow, bigoted, conservative and pernicious ideology all over the world (including the West) we're going to miss out on an essential part of the story.
Of course, that's not going to happen because 'the West' has, well, how to put this, been in bed with these crackpots for an awful long time. Money and "national interest" over what is ethically right. That's why you'll never see any criticism of "mystical" India when it comes to Kashmir.
Seriously, I don't know why I don't give up.
~
Haven't read much Nancy Fraser (her Marx's Hidden Abode is superb, though). But, again, this is a sophisticated, nuanced and perhaps somewhat controversial view. It is, of course, not about praising the hierarchical structures of dominance that are usually associated with pre- or non-capitalist factors (culture, religion, tradition) nor, obviously, is this about romanticizing the past.It's more to do with how the left can move forward in the face of neoliberalism co-opting the language and modes of thought of any resistance to it (or, to put it the other way around: how resistance to capitalism is shaped by the type of capitalism it opposes).
Culture, like identity, is a construct. A sense of belonging, identity over time, the notion of 'place' or of value persisting over time..all that must be deconstructed, thrown out of the window as a fiction. How very convenient for late capitalism which emphasizes fluidity and "flexibility", transgression and the erasure of all boundaries, markers (unless they serve a purpose to the machine)
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