.: s0metim3s :. on Thu, 8 Jan 2004 20:07:38 +0100 (CET) |
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RE: <nettime> Old Left etc |
I'm not a fan of the WSF project: the numerous criticisms of that project as an attempt to establish a kind of 'alternative' policy cabal, with all that this has implied about those 'with the expertise to set policy' and its mediatory demeanour, are well known, I think; but not raised in this thread. What is raised in this thread is a concern over the rhetorics of old/new. Fine; such rhetorics are hardly, well, new. Haggling over the datestamp however, doesn't amount to a persuasive argument for defending that which is located by one's interlocutors in the camp of the 'old,' surely. Speaking of rhetorics: complaining, as you do, that Aditya is involved in a polemic reminiscent of 'old-style purges and, then, proceeding to complain that s/he is spending too much time arguing with others of colour and not enough against multinational capitalism, is verging on the accusation of 'traitor' -- it is not clear whether the inflection here is 'class traitor', 'race traitor' or both. As for this, which I guess is the substantive point of your argument: : I perceive as a chic anti-globalizationist stance that : dismisses any concern for nationalism, or such quaint : ideas as cultural integrity and cultural identity as : either crypto fundamentalist or passe. Isn't there a contradiction between 'anti-globalisation' and adopting crit of nationalism? Ok, too literal... maybe. What do you mean by 'concern for nationalism'? You mean 'support', yes? What are the reasons for not dispensing with nationalism, in Latin America or elsewhere, exactly? Which is to say: what reasons are there for continuing to view left wing nationalism as progressive? And, what does 'cultural integrity' mean? If you mean to imply that the borders of any given nation-state are coincident with the delineations of particular cultures (that any 'national culture' is homogenous), then I think that you are indeed asserting a (in your words) crypto-fundamentalist nationalism that, unfortunately, is neither quaint nor passe but dominant (in both my part of the world and yours) and, I think, frightening. That you aspire to a world in which one's 'cultural integrity' should and can be defended by the nation-state, while charging those who do not share such a view as tantamount to treachery is, I think, also frightening. The view that there is somehow a contradiction between international and national systems should have been passe a long time ago, around 1893. Cheers, Angela _______________ <end message> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net