DOCSLIB.ORG

A Dialectic of Talking Forests: Trotskyist Ecology Through Afghan

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

A Dialectic of Talking Forests: Trotskyist Ecology Through Afghan Sufi Cosmology Bilal Zenab Ahmed (SOAS, University of London (PhD)) This paper argues that a Trotskyist understanding of dialectics is well-suited to be combined with a few different intellectual mechanisms present in Pashto literature, oral storytelling, and Naqshbandi Sufi cosmology, to pursue a properly Marxist understanding of ecology and climate change. Such a model of understanding is highly appropriate to the local context of Northwest Pakistan and Southern Afghanistan, and can also potentially inspire new forms of dialectical understanding, elsewhere.I focus on the Afghan poet and refugee Pir Muhammad Karwan, who wrote a collection of work about the Soviet-Afghan War while living in Pakistani refugee camps during Taliban rule in the 1990s. Karwans poetry can be roughly classified as neoplatonist, due to its reliance on local Sufi concepts like maanavi and the imaginal plane. Perso-Arabic Sufi cosmology enables Karwan to work through an intellectual matrix that both abolishes and retools concepts like the self and other, technology and organic beings, human and nonhuman species, living and nonliving objects, embodied and cognitive knowledge, and sentient and non sentient natural processes. This is clear from works like The Chinar Tree Speaks, which discusses the Soviet-Afghan war from the perspective of human and tree, and The Talking Forest, which goes further to describe a forest not just in terms of its material content, but as a network of physical and emotional processes that feels, thinks, and speaks in its own spoken and embodied language.While Karwan is explicitly discussing the Soviet-Afghan War, its possible to use his perspective as a springboard for discussing the various impacts and processes involved in climate change. Essentially, Karwans perspective is that the distinction between nature and humanity is artificial, and that even an inorganic and non sentient object has a physical, emotional, and cosmic impact. This approach pairs quite well with Trotskys writings on evolutionism, science, and the dialectics of nature; particularly so given that Trotsky is one of the few Marxist thinkers of his era to attempt to observe the dialectic in subatomic and nonhuman realms. Potentially, a Trotskyist reading of Karwan could open entirely new frameworks for dialectics, which views such diverse actors and processes as bees, deer, helicopters, melting ice caps, and the revolutionary proletarian party, on the same plane. It could also view natural processes such as climate change in terms of their emotional and spiritual content, in addition to the physical characteristics usually covered by historical materialism. This will, in turn, make it possible to sketch out new visions of proletarian governance, and new groundings for solidarity that extend across the biosphere. Class relations at the origins of Islam Ian David Morris (University of Amsterdam) Muhammad was a merchant. Historians are forever trying to explain the details of his life and the contents of the Quran with reference to his career, travelling and trading among Jews and Christians. And since W.M. Watt published his books on Muhammad at Mecca and Muhammad at Medina in the 1950s, we have even wondered if the rise of merchant capitalism frayed the bonds of tribal society, disturbing the traditional order and paving the way for Muhammads moral revolution.This paper argues that we have focused too much on trade itself and too little on the class relations that support a trading economy. Muhammad and his peers were more than merchants: they were a highly mobile class of warrior landlords who through tax, rent, interest and tribute seized and concentrated surplus wealth from the petty herdsmen and oasis farmers of Arabia.From this angle, Muhammad was not a revolutionary, but a consolidator. His new coalition did not abolish the class system, but it did unite the ruling class into a single political force. Together in their zeal for primitive accumulation with Gods blessing they went on to conquer and exploit their wealthier neighbours across the Middle East. The origins of Islam belong to the history of class struggle. Endnotes 5 panel John Clegg (University of Chicago) This is a launch panel for Endnotes issue 5 What is Commercial Capital?: Japanese Contributions to Marxian Market Theory Kei Ehara (Oita University) Shinya Shibasaki (Hokusei Gakuen University) This paper deals with Japanese contributions to the Marxian theory of commercial capital. It is especially noteworthy that Part 4, The Transformation of Commodity Capital and Money Capital into Commercial Capital and Money-Dealing Capital (Merchants Capital) ofCapitalVol.3, has been a popular area of discussion among Japanese Marxians: whereas Part 5, The Division of Profit into Interest and Profit of Enterprise, was taken up by R. Hilferding, who wroteFinance Capital in 1910, the Western literature has paid little attention to the theory of commercial capital developed in Part 4. In order to complete the introduction of Japanese Marxian economics, the theory of commercial capital is indispensable and we think it useful for all critical thinkers of capitalism to understand how and why Japanese Marxians have studied the area.The history of Japanese studies of commercial capital can be divided into three periods: the first period is from the 1950s to the 1970s and is led by Kozo Uno (1897 - 1977), one of the most influential figures in Japanese Marxian economists. A lot of people followed his argument and formed a group of scholars called the Uno school or Unoists. Consequently, the study of commercial capital has been mainly conducted by the Uno school. The first section of this paper will introduce how Uno tried to develop Marxs argument on this topic.The important figure in the second period is Shigekatsu Yamaguchi (1932 - ), who was a student of Uno and also is one of the main critics of Uno. His first book published in 1983,Kyoso to Shyogyo-shihon(Competition and Commercial Capital), stimulated fierce debates in this field of study and became one of the reference points in this period from the 1980s to the 2000s. Also, he educated many Marxian scholars at the University of Tokyo, contributing to the popularity of this theme among the Uno school. This paper will deal with Yamaguchis theory in the second section.The third period began from the 2000s. The theory of commercial capital is still one of the most popular areas of study in Japanese Marxian economics. One of the issues is how to develop and update Yamaguchis theory to understand modern capitalism. We shall describe the current achievements and the remaining issues in the third section and conclusion respectively. Eco-socialist climate policy after the yellow vests Anders Ekeland (Statistics Norway) The starting point of the paper is the reaction of the eco-socialist left to the yellow vest movement in France, exemplified primarily by the response from leading member of Attac in France, economist Maxime Combes and Andreas Malm, author of “Fossil Capitalism”, but also the response of Melenchon and the Green Party is analysed. The paper argues that the left in France, in Europe and internationally is politically paralysed on the key issue of the price of fossil fuel, in particular the price of petrol for cars. The yellow vest movement is of course not caused only or primarily by Macron’s tax increase on petrol, but it was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. It the rise of the price of petrol that united very diverse socio-politico-economic groups into one movement. Which means that you are politically paralysed if you do not have long-term strategy for whether the price should increase or not. Because as long as fossil are cheap they will be used and no decrease, and certainly not a drastic reduction in emissions will occur. Since burning fossil fuels is directly responsible for almost 80 % of the emissions, the price of fossil fuel is the key price when it comes to climate policy. It is also the key political problem, since significantly increasing the price (= reducing emissions significantly) clearly hits the poor more than the rich and if the ruling elites tries to do that, there will be social unrest of a magnitude that the ruling elites fear more than anything. That is of course why they have not increased the price of carbon. The yellow vest movement just show that their fear was real. The price of fossil fuel is clearly the Gordian knot of climate policy. The price should increase, but that is politically impossible if it is not part of a “just transition”. The only way to increase the carbon price in a socially just way, the politically possible way to increase the price, is to combine it with strong redistribution policies. The most common way to do that is to implement a progressive carbon tax, where the tax revenue is redistributed in a “Robin Hood” way hurting the rich and benefitting the poor. While supported by some well-known eco-socialist like John B. Foster and Ian Angus, a progressive carbon tax is for most activists is a non-issue, i.e. a strategy they have not seriously considered. A few well-known eco-socialist, like Daniel Tanuro have come out clearly against a progressive carbon tax. The paper also argues that the widespread belief on the left that regulation has no consequence for the price on fossil fuels is wrong. If the “keep the oil in the soil, the coal in the hole” movement was successful in reducing the supply of fossil fuel significantly, thereby significantly reducing the emissions, it would lead to a sharp increase in the price of petrol, gas, coal – and according to carbon content – all other goods and services.
Recommended publications
  • Notes on Gender in Marx's Capital

    Notes on Gender in Marx's Capital

    CONTINENTAL THOUGHT & THEORY: A JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Volume 1 | Issue 4: 150 years of Capital 19-37| ISSN: 2463-333X Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Silvia Federici Abstract As interest in Marxism and Feminism is reviving and Marx’s views on ‘gender’ are receiving a new attention, some areas of agreement among feminists are emerging that also shape my approach to the subject. 1 First, while denunciations of gender inequalities and patriarchal control in the family and society can be found in Marx’s work from an early stage, it is agreed that Marx “did not have much to say on gender and the family” 2 and, even in Capital his views on the subject must be reconstructed from scattered observations. Nevertheless, Marx’s work has given a significant contribution to the development of feminist theory, although not primarily based on his direct pronouncements on the subject. Not only has his historical materialist method helped demonstrate the constructed character of gender hierarchies and identities.3 Marx’s analysis of capitalist accumulation and value creation have given feminists of my generation powerful tools to rethink the specific forms of exploitation to which women have been subjected in capitalist society and the relation between ‘sex, race, and class.’4 However the use that feminists have made of Marx has at best taken them in a different direction from the one he traced. 19 CONTINENTAL THOUGHT & THEORY: A JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Key words: Gender, Marx, Labour-Power, Feminism, Wages for Housework Movement, Domestic Work, Reproduction Writing about gender in Capital, then, is coming to terms with two different Marxes and, I add, two different viewpoints on gender and the class struggle.
  • A Study of John Leslie's Infinite Minds, a Philosophical Cosmology

    A Study of John Leslie's Infinite Minds, a Philosophical Cosmology

    Document généré le 1 oct. 2021 09:18 Laval théologique et philosophique Infinite Minds, Determinism & Evil A Study of John Leslie’s Infinite Minds, A Philosophical Cosmology Leslie Armour La question de Dieu Volume 58, numéro 3, octobre 2002 URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/000634ar DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/000634ar Aller au sommaire du numéro Éditeur(s) Faculté de philosophie, Université Laval Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses, Université Laval ISSN 0023-9054 (imprimé) 1703-8804 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cette note Armour, L. (2002). Infinite Minds, Determinism & Evil: A Study of John Leslie’s Infinite Minds, A Philosophical Cosmology. Laval théologique et philosophique, 58(3), 597–603. https://doi.org/10.7202/000634ar Tous droits réservés © Laval théologique et philosophique, Université Laval, Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des 2002 services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l’Université de Montréal, l’Université Laval et l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. https://www.erudit.org/fr/ Laval théologique et philosophique, 58, 3 (octobre 2002) : 597-603 ◆ note critique INFINITE MINDS, DETERMINISM & EVIL A STUDY OF JOHN LESLIE’S INFINITE MINDS, A PHILOSOPHICAL COSMOLOGY * Leslie Armour The Dominican College of Philosophy and Theology Ottawa ohn Leslie’s Infinite Minds is a refreshingly daring book.
  • Science and Religion in the Face of the Environmental Crisis

    Science and Religion in the Face of the Environmental Crisis

    Roger S. Gottlieb, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pages 376-397. CHAPTER 17 .................................................................................................. SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN THE FACE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS ..................................................................................................... HOLMES ROLSTON III BOTH science and religion are challenged by the environmental crisis, both to reevaluate the natural world and to reevaluate their dialogue with each other. Both are thrown into researching fundamental theory and practice in the face of an upheaval unprecedented in human history, indeed in planetary history. Life on Earth is in jeopardy owing to the behavior of one species, the only species that is either scientific or religious, the only species claiming privilege as the "wise spe- cies," Homo sapiens. Nature and the human relation to nature must be evaluated within cultures, classically by their religions, currently also by the sciences so eminent in Western culture. Ample numbers of theologians and ethicists have become persuaded that religion needs to pay more attention to ecology, and many ecologists recognize religious dimensions to caring for nature and to addressing the ecological crisis. Somewhat ironically, just when humans, with their increasing industry and technology, seemed further and further from nature, having more knowledge about natural processes and more power to manage them, just when humans were more and more rebuilding their environments, thinking perhaps to escape nature, the natural world has emerged as a focus of concern. Nature remains the milieu of 376 SCIENCE AND RELIGION 377 culture—so both science and religion have discovered. In a currently popular vocabulary, humans need to get themselves "naturalized." Using another meta- phor, nature is the "womb" of culture, but a womb that humans never entirely leave.
  • Physical Cosmology Physics 6010, Fall 2017 Lam Hui

    Physical Cosmology Physics 6010, Fall 2017 Lam Hui

    Physical Cosmology Physics 6010, Fall 2017 Lam Hui My coordinates. Pupin 902. Phone: 854-7241. Email: [email protected]. URL: http://www.astro.columbia.edu/∼lhui. Teaching assistant. Xinyu Li. Email: [email protected] Office hours. Wednesday 2:30 { 3:30 pm, or by appointment. Class Meeting Time/Place. Wednesday, Friday 1 - 2:30 pm (Rabi Room), Mon- day 1 - 2 pm for the first 4 weeks (TBC). Prerequisites. No permission is required if you are an Astronomy or Physics graduate student { however, it will be assumed you have a background in sta- tistical mechanics, quantum mechanics and electromagnetism at the undergrad- uate level. Knowledge of general relativity is not required. If you are an undergraduate student, you must obtain explicit permission from me. Requirements. Problem sets. The last problem set will serve as a take-home final. Topics covered. Basics of hot big bang standard model. Newtonian cosmology. Geometry and general relativity. Thermal history of the universe. Primordial nucleosynthesis. Recombination. Microwave background. Dark matter and dark energy. Spatial statistics. Inflation and structure formation. Perturba- tion theory. Large scale structure. Non-linear clustering. Galaxy formation. Intergalactic medium. Gravitational lensing. Texts. The main text is Modern Cosmology, by Scott Dodelson, Academic Press, available at Book Culture on W. 112th Street. The website is http://www.bookculture.com. Other recommended references include: • Cosmology, S. Weinberg, Oxford University Press. • http://pancake.uchicago.edu/∼carroll/notes/grtiny.ps or http://pancake.uchicago.edu/∼carroll/notes/grtinypdf.pdf is a nice quick introduction to general relativity by Sean Carroll. • A First Course in General Relativity, B.
  • Cosmic Microwave Background

    Cosmic Microwave Background

    1 29. Cosmic Microwave Background 29. Cosmic Microwave Background Revised August 2019 by D. Scott (U. of British Columbia) and G.F. Smoot (HKUST; Paris U.; UC Berkeley; LBNL). 29.1 Introduction The energy content in electromagnetic radiation from beyond our Galaxy is dominated by the cosmic microwave background (CMB), discovered in 1965 [1]. The spectrum of the CMB is well described by a blackbody function with T = 2.7255 K. This spectral form is a main supporting pillar of the hot Big Bang model for the Universe. The lack of any observed deviations from a 7 blackbody spectrum constrains physical processes over cosmic history at redshifts z ∼< 10 (see earlier versions of this review). Currently the key CMB observable is the angular variation in temperature (or intensity) corre- lations, and to a growing extent polarization [2–4]. Since the first detection of these anisotropies by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite [5], there has been intense activity to map the sky at increasing levels of sensitivity and angular resolution by ground-based and balloon-borne measurements. These were joined in 2003 by the first results from NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)[6], which were improved upon by analyses of data added every 2 years, culminating in the 9-year results [7]. In 2013 we had the first results [8] from the third generation CMB satellite, ESA’s Planck mission [9,10], which were enhanced by results from the 2015 Planck data release [11, 12], and then the final 2018 Planck data release [13, 14]. Additionally, CMB an- isotropies have been extended to smaller angular scales by ground-based experiments, particularly the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) [15] and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) [16].
  • 9. the Cosmic Microwave Background

    9. the Cosmic Microwave Background

    A5682: Introduction to Cosmology Course Notes 9. The Cosmic Microwave Background Reading: Chapter 8, sections 8.0-8.3. (We will cover 8.4 and 8.5 later.) “Re”combination After Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, the universe was still much too hot for the formation of neutral atoms. As expansion continued, the background radiation photons redshifted and the temperature dropped. Naively, one would expect p + e− → H when kT ∼ 13.6eV. Just as with deuterium synthesis, however, the high value of nγ/nb implies that the exponential tail of the photon distribution can dissociate hydrogen atoms. Less naively, we expect p + e− → H when kT ∼ 13.6eV/(− ln η) ∼ 0.65eV, corresponding to (1 + z) ≈ 2700. A more accurate version of this argument given in the textbook (section 9.3) yields a predicted redshift of (1 + z) ≈ 1370 for hydrogen formation. In practice, there are several complicating factors, e.g., any recombination direct to the ground state produces a photon that can immediately ionize another neutral atom unless the photon survives long enough to be redshifted below 13.6 eV. A proper, somewhat tricky calculation of cosmic recombination shows that there is a fairly rapid transition from a free electron fraction xe ≈ 1 to xe ≈ 0 at z ≈ 1100, with most of the transition occuring over a redshift range ∆z ≈ 80. In the laboratory, or in regions ionized by hot stars or quasars or shocks, the process p + e− → H is usually referred to as “recombination.” In the early universe, the protons and electrons were never in the form of hydrogen to begin with, so this process should arguably be called “combination” rather than “recombination.” But “combination” sounds rather silly, so “recombination” is still the standard term for this tran- sition.
  • They Call It Love Wages for Housework and Emotional

    They Call It Love Wages for Housework and Emotional

    THEY CALL IT LOVE WAGES FOR HOUSEWORK AND EMOTIONAL REPRODUCTION ALVA GOTBY A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of West London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2019 1 Abstract This thesis is a study of two sets of literature on capitalism, gender, and emotion. Firstly, it explores the writings of the Wages for Housework (WFH) movement – a network of Marxist feminist activist groups, founded in 1972, whose activity was centred on women’s reproductive labour. Secondly, this thesis draws on the body of writing on emotional labour. Coined by Arlie Hochschild in 1983, this term describes the work of producing emotional states in another person. While WFH were attentive to emotional aspects of reproductive labour, their writings mention emotional labour only in passing. Hochschild’s work concentrates on emotional labour in particular service occupations, but neglects broader issues of social reproduction. Synthesising these bodies of work, I introduce the concept of emotional reproduction, thus applying the WFH perspective to the theme introduced by Hochschild. Emotional reproduction denotes processes across waged and unwaged forms of labour, intended to enhance the relative emotional wellbeing of a recipient, to the extent that they are able to participate in waged labour. These processes often take place in the private sphere, and are constructed as a typically feminine activity. I argue for the importance of understanding these processes as a form of labour, which is integral to capitalist social reproduction. Through the notion of emotional reproduction, this thesis offers an account of gendered subjectivity. It highlights the construction of gendered and historically specific forms of skill, which are essential for emotional labour.
  • Music and Environment: Registering Contemporary Convergences

    Music and Environment: Registering Contemporary Convergences

    JOURNAL OF OF RESEARCH ONLINE MusicA JOURNALA JOURNALOF THE MUSIC OF MUSICAUSTRALIA COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA ■ Music and Environment: Registering Contemporary Convergences Introduction H O L L I S T A Y L O R & From the ancient Greek’s harmony of the spheres (Pont 2004) to a first millennium ANDREW HURLEY Babylonian treatise on birdsong (Lambert 1970), from the thirteenth-century round ‘Sumer Is Icumen In’ to Handel’s Water Music (Suites HWV 348–50, 1717), and ■ Faculty of Arts Macquarie University from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, 1808) to Randy North Ryde 2109 Newman’s ‘Burn On’ (Newman 1972), musicians of all stripes have long linked ‘music’ New South Wales Australia and ‘environment’. However, this gloss fails to capture the scope of recent activity by musicians and musicologists who are engaging with topics, concepts, and issues [email protected] ■ relating to the environment. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology Sydney Despite musicology’s historical preoccupation with autonomy, our register of musico- PO Box 123 Broadway 2007 environmental convergences indicates that the discipline is undergoing a sea change — New South Wales one underpinned in particular by the1980s and early 1990s work of New Musicologists Australia like Joseph Kerman, Susan McClary, Lawrence Kramer, and Philip Bohlman. Their [email protected] challenges to the belief that music is essentially self-referential provoked a shift in the discipline, prompting interdisciplinary partnerships to be struck and methodologies to be rethought. Much initial activity focused on the role that politics, gender, and identity play in music.
  • Lecture 19 Big Bang Cosmology

    Lecture 19 Big Bang Cosmology

    PHY100 ― The Nature of the Physical World Lecture 19 Big Bang Cosmology Arán García-Bellido PHY100 1 News Exam 2: you can do better! Presentations April 14: Great Physicist life, Controlled fusion April 19: Nuclear power, Search for ET life April 21: Music, Nuclear terrorism 2 per day 20 min+discussion/Q&A Want to meet with all groups this week Contact me PHY100 2 Cosmology Scientific study of the large scale structure of the universe Attempt to understand the origin, evolution and fate of the universe The universe: all matter, space, time and energy Remember first lecture: Tycho Brahe (1546-1601): careful observation of sun, moon, planets Johannes Kepler (1571-1630): elliptical orbits, 3 laws of planetary motion Isaac Newton (1643-1727): Universal law of gravitation + laws of motion explained Kepler's laws of planetary motion Albert Einstein (1879-1955): In an accelerated rocket ship, light would seem to travel on a curved path Gravity = accelerated frame Gravity curves space PHY100 3 Gravity bends light From outside Light is not bent because of the gravitational force 'per se' Light moves on a geodesic (=shortest distance between two points) So Einstein interprets gravitation as a curvature of spacetime Gravity warps spacetime Light just follows the curvature of space From inside PHY100 4 General Relativity: tests Bending of light by gravitational field 4 Gravitational redshift of light 4 Perihelion advance of Mercury 4 Gravitational waves ? PHY100 5 Light travels at a finite speed Object Lookback time Sun 8 minutes Alpha Centauri
  • 19. Big-Bang Cosmology 1 19

    19. Big-Bang Cosmology 1 19

    19. Big-Bang cosmology 1 19. BIG-BANG COSMOLOGY Revised September 2009 by K.A. Olive (University of Minnesota) and J.A. Peacock (University of Edinburgh). 19.1. Introduction to Standard Big-Bang Model The observed expansion of the Universe [1,2,3] is a natural (almost inevitable) result of any homogeneous and isotropic cosmological model based on general relativity. However, by itself, the Hubble expansion does not provide sufficient evidence for what we generally refer to as the Big-Bang model of cosmology. While general relativity is in principle capable of describing the cosmology of any given distribution of matter, it is extremely fortunate that our Universe appears to be homogeneous and isotropic on large scales. Together, homogeneity and isotropy allow us to extend the Copernican Principle to the Cosmological Principle, stating that all spatial positions in the Universe are essentially equivalent. The formulation of the Big-Bang model began in the 1940s with the work of George Gamow and his collaborators, Alpher and Herman. In order to account for the possibility that the abundances of the elements had a cosmological origin, they proposed that the early Universe which was once very hot and dense (enough so as to allow for the nucleosynthetic processing of hydrogen), and has expanded and cooled to its present state [4,5]. In 1948, Alpher and Herman predicted that a direct consequence of this model is the presence of a relic background radiation with a temperature of order a few K [6,7]. Of course this radiation was observed 16 years later as the microwave background radiation [8].
  • Acts of Displacement: Lea Lublin's Mon Fils

    Acts of Displacement: Lea Lublin's Mon Fils

    Acts of Displacement: Lea Lublin’s Mon Fils, May ’68 and Feminist Psychosocial Revolt On May 4, 1968, the day after confrontations between students and police initiated the événements that would bring Paris to a standstill for the entire month and trigger strikes across France, the 24e Salon de Mai opened at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. First proposed in 1943 by Gaston Diehl, with the ambition of expanding the existing salon system, by 1968 the Salon de Mai had settled into a conservative venture ‘honouring the modern tradition through homages to established artists.’1 However, for this iteration an unusually unconventional work lay in wait for visitors among the sculptures and paintings. For Mon fils (My Son), the artist Lea Lublin displayed her baby son Nicolas, born the year before, in the galleries with his crib, nappies, clothes and toys (fig. 1). Lublin reflected that Mon fils entailed ‘displacing a moment of my everyday life into an artistic site … I exhibited myself with my son.’2 Lublin consistently framed the work as a ‘displacement’, reiterating this formulation in a 1989 interview: ‘the previous year, my great joy had been the birth of my son, and I said to myself: the best thing for me is to displace a moment of my everyday life to an artistic space, the Museum [sic].’3 Lublin’s act of displacement, this essay proposes, occupies an intriguing interstitial zone between Marxist feminist analyses of domestic labour and childcare on the one hand, and feminist re-readings of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis on the other.
  • Embodying Alternatives to Capitalism in the 21St Century

    Embodying Alternatives to Capitalism in the 21St Century

    tripleC 16(2): 501-517, 2018 http://www.triple-c.at Embodying Alternatives to Capitalism in the 21st Century Lara Monticelli Independent researcher, [email protected] Abstract: The goal of this article is twofold. First, to illustrate how in the last decade a growing number of critical and Marxist thinkers committed to discussing and developing theories of change have started to broaden their focus by including social movements and grassroots initiatives that are “interstitial”, i.e. initiatives that are developing within capitalism and are striv- ing to prefigure a post-capitalist society in the here and now without engaging in contentious, violent and revolutionary actions and activities. To achieve this, I mainly focus on the work of four authors: Erik Olin Wright, John Holloway, Ana C. Dinerstein, and Luke Martell. The second goal of this article is to understand why these interstitial movements are getting so much at- tention from critical scholars and to argue that the time is ripe for establishing a theory of (and for) prefigurative social movements. The article closes with some brief reflections on the future of radical thinking that includes an invitation, directed mostly at the young generation of critical and Marxist scholars, to begin a dialogue with theories of change developed within other dis- ciplines, to engage with activists, and to experiment with participatory methods and techniques. Keywords: Karl Marx, bicentenary, 200th anniversary, capitalism, crisis, utopia, prefigurative social movements Acknowledgement: The following text constitutes an expanded and revised version of the semi-plenary talk that I gave at the 13th conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA) held in Athens in August 2017.