Summer 2005 Volume 26, No

The newsletter of the Section onMarxist Sociology of the American Sociological Association From the Left Summer 2005 Volume 26, No. 1

case of a disputed election, and attempts to block voter fraud. There should be increased A Dysfunctional Electoral System efforts to enable voter access and prevent voter Douglas Kellner, University of California suppression. Voting and counting procedures should be transparent, uniform, safe, and effi- The essence of democracy is the confidence of cient. There should be agreed-upon recount procedures, criteria to count contested votes, the electorate in the accuracy of voting meth- and scrutiny of the process by members of ods and the fairness of voting procedures. In both parties and professional election officials. 2000, that confidence suffered terribly, and we The problems with the U.S. election system, fear that such a blow to our democracy may however, go far beyond the machines. The have occurred in 2004. dysfunctionality evident in Election 2000 and —John Conyers, Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert 2004 reveal problems with the arguably out- Wexler,members of the U.S. House Judiciary moded Electoral College system and the prob- Committee (Note 1). lematical nature of the U.S. system of proportional voting. Many citizens were surprised to (Continued on page 5) I n retrospect, it is tragic that John Kerry con- ceded so quickly because challenging the vot- Inside This Issue: ing system, insisting that all votes be counted, “Danger: The Presidency of George W. Bush” 2 pointing to well-documented examples of voter by Barbara Chasin suppression, demonstrating problems with machines that do not provide accurate counts, and “Toward a Critical Theory of Tourism” 3 dramatizing the dangers of computer hacking by Kevin Fox Gotham to fix elections could have produced impetus to reform the system. As critics have pointed out, “What a Marxist Professor Should Teach” 4 Elections 2000 and 2004 produced more than 3 by Michael Francisconi million spoiled ballots that could not be read “The Downing Street Memo-Why 19 by voting machines, generally because old ma- It’s Important” chines often malfunction; 75 percent of the by Andrew Austin machines in Ohio were of this vintage. A hand- count of these votes could have made a differ- Book Announcements: ence. There were also thousands of provisional Globalization and Cross-Border Labor 19 ballots to be counted in Ohio, many absentee Solidarity: The Anti-Sweatshop Movement ballots, and many irregularities to check out. It and the Struggle for Social Justice would have been important to carry out close by Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval examinations of the computer voting machines Breaking the Code of Good Intentions: 19 in Ohio and Florida to see if they provided ac- Everyday Forms of Whiteness curate results (Note 2). by Melanie E. L. Bush Examining voting machines could lead to voting reforms, such as those in California and ASA Annual Meeting August 2005: 17 Nevada, which required more transparency in Marxist Sessions & Roundtables the process, a paper trail to scrutinize in the ISA World Congress 2006 Information 22

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Danger: The Presidency of Marxist Section Officers 2004-2005

George W. Bush Chair: David Fasenfest, Wayne State University

Barbara Chasin, Montclair State University Chair-Elect: Jeff Haley, University of Texas,

San Antonio

Past Chair: Kevin Anderson, Purdue Uni versity O n January 19th, 2005, CNN devoted close Secretary/Treasurer: Warren S. Goldstein, to 3 hours of its prime-time evening program- University of Central Florida ming, to answering the question “How Safe Council Are We?” Their coverage added up to an an- Joanna A. Hadjiconstandi, University of Texas swer of “not very.” Even so, the network, un- of the Permian Basin derestimated the threats facing Americans Karen Bettez Halnon, Pennsylvania State since its concern was exclusively with terror- University ism. Not surprisingly, there are no media spe- Arthur J. Jipson, University of Dayton cials on how dangerous life in the U.S. is irre- Lloyd Klein, Louisiana State University spective of terrorism. The presidency of Jennifer Lehmann, University of Nebraska George W. Bush has added to the dangers both from terrorism and from the routine workings Newsletter Editor: Karen Bettez Halnon, of our social system. Americans are at greater Pennsylvania State University risk than people living in comparable coun- Newsletter Assistant Editor: Sharon Gerczyk, tries. (Chasin 2004: 18-23) Both major U.S. Pennsylvania State University political parties are dominated by corporations, while unions and progressive movements are weaker here. The weakening of unions and of organized progressive movements has meant an increase in economic inequality and greater From the Left Seeks Submissions political inequality. The corporate sector’s gains in strength have meant a diminishing of From the Left seeks submissions for its regulations and the fraying of an already inade- Fall 2005 issue (roughly 1,500 words). quate social safety net. Life is less healthy and safe in the United States even when Democrats Please send proposals or texts by email to hold office; but with their electoral base of Karen Bettez Halnon at [email protected] people of color, working people and lower in- by August 30, 2005. come groups, Democrats do pay more attention to the less privileged classes than do Republi- cans. (See Domhoff 2004: 68-69 for how this save them from the dangers he convinced came about) Corporations know that Republi- them of. The irony is that Bush represents a cans are more dependably on their side. This is danger to the very Americans who think he is reflected in the 2004 campaign contributions. their protector. Corporate donors in the major economic sec- tors provided $92,439,064 to the Bush cam- Terrorism paign compared to $48,008,059 to Kerry’s ef- The Bush campaign pushed the message: forts. (Opensecrets 2004) Still, Bush, this time “Vote for George W. or face more terrorist at- did get more of the popular votes than his ri- tacks.” However, the war in Iraq, sold as a way val. to lessen the terrorist threat, has spawned more During the 2004 campaign Bush successfully stoked people’s fears and then promised to (Continued on page 6)

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forms of tourism (contrived, recreational, en- tertainment, heritage, etc.), different types of Toward a Critical Theory of tourism sites (mega-events, gambling, sports, Tourism theme parks, tourist-oriented celebrations, historical sites, and so on), and different technolo- Kevin Fox Gotham, Tulane University gies of tourism (air travel, automobile travel, theming, simulation, virtual reality, and so on). What unites these diverse forms, types, and technologies of tourism are the twin processes I n this short essay I want to elaborate a nas- of commodification and bureaucratic rationali- cent critical theory of tourism using the theo- zation. In his famous essay, “The Culture In- retical resources and concepts of the Frankfurt dustry Reconsidered,” Adorno ([1967] 1989, p. School and other Marxian scholars. My theo- 129), criticized the transformation of spontane- retical goals are motivated by a concern that ous and authentic “popular culture” into an ad- much of the academic literature on tourism ministered and reified “mass culture.” Rather lacks a critical focus, fails to illuminate social than autonomous culture creation, which is relations of domination and exploitation, and characteristic of social connectedness at the neglects to analyze the contradictory and con- micro or everyday level, the culture industry flicting meanings and effects of tourism. As works through a relentless process of com- the largest industry in the world, tourism commodification to hollow out the distinctive sub- prises a variety of socio-economic and cultural stantive content of social relations and their activities, including air and automobile travel, creations. In this process, culture, heritage, new forms of mobility, cruise ships, historic and tradition become centrally conceived and preservation sites, museums, casinos, theme controlled social forms, objects of market- parks, and other entertaining spaces that enable based instrumental relations that are devoid of people to consume many different commodi- emotional and sensuous life. Using Adorno’s ties. As a global industry, tourism unfolds insights, a critical theory would interrogate through a process of bureaucratic rationaliza- how tourist spaces exhibit “incessantly re- tion and standardization in which different cit- peated formulae” that suppress spontaneity ies court the same transnational tourism firms and active creativity, and reflect and reinforce (e.g., international hotel chains, casinos, car the trends of commodification, standardization, rental agencies, etc.) and embrace similar mar- and fetishism. keting strategies, thereby creating identicalness Second, a critical theory would eschew gen- and homogeneity. On the other hand, in an era eralized and abstract notions of tourism and of major socio-economic restructuring, places tourists and examine the interconnected politi- vie to differentiate themselves, playing up their cal, economic, and cultural processes that con- cultural distinctiveness, and advertising them- stitute the diverse forms, types, and technolo- selves as places to visit. Yet many of these gies of tourism. A dialectical perspective developments remain under theoretized and would combine both macro- and micro-levels poorly understood. My goal is to begin to to explain how different governments and po- remedy these problems and omissions by litical organizations work with economic elites pointing to five major dimensions of a substan- and private interests to produce tourist sites; tive critical theory for understanding and ana- how different marketers and advertising agents lyzing tourism and its social consequences. use images and theming strategies to represent First, a critical theory embraces an orienta- tourism; which groups and interests oppose tion that views tourism sites and sights as plu- different tourism sites and extravaganzas; and ral, multidimensional, conflictual, and contra- which contending groups use tourism to ad- dictory. From a dialectical and non-reductive vance their own resistant agendas. perspective, a critical theory would identify and explain connections between different (Continued on Page 13)

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long-range view, which is not limited by the What a Marxist Professor short-term profits of the individual capitalist. Should Teach The state can make concessions to rebellious sections of the working class to preserve Michael Francisconi capitalism even when many capitalists may University of Montana-Western disagree. Control over the labor of the direct producers by an elite leads to resistance to domina- P olitical Sociology is the study of power in tion. Ideologies of legitimacy lessen the a social setting. Power is the use of political problem, but imperfectly, because suffering capabilities to achieve particular goals. This is real. People create their lives through con- political contest is carried out in a competi- scious action. Insight into inequalities and tion between diverse groups over, among oppression may exist while knowledge of other things, economic resources. Power is possible solutions is often hidden. used to pursue a course of action against the Social equilibrium is always threatened. interests of others. In doing this, use of cul- While the dominant ideology legitimates ex- tural symbols charged with emotional signifi- isting inequalities, different classes will de- cance is central. Political sociology explores velop different interpretations of this ideol- the lived, everyday experiences of people as ogy. These diverse interpretations of tradi- they are shaped by their economic position in tional dogma develop into rival opinions. a particular society and the world economy, The state is the organized control over which molds most political issues. The state classes, class factions, and ethnic groups. In is the tool of the dominant class or classes. this contest competing groups do not have Under capitalism the class that owns and equal power. The dominant group controls controls corporate capital clearly dominates, the resources necessary for production and either directly by providing leadership, or they define the logic of stability. The rules of indirectly by defining the issues. political behavior are agreed upon; to go be- Sociology analyzes the historical juncture yond the rules is to undermine the security of between worldwide trends and local issues. the whole of society. Anthropology gives this analysis a historical Any collective action by the masses short and cross-cultural reference point, supple- of social revolution requires the strengthen- menting sociology. Social movements are ing of the existing state institutions and the domestic affairs of local or national sub- economy upon which they rest. Every gov- stance, created out of national manifestations ernment strives for social, political, and eco- of international trends. The fate of a social nomic order. The rules that protect the ruling movement must resonate with the local situa- class are the only acceptable political behav- tion, but is ultimately determined by global ior In any state society. events. The capitalists and their supporters The claim is that the state is erected outside gain the means of support for their economic of the daily needs of any element within soci- and political dominance by maximizing the ety to protect the social whole. In fact it is the illusion that their narrow interests are the na- capitalist class that is protected from individ- tional interests as a whole. This is done not ual capitalists and other classes antagonistic only by control over economic production to capitalism. Laws reflect these relation- and distribution, but by physical means of ships. This is what gives the state its measure coercion and education. Thus the capitalist of autonomy. state betrays its democratic justification. Through the control of the popular media, Because class is the relationship to the churches, and schools, the capitalists make means of production and distribution, com- their interests appear to be that of all of soci- peting classes have competing interests. ety. Popular culture supports much of the Competition between capitalists is minimized (Continued on Page 15)

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A Dysfunctional Electoral System (Continued in choosing the president than in states such as Califor- from page 1) nia or New York. As Jim Hightower notes, Wyo- learn in the disputed Election 2000 that the ming’s electors and proportionate vote represent 71,000 Electoral College involved a system whereby voters each, while Florida’s electors each represent those chosen to vote in the ritual in which the 238,000. In New York, 18 million people now get 33 president was chosen did not necessarily have electoral votes for the presidency, but fewer than 14 to follow the mandate of the voters in their dis- million people in a collection of small states also get 33. trict. In practice, state legislatures began bind- As Duke University’s Alex Keyssar argued in a No- ing electors to the popular vote, although as vember 20, 2000, New York Times op-ed piece, dispro- was abundantly clear in Election 2000, portionate weighting of the votes of smaller states vio- “faithless electors”—electors who vote for lates the principle of one person, one vote, which ac- whomever they please—were theoretically cording to a series of Supreme Court decisions in the possible. (Half of the states attempt to legally 1960s, lies at the heart of U.S. democracy. “To say that bind electors to the popular vote in their state, a vote is worth more in one district than in another but it would still be possible for an elector to would . . . run counter of our fundamental ideas of de- shift his or her vote, a dangerous outcome for a mocratic government,” the Court announced in 1964. genuinely democratic society and a possibility “Legislators,” wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren, much discussed after Election 2000.) “represent people, not trees or acres.” Thus, the current “Electors” are rather mysteriously chosen in system of proportionate state votes where all states get any case and this process should be examined two votes and then the rest are divided according to and fixed. population is unfair. A more reasonable system would Initially, the Electoral College was part of a simply allot states proportionate votes according to their compromise between state and local govern- populations, so that each vote throughout the nation ment. Allowing electors to choose the presi- would be equal in choosing a president. dent provided guarantees to conservatives who Further problems with the U.S. Electoral wanted the Electoral College to serve as a College and system of proportional representa- buffer -between what they perceived as an un- tion involve the winner-take-all rule operative ruly and potentially dangerous public and the in most states. As the Election 2000 Florida more educated and civic-minded legislators battle illustrates, in a winner-take-all system, who could, if they wished, overturn votes by (Continued on Page 9) the people. Originally, the U.S. Congress was also elected in this manner. But in 1913 a con- stitutional amendment led to direct election of Progressive Sociologists senators. Many argue this should also be the Network model for presidential elections. The current

Electoral College system, as critics have main- tained, is based on eighteenth-century concerns If you would like to exchange views and is arguably obsolete and in need of sys- with like-minded colleagues (many of tematic reconstruction in the twenty-first cen- whom are members of the Marxist Sec- tury. tion), join PSN- Progressive Sociolo- Moreover, the proportional representation system in gists Network list serve (over 700 peo- the Electoral College has serious problems that surfaced ple on the list worldwide). in the heated debates over Election 2000. Smaller states Send an e-mail to: are disproportionately awarded with Electoral College [email protected] with the votes, so that voters in less populated states such as contents of the message being: sub- Idaho or Wyoming have more proportionate influence scribe psn your full name

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Danger: The Presidency of George W. Bush As of late September 2004 the FBI had not yet (Continued from page 2) translated over 120,000 hours of what a New York Times’journalist described as terrorists. Even the State Department admits “potentially valuable terrorism-related re- an increase in terrorist incidents between cordings.” The reason according to the FBI’s 2002 and 2003, with more people being in- Inspector-General is that they do not have the jured or killed. (Weisman 2004). CNN’s resources to do the necessary work speedily broadcast never alluded to this nor to any and accurately. (Lichtblau 2004) other aspect of U.S. foreign policy. Health and the Environment While airline passengers are having their Whatever the potential terrorist threats, every shoes and, in some cases, their bodies in- day millions of Americans are at risk from en- spected at the airports, potential terrorist tar- vironmental contamination, workplace haz- gets are being left unprotected. Ports, nuclear ards, and inadequate health care. Little media power plants, chemical plants, water supplies attention is given to these systemic threats. and vehicles transporting hazardous materials Some protections have been put into place be- are all vulnerable to attack. Only about 6% of cause of past social activism. The Bush ad- the “high-risk” shipping containers that are ministration threatens to undo these. off-loaded daily at the nation’s ports get in- Bush’s misleadingly named “Clean Skies” spected. CNN did note the dangers here but initiative would greatly undermine previously didn’t point out that major fundraisers for the mandated limits on the pollutants causing president are regulating the maritime sector. smog, acid rain, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen (Krikorian 2004, Public Citizen 2004). oxide. The EPA is creating new rules that al- Through lobbying, individual contributions low companies to have, in the words of a Na- and PACS, the relevant industries spent over tional Association of Manufacturers official, “a $220 million to maintain their control over refreshingly flexible approach to regulation.” the nation’s infrastructure (Brzezinski 2004, In a less sanguine vein the American Lung As- Canipe 2004: 10). sociation referred to Bush's roll back of air The chemical industry, ignored by CNN, quality rules as “the most harmful and unlaw- provides an example. There are 15,000 ful air-pollution initiative ever undertaken by chemical factories in the U.S. Security at the federal government” (Shaw 2004, quotes in these plants ranges from totally absent to in- Barcolli 2004: 76). Mercury poisoning can adequate. Bush moved chemical security cause brain damage in children and fetuses. In from the EPA to the department of Home- the decade before Bush took office, govern- land Security. The EPA had identified 123 ment regulations had reduced mercury emis- chemical facilities which if attacked posed a sions from waste incinerators, but omitted threat to over 1,000,000 people and 700 en- regulating those from power plants. This was danger over 100,000. Tom Ridge’s depart- about to be addressed by the EPA, but when ment decreased that number to 2 facilities. Bush took office he interfered with the regula- The EPA has enforcement powers to compel tory review process. Additionally, an EPA re- security measures; Homeland Security relies port on mercury risk was edited to downplay on voluntary measures by the chemical in- the risks (Krugman 2004, Lee, Nussbaum dustries, which have an interest in not spend- 2004). ing money, and an aversion to government Global warming threatens the whole planet. regulation (Kennedy 2004, Hind and It is linked to an increase in “natural” disasters. Halperin 2004). (BBC) In the United States deadly heat waves The systematic use of torture to allegedly such as that in Chicago in 1995, and diseases attain information has been receiving atten- associated with warmer climates, such as West tion. Yet non-abusive forms of intelligence Nile fever, are among the outcomes, and it is gathering are short changed. This was also likely the recent torrential rain storms in ignored by CNN. (Continued on Page 7)

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Danger: The Presidency of George W. Bush themselves and others. The Bush administra- (Continued from page 6) tion has attacked science, scientists, and the public’s access to information, excising from California are also a result (Alley 2004, Ste- government agency websites over six thou- ven 2004, Luers 2004). Yet when the EPA is- sand documents which detail the dangers of sued a report on climate change, the writers environmental contamination, and the trans- were ordered to make changes that minimized porting and piping of hazardous substances. the impact of human activity. What the Union Executive orders have increased the EPA's of Concerned Scientist describes as a power to keep information secret. The public “discredited study of temperature records, will not have access to some information on funded in part by the American Petroleum In- dangerous vehicles. (Brinkley) Funding for stitute” was made a part of the EPA's docu- the National Science Foundation has been ment on climate change (Union of Concerned drastically cut. (Chait) Scientists, 2). The Bush administration also In July 2004, over 4000 scientists signed a withdrew promised support for the Kyoto statement tellingly titled “Restoring Scientific treaty. Integrity in Policy Making,” charging the ad- Lead poisoning wreaks havoc on children's ministration with distorting and suppressing developing bodies. Experts on lead poisoning scientific knowledge. The endorsers include recommended by the federal government's 127 National Academy of Science members, Centers for Disease Control to serve on a com- 48 of them Nobel Prize winners. (Revkin). mittee on the problem were rejected by first Conclusion term Secretary of Health and Human Services The corporate media, such as CNN, while Tommy Thompson. Lead industry choices providing some useful information, do not were selected in their place. (Johnson, Meter, systematically expose the hypocrisy of the 3). president, nor analyze the real dangers that Workers people face as a result of the current workings Work has become even more dangerous and of Bush-era American capitalism. A new unhealthy under Bush. The administration opium of the people, the media soothes, dis- plans to reduce the number of workplace in- tracts, misleads, and weakens the ability to spectors, cut funding for workers' safety train- act. Failing to expose systemic dangers, it ing programs, and cut funding for research on contributes instead to a “culture of workers' health and safety. The White House fear” (Glassner, 1999). The American people administration is ignoring OSHA recommen- are told that that they are threatened by Is- dations that would protect construction work- lamic fanatics, young black men, uncontrolla- ers, miners, chemical industry employees and ble accidents, and disasters, but are never others. (Drutman). Higher levels of coal dust warned about the workings of a less and less will be allowed in mines and the hours truckers regulated capitalist system, accompanied by can drive continuously have been lengthened cuts to social programs that take their own toll (Brinkley). (Piven: Pear). We on the left have the oppor- Following ten years of efforts by the labor tunity and responsibility to challenge this movement, the Clinton administration enacted view. strong ergonomic rules. When Bush took office in January 2001, the White House backed References a repeal of these protections. The AFL-CIO reports that since the rollback about 1.8 million AFL-CIO. 2002Safety and Health Fact Sheet, workers have had ergonomic problems April. (Multinational Monitor, AFL-CIO). Alley, Richard. 2004. Abrupt Climate Change, Science Scientific American, November, 62-69. Accurate information is essential for people to make informed decisions to protect

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Barcoli, Bruce. 2004 .Changing All the Rules, Krugman, Paul.2004.The Mercury Scandal New New York Times Magazine, April 4, 39- York Times, April 6. 44, 66, 73. 76-78. Lee, Jennifer 8. 2004. White House Minimized Brinkley, Joel. 2004. Out of Spotlight Bush the Risks of Mercury in Proposed Rules, Overhauls U.S. Regulations, New York Scientists Say, New York Times, April 7. Times, August 14. Lichtblau, Eric. 2004. F.B.I. Said to Lag On BBC News. Natural Disasters ‘on the rise.’ Translations of Terror Tapes, New York http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/ Times, September 28. pagetools/print/nes.bbc.co.uk/1/... Luers, Amy Lynd. 2004. A Tale of Two Futures: Brzezinski, Matthew. 2004. Red Alert. Mother California feels the Heat,Catalyst:The Jones, September+October, 38-43, 92, 93- Magazine of the Union of Concerned Sci- 94. entists Vol. 3, No., 2, Fall, 8-9, 20. Canipe, LuAnn. 2004 Homeland UnSecured [sic], Meter, Alden. 2004. Bringing Science Back to PublicCitizenNews,November/December the People, Catalyst: The Magazine of the 2004. Union of Concerned Scientists, Vol. 3, No. Chait, Jonathan. 2004. Billions for Pork as 1, Spring, 2-4 Science is Slashed. Los Angeles Times, Multinational Monitor. 2003. Workers At Risk: December 31. The Dangers on the Job When the Regula- Chasin, Barbara. 2004. Inequality and Violence tors Don’t try Very Hard, Vol. 24, No. 6, in the United States: Casualties of Capital- June, 21-26 ism. 2nd edition. Amherst, NY: Humanity Nussbaum, Alex. 2004. Scientist: Mercury Press. report altered. The Record (Bergen County, Domhoff, G. William. 2004. “State and Ruling NJ), April 8. Class in Corporate America: Reflections, Opensecrets.http://opensecrets.org/presidential/ Corrections and New Directions.” Pp. 63- sector.asp? 71 in Enriching the Sociological Imagina- Pear, Robert. 2005 Applying Brakes To Benefits tion, edited by Rhonda F. Levine. Gets Wide G.O.P. Backing, New York Drutman, Lee. 2004. Dissecting the Bush Times, January 9. Administration: Labor, Multinational Piven, Frances Fox. 2004. The War At Home, Monitor, May/June 2004, 17 New York: The New Press. Glassner, Barry. 1999. The Culture of Fear: Why Public Citizen News. 2004. Homeland Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Unsecured: Five Failures, November/ Things. New York: Basic Books. December 4-5. Hind, Rick and David Halperin, Lots of Shaw, Jeff. 2004. Dissecting the Bush Chemicals, Little Reaction, New York Administration: Dirtying the Skies, Multi- Times, 9/22/04, A 23. national Monitor, May/June, 23-24. Johnson, Wendy. 2003. The Legacy of Lead: Revkin, Andrew C. 2004. Bush vs. the Pervasive Poisoning: Suspect Science and Laureates: How Science Became a Partisan the Industry Effort to Escape Liability, Issue” New York Times, October 19, Multinational Monitor, April, 15-16. Too Much. 2004. November 15, Union of Con- Kennedy, Robert F. Jr. 2004. A Terror Attack, cerned Scientists, Restoring Scientific Integrity in Coming Soon to a Plant Near You. Los Policymaking; and Global Environment: Climate Angeles Times. October 7. Change Research Distorted and Suppressed http:// Krikorian, Greg. 2004. Ports Called ‘Enormous www.ucusa.org/global_environment/rsi/page.cfm? Target’, Los Angeles Times, November 26. apgeID=1363 Kennedy cited above says t is only one per- Weisman, Steve, 2004 State Department Report cent that is examined. Shows Increase in Terrorism, New York Times, June 23.

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A Dysfunctional Electoral System (Continued tions, and the corruption that a campaign from page 5) system fueled by megabucks produces. The 100 percent of the state’s electoral votes current election system, in which millions of goes to a 50.1 percent majority in presidential dollars are needed for a federal election, en- elections (or less if there were more than two sures that only candidates from the two major candidates, as is increasingly the case in presi- parties have a chance of winning, that only dential elections). Maine and Nebraska are ex- candidates who are able to raise millions of ceptions, and it would be possible to follow dollars can run, and that those who do run and their example and to split presidential state win are beholden to those who have financed votes proportionately according to the actual their campaigns—guaranteeing control of the percentage of votes candidates get in each political system by corporations and the separate state, rather than following the win- wealthy. ner-take-all rule, where a handful of votes in a In Elections 2000 and 2004, the excessive state such as Florida, or Ohio, gives the entire amount of money pumped into the $3-billion- state, and even the election, to one candidate. plus electoral campaigns guaranteed that nei- Hence, the Electoral College and U.S. sys- ther candidate would say anything to offend tem of proportional representation should be the moneyed interests funding the election, and seriously debated and reforms should be under- would thus avoid key issues of importance and taken if U.S. democracy is to revitalize itself in concern. The debts accrued by the two major the coming years after the debacle of 2000 and parties to their contributors were obvious in the persistent questions concerning 2004. As many initial appointments made by the Bush-Cheney have argued, there are strong reasons for pro- Election 2000 transition team, which rewarded portionate representation in U.S. presidential precisely those corporations and supporters elections. However, separation of election offi- who financed the Bush presidency. The Bush cials from political operatives and the training administration provided legislative awards for of professional, nonpartisan election workers its major contributors, allowing the big corpo- should also be on the reform agenda. In Elec- rations that supported them to write Bush ad- tion 2000, Florida Secretary of State Katherine ministration energy and communication policy Harris, also head of the Bush-Cheney ticket in and to help draft legislation for deregulation Florida, did everything possible to steal the that served their interests, in effect allowing election from Al Gore, and in 2004, Ohio Sec- big contributors to make public policy (see retary of State Kenneth Blackwell played a Kellner [2001], 187ff.). similar role. To deal with all of these problems, In 2001, a McCain-Feingold finance reform bill was a high-level commission could be appointed to passed, but it has been continually watered down and is study how to modernize and update the system unlikely to reform U.S. political -funding. -Indeed, a of electing the president in the United States. record amount of money was raised for the 2004 elec- Since the political establishment cannot be tion as loopholes were exploited to create new types of counted upon to undertake these reforms, it fundraising and political action groups. Thus, there is a will be necessary for constituencies— definite need for public financing of elections. Four academic, local, and national—to devise re- states currently allow full public financing for candi- forms for the seriously challenged system of “democracy” in the United States. dates who agree to campaign with fundraising and Furthermore, it is clear that money has cor- spending limits (Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, and rupted the current electoral system and that Vermont), and this would be a splendid model for the campaign finance reform is necessary to avoid entire nation.10 Public financing for elections at local, overwhelming influence by lobbies, corpora- (Continued on page 10)

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A Dysfunctional Electoral System (Continued crucial time and thus are forced to pay from page 9) higher rates. state, and national levels would only be viable in a Voter rights initiatives also need to be car- media era with free national television, free access to ried forth to prevent voter suppression and pro- local media, and Internet sites offered to the candidates. vide adequate voting machines to all precincts, Hence, the television networks should be required to independent of their wealth or political connec- provide free national airtime to presidential candidates tions. Once again in 2004, the Republicans to make their pitches, and television-paid political ad- practiced systematic voter suppression, chal- vertising should be eliminated (see the elaboration of lenging voters at the polls and intimidating po- this argument in Kellner 1990). The broadcasting net- tential voters in a myriad of ways. In addition, works were given a tremendous bonanza when the once again there were a shocking lack of vot- Federal Communications Commission provided a ing machines and personnel, especially in wealth of spectrum to use for digital broadcasting, dou- swing minority and student precincts that typi- bling the amount of space it licensed to television cally vote Democratic. There should be strong broadcasters with estimates of the value of the space penalties for voting suppression, fraud, too few costing up to $70 billion. Congress failed to reestablish voting machines, and inadequate poll staffing. public service requirements that used to be in place be- There also should be a National Voting Day fore the Reagan-Bush-Clinton deregulation of telecom- holiday, as many countries have, so that work- munications. As fair payback for the broadcast spec- ing people can vote without economic penalty. trum giveaway, broadcast media should provide free One of the scandals of Election 2004 was the airtime for political discourse that strengthens democ- terribly long lines in minority and working- racy. class neighborhoods in Ohio and elsewhere, Efforts were made to get the television net- due to inadequate numbers of voting machines works to enable the public to get free messages and not enough polling staff. There were re- from the candidates, but they were defeated. ports in Ohio of lines lasting hours (especially President Clinton appointed an advisory panel in heavily Democratic neighborhoods), forcing to assess how to update public service require- many to leave the lines to return to work. This ments of television broadcasts in the wake of is an intolerable situation in a democracy and the spectrum giveaway. The panel recom- efforts should be made to maximize voting ac- mended that television broadcasters voluntarily cess; to simplify voting procedures; and to pro- offer five minutes of candidate-centered air- vide adequate, trained, and nonpartisan elec- time in the 30 days before the election. Clinton tion staff as well as reliable and trustworthy proposed this recommendation in his 1998 machines. State of the Union address, but broadcasters In addition, schools should provide, as fiercely rejected the proposal. In the Senate, Dewey argued (1917), citizenship education as John McCain and Conrad Burns announced well voter literacy. Ballots are often highly that they would legislatively block the FCC’s complex and intimidating and there should be free airtime initiative. In fact, political adver- efforts to begin educating people of all ages tising is a major cash cow for the television and walks of life on how to vote. Better de- networks who regularly charge political candi- signed ballots and more reliable voting systems dates excessively high rates, although they are are obviously a prerequisite for voting reform, supposed to allow “lowest unit charge” (LUC) but individuals need to be better informed on for political advertising. Such LUC rates, how- how to vote and what the specific issues are on ever, mean that the ads could be preempted, ballots, ranging from local to state and national and desperate campaigns want to make sure issues. that they get their advertising message out at a (Continued on page 11)

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A Dysfunctional Electoral System (Continued on critical media and computer literacy as from page 10) well as on how to use media for expression, There is little doubt that U.S. democracy is communication, and social transformation. in serious crisis, and unless there are reforms, Alternative media need to be connected with its decline will accelerate. Although voter par- progressive movements to revitalize democ- ticipation increased from an all-time low in racy and bring an end to the current conserva- 1996 of 49 percent of the eligible electorate to tive hegemony. After the defeat of Barry Gold- 51 percent in Election 2000 and 60 percent in water in 1964 when conservatives were routed Election 2004, this percentage is still fairly and appeared to be down for the count, they low. The United States is on the low end of built up a movement of alternative media and democratic participation in presidential elec- political organizations; liberals and progres- tions among democracies throughout the sives now face the same challenge. In the cur- world. Obviously, much of the country remains rent situation, we cannot expect much help alienated from electoral politics despite hotly from the corporate media and need to develop contested elections in 2000 and 2004. ever more vigorous alternative media. The past Democracy requires informed citizens and several years have seen many important steps access to information and thus the viability of in the fields of documentary film, digital video democracy is dependent on citizens seeking and photography, community radio, public ac- out crucial information, having the ability to cess television, an always-expanding progres- access and appraise it, and to engage in public sive print media, and an ever-growing liberal conversations about issues of importance. De- and progressive Internet and blogosphere. mocratic media reform and alternative media While the right has more resources to dedicate are thus crucial to revitalizing and even pre- to these projects, the growth of progressive de- serving the democratic project in the face of mocratic public spheres has been impressive. powerful corporate and political forces. How Likewise, the energy, political organization, media can be democratized and what alterna- and finances mobilized to attempt to defeat the tive media can be developed will of course be Bush-Cheney Gang were impressive, but more different in various parts of the world, but needs to be done to defeat the conservatives, without a democratic media politics and alter- building on the achievements of the past years. native media, democracy itself cannot survive The agenda for the Left the next four years in a vigorous form, nor will a wide range of involves sustained struggle against Bush ad- social problems be engaged or even addressed. ministration policies to help to bring the most Reinvigorating democracy also requires a re- rightwing regime in recent US history to an construction of education with expanded litera- end, and to fight for a revitalization of democ- cies, democratized pedagogies, and education racy and a progressive agenda. To conclude, for citizenship. As John Dewey long ago ar- I’d like to quote a passage from Tony gued (1917), education is an essential prerequi- Kushner’s recent play Caroline, or Change. site for democracy and public education should The play is set in the 1960s at the time of the strive to produce more democratic citizens. A reconstruction of education also requires culti- Kennedy assassination when much of the vating media, computer, and multiple literacies world looked to the United States as a beacon for a computer-based economy and informa- of hope and to the Kennedy administration as tion-dependent society (Kellner 2002 and an instrument of progress. Coming out of the 2004). In an increasingly technological society, civil rights struggles, there was new hope that media education should become an important democracy and freedom really were on the part of the curriculum, with instruction focused march and that reactionary forces were being (Continued on page 12)

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A Dysfunctional Electoral System (Continued Electoral College if every state received electoral from page 11) votes in proportion to population: “Bush won 30 defeated, making one proud to be an Ameri- states for 271 and Gore won 21 for 267. But if you can. In the play’s epilogue, Caroline’s teenage take away the two electors for each senator, and daughter talks of how she and some friends just apportion electors by number of Representa- had just torn down a Civil War statue, signify- tives (i.e., in proportion to population), Gore wins ing the legacy of racism, and she declared 225 to 211” (http://www.washington post.com/ wpsrv/liveonline/00/politics/media back- You can’t hold on, you nightmare men, talk120400.htm). Your time is past now on your way 4In a chapter on “Electoral Reform” after Election Get gone and never come again! 2000, Ceaser and Busch (2001) lay out the case for a proportional representation system, as opposed to For change come fast and change come slow but a direct popular majority vote electoral system, but Everything changes! do not consider the strong arguments that I cite And you got to go! above to eliminate the “unfaithful elector” problem by mandating direct presidential voting, nor do References: they take seriously arguments against the current Ceaser, James W., and Andrew E. Busch. 2001. U.S. system of proportional voting with its winner- The Perfect Tie. Lanham, MD: Rowman and take-all electoral vote system. In any case, in the Littlefield. current political climate, there is little pressure for Schechter, Danny. 2001. Mediocracy 2000—Hail major electoral reform, although on the local level to the Thief: How the Media Stole the U.S. there have been attempts to require updating of vot- Presidential Election. Electronic book avail- ing machines, streamlining of voting processes, able at www.mediachannel.org. stipulation of recount procedures, and other techni- cal changes to avoid a recurrence of the debacle of Notes the 2000 election in Florida; unfortunately, efforts 1 This text is excerpted from Media Spectacle and to replace punch-card and optical-scan ballots with the Crisis of Democracy just published by Para- computerized voting machines may have made digm Press. matters worse, necessitating another cycle of re- 2For a wide range of materials on voter suppres- form. sion, machine malfunctions, potential fraud and 5On the need for public financing of elections, see corruption, and thousands of voting problems in Nick Nyhart and Joan Claybrook, “The Dash for Election 2004, see the sources at http:// Cash: Public Financing Is the Only Way to End the www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting-1.htm; http:// Unfair Tilt of the ‘Wealth Primary,’” Los Angeles www.votersunite.org; http:// Times, April 27, 2003. The authors’ groups Public www.openvotingconsortium.org; http:// Campaign and Public Citizen have been working www.demos-usa.org; and http://www.verified vot- for public financing of elections. ing.org; and http://www.blackboxvoting.org. The 6On the history of efforts to reform television ad- only mainstream media figure following the 2000 vertising, see Charles Lewis, “You Get What You voting fraud and corruption controversy was Pay For: How Corporate Spending Blocked Politi- MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on his nightly news cal Ad Reform and Other Stories of Influence,” in show Countdown and in his blog Bloggermann at Schechter (2001), pp. 62–73; and the Alliance for http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240. Better Campaigns, “Gouging Democracy: How the 3See Jim Hightower’s proposals after Election 2000 Television Industry Profiteered on Campaign for Electoral College reform at www.alternet.org. 2000,” in Schechter (2001), pp. 77–92. In another In his December 4, 2000 online interview, Howard important article in Schechter (2001), Lawrence K. Kurtz noted that Gore would have won the Grossman notes that one of broadcasting’s “dirty little secrets” is its “sustained and high-priced lobbying against finance reform” (p. 75).

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Toward a Critical Theory of Tourism (Continued city to an international audience. Still others from page 3) have ambivalent feelings about the growth of Analyzing the different dimensions of tour- tourism and often change their mind. Such ism also means exploring what social identities different views suggest that tourism is con- are connected with different tourist spaces, tested terrain, with a variety of groups and in- how people use and consume tourist sites to terests attempting to produce and use tourism reinforce or challenge identity categories, and sights and sites for their own purposes what mechanisms regulate the distribution and (Gotham 2002; 2005a; 2005b). Against one- use of particular tourism sites. In this sense, sided and reductive conceptions, we can recog- while particular tourist spaces are produced by nize that there are institutional opportunities a combination of local power interests and (not necessarily equally distributed) for oppos- multinational corporations, and regulated by ing groups to use tourism organizations, tech- various governmental frameworks, it is also nologies, and sites to challenge dominate necessary to explore the lived consumer ex- meanings of power relations. perience and the role of human agents in shap- Fourth, a critical theory would analyze rela- ing meanings and representations of different tions of domination and subordination, and the spaces. ways that alienation, inequality, and exploita- The above points suggest a third concern, tion are built into the structure and operation of namely, that a critical theory would reject tourism. For Karl Marx ([1844] 1978), alien- views that tourists are cultural dupes that are ation manifested itself at the workplace where manipulated by the producers and organizers workers are alienated from the products of of tourism. David Harvey (1989; 1988) has their labor, the process of production, from suggested that festivals and tourism-oriented themselves as well as other human beings, and celebrations are not only important for generat- from their species-being and nature. Later, ing profit and supporting inward investment, Herbert Marcuse (1968;1964, pp. 159-200) and but for pacifying local people; a form of ideo- other Marxian scholars like Henri Lefebvre logical control referred to as “bread and cir- ([1958] 1991) drew attention to how alienation cuses.” Yet residents and tourists are not sim- had moved into the realm of consumption in ply passive recipients of accepted meanings which the production and consumption of signs produced by advertisers, place marketers, and and images, rather than tangible material tourism organizations. They are actively in- goods, becomes a vehicle of commodified ex- volved in the production of meaning and, in- change and communication. It is important to deed, produce meanings, some which are unin- recognize that production and consumption are tended by tourism promoters. Indeed, tourist not mutually exclusive. Marx recognized the spaces are sites of struggle where powerful dialectical nature of production-consumption economic and political interests are often in his early comments on capitalism, pointing forced to defend what they would prefer to out in the Grundrisse that “production is also have taken for granted. In my research on immediately consumption, consumption is also tourism in New Orleans, for example, I have immediately production. Each is immediately found that some local residents view tourism its opposite” (1978, p. 229). What is important as a harbinger of social instability, a threat to is that a critical theory would eschew univocal local culture, and mechanism for commercial- explanations and refuse to reduce tourism to izing local celebrations and festivals. Others any one dimension, e.g., production or view tourism as a potential resource for pre- (Continued on page 14)

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Toward a Critical Theory of Tourism (Continued actors and organized interests involved in from page 13) manufacturing cultural signifiers, and interro- consumption. Thus, a critical theory would gate and explain the consequences of the ac- draw to the role that different tourism sites tions of powerful groups, thereby pointing to play as forms of commodified pleasure, how possibilities for progressive societal transfor- tourist sites define individuals as consumers, mation. and the impact of the tourism industry in using advertising and marketing to constitute tourist References desires and needs, and them exploiting them Adorno, Theodor. ([1967] 1989. “The Culture In for profit. dustry Reconsidered,” pp. 128-135 in Criti cal Theory and Society: A Reader. Edited by Stephen Fifth, a critical theory analyzes past develop- Eric Bronner and Douglas MacKay Kellner. ments and current happenings using the New York: Routledge. method of immanent critique. The Frankfurt Gotham, Kevin Fox. 2002. “Marketing Mardi School’s notion of immanent critique evaluates Gras: Commodification, Spectacle, and the the existing state of affairs in terms of society’s Political Economy of Tourism in New Orl eans.” Urban Studies. 39(10): 1735-56. dominant ideas and values, showing in various September 2002. ways the problems and unrealized potentials. _____. 2005a. “Theorizing Urban Spectacles: Festivals, The purpose of immanent critique, as Hork- Tourism, and the Transformation of Urban Space.” heimer noted in Eclipse of Reason (1974), is to Forthcoming in City: Analysis of Urban Trends, Culture, discern what aspects of existing society should Theory, Policy, Action. _____. 2005b. “Tourism Gentrification: The Case o f be negated or transcended, in order to create a New Orleans’s Vieux Carre (French Quarter).” Forth- better society. To grasp the changes that are coming in Urban Studies. occurring, we need to move beyond main- Harvey, David. 1989. The Condition of Postmodernity. stream accounts that stress the ascendancy of New York: Free Press. cultural politics over class and the state, or Harvey, David. 1988. “Voodoo Cities.” New Statesman and Society. 30 September celebrate tourism for increasing consumer 1988. Vol. 1, pp. 33-35. “choice” and “freedom.” In the Dialectic of Henri Lefebvre ([1958] 1991). Critique of Every Enlightenment, Horkheimer and Adorno (1972, day Life. Volume 1: Introduction. Transl p. 154) noted that consumer choice and ated by John Moore. London and New “individuality” are “the ideology of the pleas- York: Verso. Horkheimer, Max 1974. Eclipse of Reason. New ure industry.” One advantage of critical theory York: Seabury Press. is that it sensitizes us to the role of transna- Horkheimer, Max and Theodor Adorno. ([1944] tional corporations in homogenizing cultural 1972). Dialectic of Enlightenment. New production and constraining consumer prefer- York: Herder and Herder. ences. Another advantage is that critical the- Marcuse, Herbert. 1968. Negations. Boston. Bea con Press. ory can help fashion analyses that probe spe- Marcuse, Herbert. 1964. One- Dimensional Man. cific social conditions, power dynamics, and Boston: Beacon Press. patterns of domination and subordination Marx, Karl [1844] 1978). “Estranged Labor.” In within the sphere of tourism. Finally, critical Marx/Engles Reader. Edited by Robert theory can expose the theoretical limitations of Tucker. Second Edition. New York: Nor ton. rival explanations that the refuse to critically Marx, Karl. ([1857] 1973). “The Grundrisse.” In probe the social relations of exploitation under- Marx/Engles Reader. Edited by Robert lying the production of tourism. These theo- Tucker. Second Edition. New York: Nor retical advantages can help identify the key ton.

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What a Marxist Professor Should Teach exhibiting rumor at the expense of legal proce- (Continued from page 4) dures has been common throughout the 20th upper class values. Morality is culturally de- century. Public hearings to ruin the reputations fined in this way. When education fails, coer- of either the defendant or any witnesses who cion will be used to maintain order. fail to provide what the government expected Capitalism incorporates other economies to have been a major strategy. The use of covert meet its needs. The logic of capitalism rede- police surveillance is still common. Every time fines other moral traditions to support private working people in the US gain more control property and production for profit. Alternative over parts of the state, the capitalists increase visions are neutralized, incorporated, or de- their efforts to maintain control over all func- fined as subversive. Through hegemony all tions of the state. other ideologies seem silly. At present those The totalitarian power of capital flourishes in who would challenge the logic of capitalism a bourgeois democracy. Capital becomes po- are weak and poorly organized. litically more powerful than government, and The political and economic institutions sup- somewhat independent of the state. Capital is porting capitalism ultimately control the Uni- free to move anywhere, but the state is limited versities, for the benefit of capital. Like gov- by geography. The needs of the bourgeoisie in ernment the anti-government and ant- a capitalist state deform and limit political de- intellectual business leaders mask the fact that, mocracy. Hostility and violence, supported by the University, like government, exists for the liberals who espouse democracy, is directed benefit of big business. Dissent among govern- against anyone who, in reality, defends authen- ment employees or University intellectuals tic democracy. Institutional violence used have been, at times, defined as irresponsible against democratic movements in the US has and unprofessional. been central to the formation of “American” There is a resistance by people in authority to political culture. Political parties and elections real emancipation of the oppressed classes. In become the sum total of democracy. To move modern society continual use of power com- beyond the two party electoral processes is bines ideology with concentrated and organ- considered subversive. ized use of force to a point where the citizens Law and order has become the main justifi- do not always know where one begins and the cation for the violation of basic human rights other stops. The state creates government to in the US. Any group that is perceived as a establish policies, administration to carry out threat to private property or questions the as- policies, and the military or police to ensure sumptions of a capitalist economy is treated as conformity to these policies. Because of the seditious. Mass culture has been manipulated monopoly on the legitimate use of force con- to create popular demand for the suppression trolled by the state, any revolution would re- of alternative views of life. The open support quire the elimination of the existing state. The for neo-colonialism around the world with vio- old state reflects certain relationships of ex- lence as the official policy while preserving a ploitation; when these relations change, the old world empire is one example. Life in liberal state can no longer function properly. society is mystified; in a way that creates a to- In US history, Immigration laws to keep out tal culture of support for a capitalist economy. or expel dissidents have been used. The exten- Ignorance is the main goal of liberal educa- sive denials of due process and exaggerated tion. Education at its core is a lie. Liberal edu- use of police powers are widespread. Trial by (Continued on page 16)

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What a Marxist Professor Should Teach Bukharin, Nikolai (1969) Historical Materialism Ann (Continued from page 15) Arbor: University of Michigan Press. cation is designed to limit debate. Cabral, Amilcar (1969) Revolution in Guinea New York: Monthly Review. Education supports the ethics of private prop- Careron, Kenneth (1995) Dialectical Materialism and erty, market economy, and an elite hierarchy. Modern Science New York: International Pub- Education as it stands is mis-education. The lishers. moral foundations of the core values of Donham, Donald L. (1999) History, Power, and Ideol- “American” society need to become openly ogy: Central Issues in Marxism and Anthro- pology Berkeley: University of California questioned and debated in the classroom. The Press. professor must join the intellectual struggle Domhoff, G. William (2000) Who Rules America? : against the highbrow millstone around every Power and Politics Fourth Edition Boston: student’s neck. If education is to become a me- McGraw Hill. dium of liberation, the University must expose Engles, Frederick (1955) The Conditions of the Working Class in England New York: International Pub- it as an agent for class oppression. lishers. The cooperation of many University profes- Engles, Frederick (1965) Peasant War in Germany New sors with policy makers during the cold war York: International Publishers. seriously compromised the moral justification Engles, Frederick (1970) The Role of Force in History of higher education. The University partici- New York: International Publishers. Engles, Frederick (1975) Origin of the Family, Private pated directly and indirectly in worldwide ag- Property and the State New York: International gression and state supported terrorism. The Publishers. primary concern with many in administration Engles, Frederick (1978) Anti-During New York: Inter- was to protect the University’s source of in- national Publishers. come, thus creating a loyal slave of Empire. Foster, John Bellamy (2000) Marx's Ecology: Material- ism and Nature New York: Monthly Review. The Community College was created at the Francisconi, Michael Joseph (1998) Kinship, Capital- other end of the academic spectrum to “cool ism, Change: The Informal Economy of the out” working aspirants, who received an edu- Navajo, 1868 –1998 New York: Garland Pub- cation that did not threaten the elite. lishing. We professors must engage in seditious Kropotkin, Peter (1970) Revolutionary Pamphlets New York: Dover. sabotage within the ranks of the University. Lenin, V.I. (1973) What is to be Done Peking: Foreign Everything must be called into question, in- Language Press. cluding higher education. We must explore the Lenin, V.I. (1970a) The State and Revolution Peking: historical and sociological roots of all aca- Foreign Language Press. demic departments. Who benefits and who Lenin, V.I. (1970b) Left Wing Communism: An Infantile doesn’t by the underlying assumptions? How Disorder Peking: Foreign Language Press. does what we teach fit into the ideology of he- Luxemburg, Rosa (1970) The Russian Revolution and gemony? Education that is not subversive is Leninism or Marxism Ann Arbor: University of not education. Michigan Press. Luxemburg, Rosa (1971) Selected Political Writings References Rosa Luxemburg Edited by Dick Howard New Afanasyev, V.G. (1985) Historical Materialism New York: Monthly Review. York: International Publishers. Luxemburg, Rosa (1976) The National Question: Se- Bakunin, Michael (1970) God and the State New York: lected Writings by Rosa Luxemburg New York: Dover. Monthly Review. Bottomore Tom (1993) Political Sociology Minneapolis: Marx, Karl (1967) Capital Vol. One New York: Interna- University of Minnesota Press. tional Publishers.

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Marx, Karl (1967) Capital Vol. Two New York: Inter- The Problem of Generations Revisited national Publishers. Lauren Langman Marx, Karl (1967) Capital Vol. Three New York: Inter- Loyola University of Chicago national Publishers. Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels (1947) The German Big Bold and Brazen Lies, a Cowardly Media, Ideology New York: International Publishers. Polanyi, Karl (1944) The Great Transformation Boston: and Dicey Voting Machines: How the Republi- Beacon Press. cans Did it Again Douglas Kellner, University of Szymanski, Albert (1978) The Capitalist State and the California Politics of Class Cambridge, Massachusetts: Winthrop. The Left and Elections: Will it Ever Learn? Trotsky, Leon (1969) The Permanent Revolution and G. William Domhoff, University of California Results and Prospects New York: Pathfinder. Trotsky, Leon (1969) Terrorism and Communism Ann Teaching Marxism Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Session Organizer and Presider: Turner V. W. (1996) Schism and Continuity in an Afri- can Society: A Study of Ndembu Village Life Lauren Langman, Loyola University of Chicago Oxford: Berg. Panel: Kevin B. Anderson, Purdue University White, James D. (2001) Lenin: The Practice and Theory Edna Bonacich, University of California of Revolution Hampshire, England: Palgrave. Riverside Joe Feagin, Texas A&M University John Bellamy Foster, University of Orgeon ASA 2005 Marxist Sessions Erik Olin Wright, University of Wisconsin

Description: Marxism, as a critique of capitalist Political Economy, Race, and Gender in a political economy and its contradictions, was Post-September 11 World rooted in the class system of the 19th C. The mate- Session Organizer: Karen Bettez Halnon, Penn- rial foundations of capitalist domination rested on sylvania State University [email protected] as a market economy where wealth was based on the ownership of private property or sale of wage 9/11, the Media, and Bush Hegemony labor that in turn led to the alienation and exploita- Douglas Kellner, UCLA tion of the working classes. Since its early formula- tions, Marxism has been greatly refined and devel- “Blood, Culture & Vicious People.” Right oped and now offers a crucial perspective for the Wing Strategies for Protecting America Post- sociological understanding of a broad range of so- 9/11 cial phenomenon. This session is oriented to the Carina Bandhauer, Western Connecticut State larger sociological community concerned with University teaching the leading edges of research and theory. A number of well-known, Marxist scholars will Days of War and Cut-Backs: Class, Race, and share their expertise along a broad range of con- Gender in the Post-9/11 United States temporary issues to show the continued importance Barbara Chasin, Montclair State University of the Marxist Tradition to sociology in general. Salient topics will include the contemporary class, The Politics of Imperial Plunder and War: Its race, and gender systems that are now located in a Impact on Filipino Women on the Home Front globalized context, the impact of capitalism on the and Across National Borders environment, and the diversity of Marxist theories- Ligaya Lindio-McGovern especially the more humanist and critical theories. Indiana University-Kokomo

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“Adolescent Alcohol Use: The Impact of Parental ASA 2005 Marxist Roundtables Attitudes and Behaviors,” Frieda Fowler

Table 1: Public Sociology: Marxist and Non- “The Social and Cultural Forces Impacting the Marxist Views Discussant: Stephanie McSpirit Experience of Mothering,” Jeane-Anne Sutherland- Bindas “A Critique of the Public Sociology Program,” Paul Paolucci “Racial Disparities in Wealth and Marital Satis- faction,” Joe Michael “Activism and the University Setting,” Joanna Hadjicostandi Table 5: Labor Theory and Process Discussant: Matt Vidal “Why Public Sociology is Neither,” Mathieu De- flem “The Walmartization of America: The Impact on Labor Practices and Urban Environment,” Lloyd Table 2: Institutions, Spectacle, and Commod- Klein, Steve Lang, and Donal Malone ity Culture Presider: Matthew Irvin “Alienation and Propensity,” Micah Holland “Howard Stern Carnival and Political Transfor- mation,” Karen Bettez Halnon and Sharon Table 6: Violence and Right Radicalism and the Gerczyk Global and National Levels Presider: Daniel Egan “Gangsta Rap: Cultural Capital, Community Discussant: Thomas Keil Cohesion and Political Resistance-Meaning Making in Music Production,” Darby Southgate “Evolution of Fascism: Class Perspectives versus Psychological Perspectives,” Alan Spector “Co-opting Feminism for Profit: Wedding Plan- ners and the Commodity Frontie,” Kristin “Competing Visions of Loyalism in Post-Industrial Blakely Belfast,” Carolyn Gallaher

Table 3: New Perspectives for Marxist Theory “Legitimate Authority vs. Violence: Attitudes of Discussant: Jacqueline Carrigan Audiences in the Caucasus and the USA,” Jeffrey Halley “Bringing Multitudes Back In: Rethinking the Persistence of the Subject in Sociology,” Todd Bowers

“Reflecting Cultural Values,” Purna Mohanty

“No Marxists in China?,” Stuard Shafer

Table 4: Inequalities of Race, Gender, Class, and the Household Unit Presider: Jennifer Lehmann Discussant: Maya Becker

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Book Announcements The Downing Street Memo-Why It's Important Globalization and Cross-Border Labor Solidar- Andrew Austin, University of Wisconsin- ity in the Americas: The Anti-Sweatshop Move- ment and the Struggle (Routledge, 2005) by Green Bay Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval, University of Cali- fornia, Santa Barbara B efore the war, President Bush gave two One of the first in-depth, comparative studies on the reasons for attacking Iraq. First, Iraq was contemporary anti-sweatshop movement, the book examines four case studies of cross-border labor soli- stockpiling weapons of mass destruction darity campaigns involving Central American garment (WMD). Second, Iraqi president Saddam Hus- workers, social justice activists, and non-government sein was an ally of al Qaeda terrorists, who had organizations. Within these campaigns, wages and working conditions sometimes improved, but these allegedly attacked the US on September 11, gains were not broadened or sustained over time. The 2001. The president insisted that these facts book examines why these various outcomes occurred presented an imminent threat to national secu- and concludes with some suggestions for addressing and potentially overcoming some of the obstacles that rity. A chorus of hawks warned that Saddam the contemporary anti-sweatshop movement currently might provide terrorists with WMD. He there- faces. fore had to be disarmed or removed. These reasons were outlined in the congres- Breaking the Code of Good Intentions: Every- sional resolution, "Authorization for Use of day Forms of Whiteness (Roman & Littlefield, Military Force Against Iraq," which sanctioned 2004) by Melanie E. L. Bush; foreword by Joe R. armed force if the president determined within Feagin 48 hours of military action two things: (1) the Examining the contemporary white experience, US could not achieve the goals of disarming BREAKING THE CODE OF GOOD INTENTIONS examines Iraq and protecting national security by why most white people in the United States believe we have achieved racial equality, even though social and "diplomatic or other peaceful means alone" economic indicators suggest otherwise. Drawing on and (2) war was "consistent with the United systematic research conducted at the largest urban States and other countries continuing to take public university in the country, Melanie Bush explores white students’ perceptions about identity, the necessary actions against international ter- privilege, democracy, and inter-group relations. rorist and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who Framed within an analysis of economic and political transitions that have occurred within the United States planned, authorized, committed or aided the and globally in the second half of the twentieth cen- terrorist attacks,” that occurred on 9/11, 2001. tury, the author examines the shift in public opinion On October 16, 2002, the resolution passed from a presumption of collective responsibility for the common good, toward a belief in the social survival of by wide margins in the Senate (77-23) and the the fittest. House (296-133). Thus, a majority of elected representatives in Congress, drawn from both Concluding with recommendations for academia and society at large, the author contends that the time is major political parties, expressed their belief overdue for the dismantling of narratives that align that the reasons for military action against Iraq ordinary whites with global elites. Indeed, she argues, given by President Bush were valid and the very future of humanity depends on challenging this persistent pattern. sound. In a signed letter to Congress dated March 18, 2003, the president restated verba- tim and without justification of the conditions (Continued on page 20)

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The Downing Street Memo-Why It’s Important intelligence officials. He told Blair that Bush (Continued from page 19) had already made the decision to go to war and outlined in the October resolution. That eve- that military action would be "justified by the ning, in a televised address, he gave Saddam conjunction of terrorism and WMD." He re- 48 hours to leave Iraq and warned Iraqis, "Do ported, "the intelligence and facts were being not destroy oil wells." Two days later, US fixed around the policy." warplanes began pounding Baghdad. Iraqi Two days earlier, Blair's cabinet met to dis- military forces were defeated in a matter of cuss how they might justify war. Minutes weeks and on May 1, 2003 the president pro- from the meeting reveal that Blair argued for claimed victory. war on the grounds of regime change; how- However, US officials failed in the aftermath ever, members of the cabinet were skeptical of of the invasion to find either weapons of mass this rationale. "Regime change per se is not a destruction or ties to al Qaeda. Indeed, all the proper basis for military action under interna- evidence the White House presented to the tional law," they advised. Officials suggested American public and Congress was false. How that the government might manufacture was it possible that the president took the na- "conditions necessary to justify government tion to war based on completely erroneous in- military action, which might include an ultima- formation? tum for the return of UN weapons inspectors to Bush pointed the finger of blame at the intel- Iraq." They noted that Bush also lacked "a po- ligence community. It was an "intelligence litical framework" for military action. The failure." Having constructed a scapegoat, Re- minutes record that Blair had already agreed to publicans and their Democratic allies collected support war in a meeting with Bush in Craw- the various intelligence agencies together un- ford, Texas on April 2002. der the National Intelligence Director, a cabi- On March 25, 2002, in a memorandum from net-level post currently held by John Negro- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to Blair, ponte, relieving the director of the Central In- Straw complained that the president's "axis of telligence Agency of his duties as the presi- evil" speech had made the case for attacking dent's senior intelligence advisor and head of Iraq much harder and that Blair would need to the intelligence community. Bush had accom- find a way "to delink the three, and to show plished something quite profound: he had thor- why military action against Iraq is so much oughly politicized the intelligence community. more justified than against Iran and North Ko- rea." Moreover, Straw pointed out, "there has But was the Iraq war a failure of intelligence? been no credible evidence to link Iraq with UBL and Al Qaida. Objectively, the threat On May 1, 2005, The Sunday Times of Lon- from Iraq has not worsened as a result of 11 don published the Downing Street Memoran- September." dum, the minutes of a July 23, 2002 meeting Several other top-level British government between British national security officials and memoranda preceded these memos. These ex- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Marked pressed great doubt that anything new with re- "Secret and strictly personal-UK eyes only," spect to Iraq had emerged sufficient to justify the minutes concern the observations of then war. Blair's political director Peter Ricketts director of MI6 (the US equivalent of the wrote on March 22, 2002 that "the best survey CIA), Richard Dearlove, who had just returned of Iraq's WMD programmes will not show from Washington DC after meeting with US (Continued on page 21)

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The Downing Street Memo-Why It’s Important Herskowitz in 1999. "My father had all this (Continued from page 20) political capital built up when he drove the much advance in recent years" and that "US Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it." He as- scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and sured Herskowitz that "if I had that much capi- Al Qaida is so far frankly unconvincing." He tal, I'm not going to waste it." characterized the war as "a grudge between Thus these memos provide compelling evi- Bush and Saddam." In a memo dated March dence for what many observers have long 18, 2002, British Ambassador to the US Chris- claimed, namely that the president was lying topher Meyer recounts a meeting with Paul both about reasons the US went to war and the Wolfowitz in which the difficulty of selling the facts surrounding those reasons. Bush and war to the UK and in Europe was lamented. In Blair had settled upon WMD knowing that the a March 12, 2002 memo, in a conversation be- evidence did not support this reason, so "the tween Condoleezza Rice and British foreign intelligence and facts were being fixed around policy advisor David Manning, it was noted the policy." As Wolfowitz put it in a May 28, that the US president was struggling to come 2003 interview with Vanity Fair, "For bureau- up with a justification for war. cratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weap- What we learn from these documents helps ons of mass destruction [as justification for us explain comments made by then-Secretary invading Iraq] because it was the one reason of State Colin Powell on February 24, 2001 in everyone could agree on." Cairo, Egypt. Saddam "has not developed any Despite the many of us who knew the presi- significant capability with respect to weapons dent was lying before the war, a majority of the of mass destruction," Powell said. "He is un- American public and the Congress had faith able to project conventional power against his that the evidence Bush provided to justify war neighbors." Then-National Security Advisor, in Iraq was sound. The consequences of that Rice, appearing on CNN July 29, 2001, rein- faith have been catastrophic. As I write this forced Powell's claims: "We are able to keep article, fighting in Iraq has killed 1,722 US ser- arms from him. His military forces have not vice personnel, wounded 12,855, killed proba- been rebuilt." Yet, in August 2002, White bly more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians, wounded House officials were claiming that Saddam tens of thousands more, and incurred hundreds was a threat to international peace and secu- of billions of dollars in military spending and rity. Vice-president Cheney claimed, "there is property damage. no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weap- The way the White House plays with the ons of mass destruction." And in February truth reflects a governing philosophy. In an 2003, Powell said, "We know that Saddam October 17, 2004 New York Times Magazine Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of article, Ron Suskind recounts a conversation mass destruction, is determined to make he had with a Bush aid. The aid said that indi- more." viduals like Suskind lived "in what we call the What changed between the winter of 2002 reality-based community." Such individuals and the summer of 2002? WMD had become "believe that solutions emerge from your judi- Bush's excuse to wage war against Iraq-a war, cious study of discernible reality." "That's not journalist and Bush's ghostwriter Mickey Her- the way the world really works anymore," the skowitz reveals, Bush had long wanted. "One aid continued. "We're an empire now, and of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to when we act, we create our own reality." be seen as a commander-in-chief," Bush said to (Continued on page 22)

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The Downing Street Memo-Why It’s Important Session 3 (Continued from page 21) Ethnicity and citizenship: is alienation inevitable? With proper attention to these memos, it Joint session of Research Commite on Alineation The- ory and Research RC36 and Research Committe on Eth- should become clear to everybody but the most nic, Race and Minority Relations RC05 ideologically deceived that president Bush Organiser: Devorah Kalekin, University of Haifa, Israel, took the nation to war based upon a reality that [email protected] he and his operatives created-a lie to expand Among the processes that signal globalization is the and entrench American Empire. relentless rise in migration from periphery to center - global south to global north, east to west, as well as to 'magnet' localities in distinct areas of the world. Spurred by a need for sanctuary or by a search for personal bet- terment, migrants are uprooted from their native habitat and fated to live as ethnic 'others'. Access to the rights and privileges of citizenship may be denied or delayed, thus exacerbating difficulties. Papers presented in this session and the discussion will explore the extent to which structural and inter-actional experiences of alienation inevitably perpetuate otherness, and limit the possibility of minorities' realizing their full human potential. Session 4 Research Committee on Alienation and labor in a post apartheid society Alienation Theory and Research RC36 Organiser: Gerhard Schutte, Wisconsin University, RC36 main page USA, [email protected] Despite the promise of better opportunities, working Programme Co-ordinator conditions and wages, workers in post apartheid South Lauren Langman Africa face unemployment, retrenchment and neglect in Department of Sociology the wake of the privatization policies of the new, democ- Loyola University of Chicago ratically elected government. Participants are invited to 6525 Sheridan Road submit papers discussing the alienating experiences and Chicago IL 60626 effects of recent trends in the political economy of the USA country. [email protected] Session 5 What is to be done - And who decides? Organiser: Knud Jensen, Danish University of Educa- Call for Papers tion, Denmark, [email protected] Contributions are invited the following sessions: The Role of the Middle Classes in the process of globalization. Layers of middle class play an adversarial role Session 1 in local and global political processes, having impact on Keynote Session: featuring Patricia Hill Collins enclosure and exclosure, allocation of positions, proc- Organiser: Lauren Langman, Loyola University, USA, esses of democratic decision making and alienation of [email protected] work, the mix of public finance and private enterprises Session 2 and the contemporary qualities of life. Marginality, sociology and the sociologist Session 6 Panel session From wage labor to consumer culture: Alienation theory Organiser: Karen Halnon, Pennsylvania State Univer- in the 21stC sity, USA, [email protected] Organiser: James Connor, Australian National Univer- This session will explore the multiple applications of sity, [email protected] marginality to sociology and the sociologist, with par- The current species-being of existence is often claimed ticular emphasis on (1) the importance, if not necessity, to be an alienated one, not only in Marx's traditional of marginality to the sociologist; and (2) the marginal conception of being estranged from the product of one's position of sociology as a discipline. labour, but in being estranged from forming a meaning- ful identity in a globalised, rationalised and corporatised

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world. This session seeks to re-theorise alienation and the experience of it in the 21st century by identifying the ways and means of alienation today - from work, to lei- sure, to consumption, to name three broad sites. Papers are sought that bring alienation theory into the global, consumerist and rationalised late-capitalist world of the present and seek to explain the position of the alienated person. Session 7 The quality of social existence in a globalizing world Special session on Congress theme Organiser: James Connor, Australian National Univer- sity, [email protected] Marx, first theorized alienation as a consequence of wage labor, the basis of wealth in capitalist societies. Alienation for Marx was seen in powerlessness, frag- mented social ties and dehumanization. But since Marx's pioneering insights, it would seem that Rationality, the legitimating ideology of capital, meant that alienation had migrated from the factory floor to office. But further, we might also note that capitalism has evolved into a system of globalized capital largely devoted to con- sumerism. This session will be devoted to examining the nature of alienation in the new forms of work organizations, the forms alienation takes in third world sweat shops as well as the gated communities of the affluent first world, the alienation from Nature as seen in our ecological crisis, and diverse forms of popular culture. Finally, we might also note that the conditions of social existence today has also been seen in various attempts to overcome alienation in such diverse expressions as the Global Justice movements or new age pagan religions.