On Mon, 8 Feb 1999 15:17:58 -0500 Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> writes:
>That's hardly a reply. I'm saying that one of the Right's tactics has
been
>to (re)set the terms of political debates by, for instance, calling our
>already existing legal right to abortion into question.
I don't disagree with you there. I also don't disagree that Roe/Wade is under heavy assault and under constant threat of rollback. In terms of praxis, I definitely think Leftists should be fighting to keep abortion legal, and not only that, but fighting to extend abortion rights. But as far as theory goes, I think we should have reasons for doing so beyond mere libera/bourgeois right. Charles hit the nail on the head: the "correct" leftist position is to go beyond and actually extend abortion rights to the most disenfranchised sectors of the population.
I also don't think this is the only issue the Left should be closing ranks around. I mentioned the Right-wing attacks on Post-Structuralists and Deconstructionists in the academy. If more classical Marxists have a beef with Western Marxists or the various Posties, let's fight those battles in our own journals, forums, etc. What we shouldn't do is gleefully quote the results of a "Bad Writing Contest" sponsored by the reactionary National Association of Scholars.
So you see, I'm not that far apart from you on the issue of closing ranks after all...
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