"Ok, then, are there any radical movements that old-style lefties are misinterpreting now? Could it be that all the old-style lefties who denounce 'identity politics' are reproducing the errors of 35 years ago?"
I think the answer to the first is yes. Yes also to the second, but with this proviso: The term "identity politics" is an intentional slur, to avoid acknowledging and honoring struggles against oppression whose legitimacy never derives from anyone else's approval.
Saying yes to the first is not to say I have The Answer. I don't; I tend to agree with Carrol's summary response. But I do have some feelings. One sector in particular seems ripe for eruption -- the prison struggle. The most notable symbolic achievement of the Great French Revolution was the destruction of its notorious dungeon. In announcing their solidarity the Belfast Volunteers declared, "It is good for humanity that grass grows where the Bastille stood." [I'm quoting Raymond Postgate's reference from memory.] The Attica uprising showed the potential, but occurred near the dawn of liberal prison reform palliatives (which of course might return late in the day, but probably too late). Today in the United States, prisons have become not just the bourgeoisie's last resort short of military rule, but its first. Bill Clinton and Wall Street crow about the steep declines in "crime" rates, after having swept all their problems out of sight behind walls and bars. Eugene Debs's declaration to the court (". . . while there is a soul in prison I am not free"), and the old Wobby button ("WE'RE IN FOR YOU -- YOU'RE OUT FOR US") might reappear in even bolder forms. This is politics for which the concept of community, which Doug questioned earlier, is central. The Black community is conscious of the role of prisons in this society, more so than any other oppressed sector, because there is no one in that community who hasn't been affected by them, no matter how prosperous or fortunate they may be materially. Meanwhile, the rest of our society, including many oppressed sectors, either are oblivious or avert their eyes, as good Germans averted their eyes to the concentration camps located adjacent to each large city. The polarization of mass consciousness is as stark as attitudes about the O.J. Simpson verdict, and of far greater consequence. A major initiative on this front would pose a stiff challenge to (white) Marxists and radicals of every stripe, and many probably will fail the test. But if such eruptions catch on and spread, they may also capture the imagination not only of the Black masses outside the prisons, but of young people and many others who are receptive to the example of moral courage and liberation.
This is just one among the possibilities. Then again, maybe we shall see a stock market Crash, mass mobilizations of the unemployed, factory occupations, industrial workers at the barricades, and we'll all sing Solidarity Forever again. Which do you think is more likely in the foreseeable future? (As Ted Allen used to wonder, if solidarity is forever, why does it have to be again?)
Ken Lawrence