> like sennett attempting a kind of synoptic history in representing what
> subjectivity has become. Perhaps outside of continental vocabularies of
> deconstructions, post-thisandthat, culinary institutes, etc.
an interesting project, and a huge one. Sennett's vocabulary seems to be drawn from Weber, diderot, smith - and admittedly interesting readings of them, but not ones I would have opted for. but, what would a local (US) vocabulary consist of?
> Sennett's work, unacknowledged, is a template of reading 'character' as a
>map of relationships among >and between men. He never deals with the most
>obvious strength of his work is in revealing men to >themselves and whether
>there are specific politics that flow from said revelations. corrosion of
>character is an inverted oedipal drama. not that I believe in that oedipus
>shit.<
it's difficult not to come to that conclusion with _corrosion_. especially when it seems to be overlaid by the notions of distinction between father and son, and perhaps even a certain mourning for the loss of (the conditions of identity of) the father. and, as a more explicitly treated topic, it would be interesting. _corrosion_ was frustrating in the extent to which it was there, but not there -- if that makes sense. in this context, it made me think of other work on masculinity and subjectivity which I found less frustrating, such as R W Connell's work. Connell wrote _Gender and Power_, but I'm not sure if that's the book of his I have in mind where he talks of masculinity and class in particular.
> fall of public man too is what happens with the consciousness among men and
>how a critical language >shared among and between them is unrealized,
>perhaps like on listservs. perhaps i stretch here.
no stretch at all - the notion of civic discourse, even of a public space, is always premised on a certain failure, one prearranged perhaps by the presupposition of a shared language ... and a feeling of trauma when this becomes apparent :-) is Sennett's _fall_ located in the early part of capitalism, when the very notion of public space emerged, the printing press, etc? perhaps listservs promised a kind of rediscovery of this space untainted by the mediations of the (mass) media?
> Also, if you could provide any information of Maori struggles I would
>appreciate it.
I'm not that familiar with Maori politics, except to suggest that a politics of reclaiming Maori identity in which (I guess is why you ask) a version of and struggle over the terms of what constitutes an authentic maori masculinity seems to figure quite prominently. for reasons which I'm never really sure of, this idea of masculinity as a crucial site of resistance or even definition has never seemed to be the case in indigenous politics in Australia. there is no notion of 'the warrior' in indigenous cultures here as distinct from maori cultures in New Zealand. I take it you've seen the film Once Were Warriors, or are about to see its sequel?
if Bill Cochrane is still about, maybe he's in a better position than I to suggest something, or bother him if he isn't at billc at waikato.ac.nz but I'll look around for any stuff that I have or can point you to.
Angela _________