>Liberalism is in objective retreat, albeit
>in the wrong direction - an index to which is the concerted rhetorical
>campaign to associate same with its nemesis ('the free market') to the
>point of identity ... I hear, for instance, that Fukuyama is making as big
>a splash with his new paeon as he did with his first - and I heard one
>review which suggested another success was inevitable as his first book had
>been so perfectly vindicated by events! A lefty's fight today is most
>immediately a fight for a few vestiges of residual liberalism, I'm afraid.
I've spent the past few days reading the much-despised Russell Jacoby's latest, The End of Utopia. What Rob says here is Jacoby's theme: liberals in retreat. But he places at least as much blame on radicals, whose amazing disappearance has given liberals free rein to join the free-market team. Jacoby's freak show of multicultis, pomoistas, and lifestyle radicals has sat on the sidelines, twirling their cultural batons and waving their theoretical pom-poms before a dazzled but self-absorbed audience, while the Free Market Bulls have run up the score on the Socialist Dreamers.
I only read parts of Sokal and Bricmont's book (what was it called?), but it seems to me that Jacoby's is a much better attack on today's intellectuals. Whereas S&B seemed to have problems with the pomos' turgid style and radical posing, Jacoby challenges them on the content of their ideas and the relevance of their theorizing--or lack thereof. Though he occasionally exhumes some questionable sources in support of his arguments--Sen. Moynihan in one instance!--he certainly isn't afraid to name names: I can't think of one six-figure superstar radical who doesn't get a lashing from Jacoby.
Perhaps with Jacoby stirring in my too-deep, too-short sleep, upon waking this morning I realized the key difference between intellectuals of yesterday and those of today: Weber, Mills, Adorno, Marx, Goldman, even Chomsky and Ehrenreich, would, if it came down to it, have no problem kicking someone's ass--putting up their dukes, throwing down, etc. On the other hand, Derrida, Lacan, Spivak, Ross, et al. would no doubt run and hide behind their mom's skirt (or, in certain cases, their boyfriend's counterhegemonic evening gown).
Testosteronically yours,
Eric