for the discussion on zizek, i'm pretty sure you can get to the lbo archives (follow the disussion list links) by way of the lbo site at http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO (if that doesn't work, check with doug.) i think i found both pieces kind of predictable, but that's not to say not worth reading in the midst of the frenzy; but they were predictable if you'd already read some of his books.
there's another piece, hopefully still there, by zizek you might be interested in perusing at http://www.arkzin.com/munist/ziz1.htm
> Since when does one have to agree with the politics of an author
to
> derive some benefit from their work?
heh. you don't. moreover, what kind of fool would only read stuff (they thought) they already agreed with, or insisted on having to agree with entirely in order to get something from them? i was trying to locate who he might be. the only stuff i've seen on him is a reference here and there, mostly during the war in yugoslavia, and the seminar notes i had on racism in france. and i remember geert lovink's 1997 piece on public intellectuals also mentioned him. (i append the para below, and if anyone's not seen geert's recent piece on e-litism, i suggest a trawl to the nettime archives.) admittedly, none of this endears me to him, esp the bit equating the rise of islam with the rise of fascism. what's up with that? you (or anyone else) don't happen to have an e version of finkelraut's 'ode to the croation state' do you?
> Still give a look on the book on "negationism".
yes. you didn't mention any details re the claims about the bordigists, who i know almost nothing about than they were councillists of some description (?). what made their anti-fascist/anti-capitalist position so noxious? a cite on the bordigists' holocaust denial would also be appreciated.
Angela _________
Portrait of the virtual intellectual: On the design of the public cybersphere Geert Lovink (by way of nettime http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ )
Lecture at 100 days program of Documenta X Kassel, July 13, 1997
"...The return of fundamentalisms, nationalisms, regionalisms, etc. is not a serious threat to the New World Order. Benjamin Barber's endless variations on the dialectics between 'McWorld' and 'Jihad' are only expressing temporary, and very marginal, conflicts. These conflicts may be bloody and affect the lives of millions of people, but the current catastrophe zones don't make any impact on the Capitalist Condition. A Black Monday on Wall Street might. The war in Bosnia has not disrupted Western economies, though it proved nearly fatal to Bosnia. This time for sure Sarajevo won't throw us into a world war again. That's it. Alain Finkelkraut's 'Ode to the Croatian State', Bernard-Henry Levy's use of the Siege of Sarajevo as a stage for his media appearances, or Peter Handke's late and profoundly touristic discovery of the Serbian countryside all marked the end of the intellectual as a public figure with any significant impact. The cynical competition for the 'most favourite victim status' amongst the different ethnic groups made all known methods of outrage and engagement irrelevant overnight."