http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/01/09ft.htm#marx
He was in favour of free trade for what seems like the same general reasons Hardt & Negri seem to "favour" Empire: it advances the long term cause of communism. Marx' remarks about protectionism echo quite neatly what's been said on this list before about South Korea (protectionism to give their capitalists the chance to build up industry); he furthermore points out that such protectionism is really only a prelude to integration into the world market of "more or less" free trade.
Having read next to nothing about national liberation and Marxism, I'm (only) assuming that Yoshie's favourable attitude towards nationalism (given also what you've posted before, Yoshie) stems from a sort of "protectionist" concept: build up the national bourgeois into something capable of joining the world market on a somewhat "even" footing (let me know if I'm off-base, Yoshie, as well as how far). This also leads to greater proletariat consciousness, sharpened even further by trade and production on the global level when that appears on the scene.
As to Carrol's comments about the hopelessness of Hardt & Negri: I've been reading Empire, off and on, and I can't really say that the authors are all fatalistic. A bit flighty maybe but hardly fatalistic. Their idea of "pushing through" Empire to come out the other side in a better place seems to echo Marx' thinking as per above. I haven't yet come to the part knocking nationalist projects, but I would have to agree with Yoshie at least somewhat: why not engage in them? Granted, to paraphrase Doug, such projects haven't shown much promise from past experiments, but that's the standard poop I get from people who knock any kind of anti-capitalist stance (not that I'm stating you do, Doug; don't get your hackles up): look at Russia, it didn't work there, so the whole thing is crap, yadda, yadda, yadda. No reason not to keep trying, especially when the alternative will get worse.
Happy holidays, Everyone!
Todd
(P.S. Be gentle with your criticism; that can be your Xmas gift to me!)
!{)>
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