> Ulhas Joglekar wrote:
>
> >I can't say anything about Ms. Pollitt, but North American Left does seem
> >rather clueless about Asia. Obviously, there are some exceptions and some
N.
> >American Leftists are well informed about Asia. But they are exceptions.
>
> Asia's a very big place (and what *is* the history of the concept of
> Asia? how did Indonesia and Japan get grouped together?). What don't
> we know that we should?
Asia is a very big place and I am not even an India expert. The starting point for the Leftists frequently is some theory of "the Whole" of capitalism, by whatever name called: Theory of Imperialism, Neo-colonialism, Core/Periphery Model etc. etc. It is from some such schema that the notions about what contemporary Leftwing politics ought to be is derived. This approach is inadequate. We need concrete understanding of each social formation in its individuality, including understanding of the specific nature of its insertion in the global capitalism.
Ulhas