Sandton

Tahir Wood twood at uwc.ac.za
Mon Sep 2 00:48:19 PDT 2002


I see these things as a person in the activist trenches. I'm really worried that concern about our "image" and a fall-back to passive protest will take the wind out of our sails in North America. I've tried to be more tolerant of sectarian leftists in our movements, but I worry about how they domesticate dissent. Chuck0

It is important to realise in the SA context that the oppositional discourse, as welcome as it is, is still shaped by other dynamics: (a) the almost century long influence of the SACP, ANC, PAC and their notions of 'socialism' (the Keep Left people that Patrick cites are also unreconstructed state-socialism-in-one country types, thought they would deny it) and (b) the overhwelmingly racial frame of that discourse. So when the protesters celebrate a reactionary nationalist like Mugabe, as a large section does, then we have a struggle here that is still framed in archaic anti-colonial and nationalist terms. All this is of course highly 'understandable' but for me it does lend some weight to the view that a united front can only be constructed here on the most dubious of terms. I personally don't want any piece of that - it will replace the ANC's current 'neo-liberalism' with a form of crypto-nationalist fascism. For that reason I share Barchiesi's reservations. I am one of tho! se!

who are long past thinking that anyone who opposes imperialism is automatically providing a 'solution', as justified as their outrage might be. No more united fronts, thank you very much.

Tahir



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