> Alec Ramsdell wrote:
>
> >A few days ago Doug mentioned that Tahir is an
> >autonomist Marxist. What are some distinguishing
> >characteristics of this autonomist Marxism?
>
> Sometimes people are prickly about these
> attributions. If so, Tahir,
> sorry. Just evoking a tendency - antistatist,
> antihierarchical,
> antiparty, pro the self-organizing activity of the
> working class.
>
> Here's a bit from Harry Cleaver's intro to his AM
> archive:
>
<http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/txarchintro.html>.
This looks like an excellent resource, thanks.
> >These archives contain a wide variety of material
> related to those
> >threads of the Marxist tradition which have
> emphasized the
> >self-activity of the working class. "Autonomist "is
> used here in
> >several senses: 1. the autonomy of the working
> class vis a vis
> >capital, 2. the autonomy of workers vis a vis their
> official
> >organizations, e.g., trade unions or parties, 3.
> the autonomy of
> >various sectors of the class from each other, e.g.,
> that of blacks
> >from whites, women from men, etc.
Tahir, what's your angle on sense 3? I understand the necessity of organizing and identifying around these sectors in so far as doing so enables collective political agency. At the same time is there a risk that doing so can also contribute to the reification of these categories beyond their political efficacy, so that one overlooks the fact that what characterizes race, gender, etc. are in large part social, historical, and political contingencies?
A quick question after a short read.
Alec
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