[lbo-talk] theory and practice (was Re: The Latest Theory Is That Theory Doesn't Matter)

[Shane Taylor]

Nathan Newman wrote:
> The issue is not theory but applying theory.  Many academics
> think they get better insight from an "objective" observer position,
> but they actually lose out on the insight that comes from
> continually forcing theory up against reality.  In an odd way, it is
> the least scientific viewpoint possible, since it becomes a world of
> hypotheses with little engagement with results.  Some social
> scientists try to use "natural experiments"-- retroactively
> examining correlations between factors -- to explain the world, but
> at a gut level, I've always learned more through the very
> commitment to seeking a particular result informed by theory and
> having to deal with revising my understanding based on the failure
> or success of such a strategy.

Commenting on the WTO and IMF/WB protests, Chomsky said that part of
their merit was the ways they'd educate activists.  Seeing phalanxes of
cops in combat gear with the National Guard in the wing was an invaluable
political education for me when I was at the April 2000 protests in DC. 
Also, working with the Greens during the 2000 election taught me the hard
realities of living in a two-party state.

Of course, something more is required to utilize such experience.  And I
think people know this.  Numerous local anti-war activists were starved
for a discussion group -- something to make sense of what's going on,
what has been done, why we're opposed to the war, etc.

When several people heard of it as a suggestion, they were ecstatic.  The
group is not homogenous in the least, and almost everyone jumps in to
debate.  People are _enjoying_ themselves.  They are _hungry_ for
something more than meetings and demos.  Not academics, not
"intellectuals" (as in some alien minority): a broad swath of people who
have decided to actively oppose the war.  Many have never met each other
before, some have never been active before.

Even after the media's pronounced triumph, and as numbers have begun to
drop off at organizational meetings, the discussion group continues to
grow.  It's separate from organizational gatherings; open to everyone,
required of no one.

For once, reservations are coming out about "peace" activism (which,
here, is implicitly pacifist).  With the false unity of non-discussion
lifted, people who thought themselves a minority are finding themselves
to be a majority -- or at least a sizeable plurality.  It's beautiful,
actually.  It's like Doug said once: the point isn't to have ideas on
pedestals, but to place them in the hands of activists.  There are some
eager hands ready for something to seize.

-- Shane

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