Maybe it is too clear and commonsensical?
But to be fair to Chomsky, I think his main
> point about Foucault was
> that, even when one attempts to translate it from
> acedemic jargon to comon
> language, it was still confusing and convoluted.
Right. Because it is deep and hard. Chomsky can be explained to your neighbor because his theory is vulgar Marxism, which is true at first approximation, but very easy to understand. The rich control everything, including the govt. The govt acts in their interest, totally amorally. Decent people won't fall for their les and double standards. That's the theory. Most peoplein this country believe it.
But Foucault is hard because he is trying to think things through in a new way. He does not write in a heavily academic or jargonistic style. Unlike other pomos, he attempts to express himself in plain language. Obviously he is French, so plain language for him is a bit different. He is operating in a world where (in his life) Mraxism was a political and intellectual force, Sartre was living presence as a public persona, and may '68 was the horizon of his life. But the theory he is developing is novel, profoundf, and not transparent. Neither is Marx's Marxism transparant if you gey beyond the vulgar gloss. Foucault is a thinker of comparable importance, in my view.
For
> me, Chomsky's work can
> be explained and made relevant to non-acedemic
> folks. But then I've never
> spent the time to understand Foucault's work like I
> have Chomsky's.
It'll repay your time.
>
> Also, Doug, do you think that theory really makes
> our message to the
> carpenter next store that more understandable? I
> wonder, because my
> exeperience with people is that they have an
> aversion to theory and tend to
> gravitate to concrete nuts and bolts thinking.
If you present the theory as Theory, eyes will glaze. If you present facts without theory, no one will remember what you say ten minutes later. The trick in ordinary propaganda and agitation is to present the facts clothed in the theory as if it were obvious and natural. That is a difficult thing to do.
Let's not get into this thing we get into every now and then about how we have to put high theory and scholarly rigor on the shelf until after the revo. It aint gonna happen, the revo aint comin any time real soon, some of us are better at agitprop than at high theory and vice versa, and we need everyone doing what he can. If you don't find someone's theory useful, ask for an explanation. If taht doesn't help, don't use the theory.
jks
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