[lbo-talk] Re: The Black Commentator on Cosby

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Tue Jul 6 07:42:24 PDT 2004


Chuck Grimes wrote:


>
>Doug just wrote something from Adolph Reed about narcissism.
>
>I don't mean to diss Reed, but looking at character identification as
>narcissism is itself not a structural critique. Why? Because using
>narcissism as the mode of interrogation is itself a study of character,
>not structure. These modes of analysis are so ubiquitous that it takes
>a fair among of reflection to figure out a way around them. Why go
>around? Because I want to understand the structural relations that
>both oppress and free---in order to change them.

Not necessarily. If the psychology identified is tied to a social position, than it is a form of structural analysis. So, the black (or any, really) petit bourgeois thinks of him or herself as self-made and independent, not reliant on any organization - a grandiose monad, and a model for others. That's different from the sense of collective struggle connected with mass action.

Doug



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list