[lbo-talk] History and Theory: When to Talk About Socialism

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Tue Nov 23 21:32:08 PST 2004


Michael Dawson MDawson at pdx.edu, Tue Nov 23 13:24:02 PST 2004:
>And he does this, in part, by pretending that talking about history
>and theory on LBO is somehow contrary to continuous, continual
>struggle for a better world. "Why should I tell you what socialism
>is or how revolutions rise and fall? That's a distraction from our
>real work."

I've discussed history and theory in great detail on this list and several others, most recently about ACT UP, Queer Nation, Black Reconstruction, Detroit organizers, etc. I don't have any illusion that talking about them here makes any difference for anyone, though.

It's more important to discuss history and theory with activists and organizers (in anti-war, labor, feminist, and other movements) we work with in local communities and national organizations (e.g., the Green Party), when we get a chance (or rather when we succeed in creating a chance) to do so. Probably now is a good time (or at least much better than before election day).

Between history and theory, history probably helps most people understand the dynamics of social struggles better than theory, provided they have a grasp of bare bones of Marxist theory (having studied it consciously or absorbed it unconsciously). -- Yoshie

* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * OSU-GESO: <http://www.osu-geso.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>



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