[lbo-talk] Maximise or satisfice?

ravi gadfly at exitleft.org
Wed Sep 29 14:14:33 PDT 2004


Doug Henwood wrote:
> ravi wrote:
>
>> otoh, people, like arundhati roy, IMHO the latest star in global
>> pop leftism, do fly by NYC every few months with stinging, if
>> shallow, critiques of the US.
>
> I was denounced as "hostile" the other night for implying that Roy's
> criiques are shallow. Why do you say this? And does her political
> work have much of an audience in India?
>

i am not sure about her audience in india. she has joined in with a set of long-running protests (such as the one against the narmada dam project). some have complained that she has taken over such projects and her grandstanding (defying supreme court justices, etc) actually hurts the cause.

why do i say what i say about roy? i have to first off admit that some of my motivation is just irritation -- i dislike her style of prose since she "exotic"ises indian english literature. IIRC, her book was a pre-publicized blockbuster (a creation of the publishing house and media) and is known among other things for its possibly lopsided criticism of the left/communist government of kerala.

i will gladly admit that she seems to be sincere in her left causes and it is even possible that her "celebrity" presence might have some positive effect.

but i do have serious problems with her activism. in particular, the fanciful text of her speeches (she called donald rumsfeld 'the prince of darkness', whatever that means) is analytically weak and aids the opposition with easy targets. that someone like roy 'blurb's chomsky's book (hegemony or survival) worries me in multiple ways.

apologies for exceeding posting limit!

--ravi



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