[lbo-talk] more on the econ Nobel

[Sean Johnson Andrews]

I second Wojtek's point about neo-liberal fantasies of authorship and IPR, 
but I also wonder if the analogy is worthwhile in terms of the historical 
use of both these constructions.  Maybe I'm in over my head in terms of 
historical scholarship, but I understand the consolidation and revival of 
Shakespeare (and hence the consolidation of the work under his name) was 
something that was largely a 19th century process of consecrating the 
English canon which, in turn, was an ideological project meant to show that 
the British represented the pinnacle of civilization, the best that had been 
thought and said, and all that.

Isn't this basically the same sort of consecration that Bank of Sweden folks 
sought for the economic sciences--which at the time were being impressed 
upon the post-colonial world with the same hegemonic aspirations as 
Shakespeare was in the 19th century?  With the implementation of 
institutions like the IMF and the World Bank, it seems like much of the 
post-war hegemonic order was based around the claim that economics and 
development were as predictable as the chemical fertilizers being sold as 
part of the Green Revolution.  Though the prize is Swedish, US economic 
"scientists" have one the prize well over half of the time (by my rough 
count, 38 out of 54, not counting this year).  I am not claiming a 
conspiracy, but the US certainly had an interest in funding research that 
can prove the claims of certain branches of social science are objectively 
true enough for policy implementation on a global scale.

Maybe it's a stretch, but it seems like the analogy is at least good enough 
for dinnertime conversation if not scholarly analysis.

-s

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wojtek Sokolowski" <sokol at jhu.edu>
To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 10:32 AM
Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] more on the econ Nobel


> Max Sawicky:
>> Why do we say Shakespeare wrote the plays when it was really someone else
>> using the name Shakespeare?
>