[lbo-talk] who is Walter Benn Michaels?

shag at cleandraws.com shag at cleandraws.com
Wed Jan 23 08:51:10 PST 2008


Carl (CGE) recommended Walter Benn Michaels, The Trouble with Diversity. I'd enjoyed the review, reposted below.

I have some criticisms of the book --mostly I am curious who he thinks he has to admonish. That is, I think he's confused. Most folks who are lefties (as on this list) are and have been making these same criticisms for nearly two decades. I have. The rest? These are liberals, democrats, etc. and they have never been interested in economic inequality anyway. So, it seems like his book is kind of a wasted effort. The people who think like this aren't ever going to change their minds.

but that said, who is this guy? I've barely heard of him and he makes $175k in Chicago? as a professor of English? at a public university? did the fortunes of the professoriate dramatically reverse in the last 8 years?

He acknowledges that he's doing pretty well for himself, of course, which was the point of the whole "about Walter Benn Michaels" chapter -- which was pretty funny in terms of a rhetorical tactic to deploy against critics.

And CGE, I'm disappointed that you haven't responded!

shag (artist formerly known as bitch) http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws



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