[lbo-talk] Michaels, Against Diversity

[Chris Maisano]

Julio says: "Yes, these statements are strategically insightful. But, as they come, my fundamental objection to them is that, they might hold if one thinks the U.S. or Western Europe is (or, more precisely, certain social settings in the U.S. and Western Europe are) the whole world, but they are otherwise flawed. See his examples: U.S. universities, professionals, and the upper corporate staff!"
 
I don't think this is a meaningful objection to what he's saying. I doubt Michaels actually thinks that the U.S. and Western Europe are the whole world. He is American, and his argument is directed primarily at leftists and politically literate people in the U.S. and Western Europe, so yeah for someone like me living in the U.S. what he's saying is highly relevant. Sure, his argument may not be applicable to other kinds of societies. But I really wouldn't be surprised if similar dynamics are occuring in, say, neoliberal non-Western societies with significant ethnic/racial minority groups. 
 
"In effect, anti-racism and anti-imperialism overlap almost entirely. So, for any meaningful definition of the term "neoliberal," anti-racism and (tactically to a lesser extent but strategically to a greater extent) anti-sexism are effectively anti-neoliberalism."
 
Anti-racism and anti-imperialism most certainly do not necessarily go hand in hand. Figures such as Charles Lindbergh and Pat Buchanan spring immediately to mind (as do racist currents within Arab and Muslim opposition toward the Israeli occupation, for that matter). And WBM does a good job in my mind in arguing why anti-racism and anti-sexism are not necessarily anti-neoliberal in his print/web stuff and his interview with Doug.