[lbo-talk] the other diversities

Marv Gandall marvgandall at videotron.ca
Thu Oct 15 06:59:07 PDT 2009


There's been a lot of ink and venom spilled on John Benn Michaels and the larger question provoked by his analysis about whether "class" or "race and gender" should have primacy. But how important are these issues really?

The trade union federations and representative organizations of women and blacks have rarely if ever come into conflict over their respective programmes for change and there is, in fact, a long history of mutual support - notwithstanding that they each focus on the form of oppression which matters most to them, and are naturally most sympathetic to commentaries which also give these priority.

That being so, why is there so much agitation among their outside sympathizers on the left over what appears to me to be peripheral theoretical concerns which have no practical bearing on the campaigns being waged by the participants, campaigns which everyone appears to support in common? After all the discussion, I'm still mystified, and if anyone can offer a succinct explanation, perhaps I will learn something.



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