(Assuming the "identity" in question is "Marxist.") During periods when there is no real hope of building a mass movement on the left, it becomes important to "Keep the REd Flag Flying," and it is probably worthwhile during such periods to identify oneself as Red (or in Stan Goff's coinage) "Red as a baboon's ass." When conditions are otherwise pobably it is less important, and sometimes counter-productive, to advertise one's "identity."
Whether this will be my opinion three hours from now I don't know.
Carrol
On 10/17/2011 1:05 PM, lbo83235 wrote:
> On Oct 17, 2011, at 7:31 PM, Joseph Catron wrote:
>
>> The most effective organizations to which I've belonged have been
>> those that combined a broad range of people in a common struggle, regardless
>> of their chosen label or lack thereof.
>
>
> I'd be keen to hear especially from veterans on the list what their thoughts are generally on the relationship between political identity and political action. Is it ever necessary, or always appropriate, to politically self-identify? What function(s) does it serve? In what ways, and in what contexts, is it counter-productive?
>
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