[lbo-talk] Jargon in Science

Alan Rudy alan.rudy at gmail.com
Thu Mar 1 12:30:55 PST 2012


On Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 1:55 PM, shag carpet bomb <shag at cleandraws.com>wrote:


> answer is too vauge to understand.
>
> insurgent as vocabulary where? what discipline? profession? social
> movement literature? as social movement participants use them? media?
>

That's exactly the point. In common usage these days, I think, "insurgent" implies terrorist opposing our will, power and society. It is obfuscatory because, in common usage (usage strategically set by particular gov't and media talking heads/writing hands), the diversity and specificity of the various uses of the term are bracketed.


>
> state's rights? out of context, i don't understand how to is jargon.
>

Is the problem that you have a specific definition of the word jargon that doesn't jibe with applying it to a short phrase most often used to veil racist, sexist and classist intent? Is jargon different from code, I guess, is the question. I see them as overlapping. Codes and connotations are part and parcel of the strategic situatedness of the use of all jargon as I see it.


>
> what is id, ego, superego an example of? properly used technical
> language or obfuscatory jargon.
>

All three were obfuscatory jargon, I should have been more clear. The Id = The It, The Ego = The I, Superego = The Super I ... the traditional translation only serves to get in the way of everyday English language readers... as it did me the first time.



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