I think you're on the very wrong side of this one, Carrol.
On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 12:14 PM, Chris Sturr <sturr at dollarsandsense.org>wrote:
> I finally got around to reading the "Check your privilege" article, and far
> from finding it dumb, I thought it (the article, not the subject matter)
> was really illuminating.
>
> Carrol, I agree with you that the whole "check your privilege" idea and
> lots of other parts of the new-ish vocab the article documents is
> irritating (if not quite nonsense, in my view), but I thought the author of
> the article did a nice job analyzing it, comparing different terms with New
> Left terms, and (ultimately) critiquing the fact that the new vocab ignores
> systemic issues. Here's his main explanation for the differences in the two
> vocabularies, for anyone who (like Carrol) didn't get past the nauseating
> bits:
>
> "The vocabulary of the 1960s and 1970s grew out of and contributed in turn
> to the construction of broad-based popular movements, in which hundreds of
> thousands and sometimes millions of people participated. By contrast, the
> vocabulary of today's activists emerged in a completely different, and
> arguably much less favourable context."
>
> (I think I remember reading, years ago, a similar analysis of the idealist
> elements of Lukacs's views--that left theories (and rhetoric) emphasize
> different things (more inward, cautious, pessimistic, and individualistic)
> at historical moments when left activism/movements are seriously stalled.
> Of course Lukacs is hugely more sophisticated than the "check your
> privilege folks," needless to say. But it's an observation that I would
> think Carrol would appreciate--this is the vocab that arises when there is
> no left, as Carrol is always pointing out.)
>
> I think the author's charitable (but critical) account of why people use
> the new vocabulary is a real virtue of the article; it is what allows him
> to give an explanation of where it comes from, and ultimately an account of
> what is lost when people adopt it and stop talking about liberation,
> systems, etc. I also finally found out why some young activists I know use
> the term "folks." I thought it was just an affectation.
>
>
> Message: 3
> > Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 17:50:25 +0200
> > From: Joseph Catron <jncatron at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Check your privilege: Rise of the Post-New
> > Left political vocabulary
> > To: LBO <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
> > Message-ID:
> > <
> > CAKdnb5bkDJX-q+7jB+L6QXmz7qJoShbimmQrQWsBAKqT5K+ZeA at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 4:27 AM, JOANNA A. <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> > The only case of privilege checking I heard of that made sense
> > >
> >
> > There are other cases where it makes some kind of sense. One is dealing
> > with Western activists who have an unhealthy attachment to "nonviolence"
> as
> > a praxis in the context of someone else's struggle. There's one
> perspective
> > on this from a Palestinian viewpoint here:
> >
> >
> >
> http://electronicintifada.net/content/how-obsession-nonviolence-harms-palestinian-cause/11482
> >
> > In that case, most of the critiques of the "privilege" nomenclature
> > actually describe its strengths. A good bludgeon is exactly what's
> needed,
> > and about the best for which you can hope.
> >
> > --
> > "Hige sceal ?e heardra, heorte ?e cenre, mod sceal ?e mare, ?e ure m?gen
> > lytla?."
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
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> > End of lbo-talk Digest, Vol 2315, Issue 1
> > *****************************************
> >
>
>
> --
> Chris Sturr, Co-editor
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