[Peace-discuss] [sftalk] Re: [OccupyCU] An apposite comment on the Zimmerman demonstrations

[C. G. Estabrook]

"...multiculturalism and diversity ... are ... effective as a legitimizing tool, because they suggest that the ultimate goal of social justice in a neoliberal economy is not that there should be less difference between the rich and the poor—indeed the rule in neoliberal economies is that the difference between the rich and the poor gets wider rather than shrinks—but that no culture should be treated invidiously and that it’s basically OK if economic differences widen as long as the increasingly successful elites come to look like the increasingly unsuccessful non-elites. So the model of social justice is not that the rich don’t make as much and the poor make more, the model of social justice is that the rich make whatever they make, but an appropriate percentage of them are minorities or women ... internationalization, the new mobility of both capital and labor, has produced a contemporary anti-racism that functions as a legitimization of capital rather than as resistance or even critique..." [W.B.Michaels, author of "The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality" (2006)]

On Jul 15, 2013, at 6:55 PM, "Dr. Andrew Ó Baoill" <andrew at funferal.org> wrote:

> I'd also suggest that demonstrations are not primarily about the narrow task of persuading those in power to engage in immediate, and narrow, changes, but about at least two other goals:
> Demonstrating to the broader public that there is a sizable group exercised about this broad set of issues, which can prompt passive members of the public to consciousness and to action
> Serving as an organizing and concrete demonstration of solidarity among those already engaged in some level of activism, which serves the task of movement building and development
> 
> Both of these tasks, if properly harnessed and channeled, serve longer term goals of broad social change - including racial and economic justice - which, as Paul notes, are not mutually exclusive issues.
> 
> Andrew
> --
> Dr. Andrew Ó Baoill
> andrew at obaoill.net
> 
> On 15 Iúil 2013, at 23:57, Paul Mueth <paulmueth at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
>> All deference to the Dougmeister . . . 
>> The discourse at mon. demo here included calls for building cross-race (and class) coalitions. And working on local issues like the no jail expansion project and racial justice task force. . .
>> 
>> Race and Class ! ! 
>> Is that so difficult. . .??
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone 3GS, It doesn't chat!
>> 
>> On Jul 15, 2013, at 4:50 PM, "C. G. Estabrook" <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
>> 
>> > I think we also have an example here of "the extraordinaire eagerness of American liberals to identify racism as the problem, so that anti-racism (rather than anti-capitalism) can be the solution" (Walter Benn Michaels). --CGE
>> > 
>> > On Jul 15, 2013, at 3:40 PM, Laurie Solomon <ls1000 at live.com> wrote:
>> > 
>> >> I can completely concur with Henwood’s statement and would even generalize it to most of the protest demonstrations, commentary, etc. that liberals, progressives, or whatever they have been named or call themselves have engaged in with respect to most – if not all – the various issues that they have advocated. At best, most of their activities have been no more than the symbolic polictics of self-expression and testimony with little translation into actually effective action. And like Henwood, I don’t know the answer to the question of how one translates one into the other; nor do I really see much sign that people are even attempting to deal with the issues involved in the question with respect to this or other topics.
>> >> 
>> >> From: C. G. Estabrook
>> >> Sent: July 15, 2013 3:23 PM
>> >> To: Peace Discuss
>> >> Cc: sftalk at yahoogroups.com ; mailto:occupyCU at lists.chambana.net
>> >> Subject: [Peace-discuss] An apposite comment on the Zimmerman demonstrations
>> >> 
>> >> Doug Henwood writes,
>> >> 
>> >>> "...I understand the reasons for protest completely. But then what? How are protests in New York and Los Angeles going to change Florida law or police practice? How do we get beyond the politics of self-expression and testimony to something that's actually effective? I don't know the answer to this, but I don't see much sign that people are even asking the question."
>> > 
>> > 
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > OccupyCU mailing list
>> > OccupyCU at lists.chambana.net
>> > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/occupycu
>> > 
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