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Not at all. Pivotal figures in civil rights, such as Du Bois [1] were anti-capitalist and much of contemporary social and legal theory emerged in the 1980s from
by jahewson 5y ago
Not at all. Pivotal figures in civil rights, such as Du Bois [1] were anti-capitalist and much of contemporary social and legal theory emerged in the 1980s from post-modernism, a direct offshoot of Marxism. The general idea being that if you switch out “class struggle” for “racial struggle” then you get to borrow the rest of Marx’s theory about an oppressed proletariat and the need for revolution to overthrow an oppressive elite.
Americans like to use “marxist” as a slur and to use it out of context to attack political enemies but there is no shortage of actual Marxist who label themselves as such, e.g this professor, found randomly by my Googling for 30sec: https://blog.apaonline.org/2020/06/17/black-lives-matter-as-identity-politics-and-class-struggle/?amp https://blog.apaonline.org/2020/06/17/black-lives-matter-as-...
Most people have no idea that they’re regurgitating Marxist ideology when they repeat the phrases and arguments they hear, and of course would never identify as such - but there’s no sense in which making this observation is misinformation.
Personally I lament the fact that people across the political spectrum are digging ideological holes for themselves instead of focusing on how we can all help each other.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois
- VictorPath 5y ago> post-modernism, a direct offshoot of Marxism The communists manifesto says "Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinct feature: it has simplified class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other — Bourgeoisie and Proletariat." This grand narrative and ideology spoken with objective certainty with regards to binary oppositions, is the complete opposite of postmodernism. Milton Friedman's works in a similar vein although on the other side are the opposite of postmodernism as well.
- jahewson 5y agoYes, that’s why it’s an “offshoot”. The founding thinkers of post-modernism were former Marxists and left-wing radicals (in the proper, actual political sense), again this is not a slur, simply a statement of fact. Depending on your political persuasion it may not even be a bad thing! But it is, at least, a thing. In as much as Mormonism is an offshoot of Judaism. To revisit the original point, civil rights is deeply intertwined with radical left-wing and Marxist politics, for better or worse. Personally I think it’s a shame because civil rights should be for everyone, it is bigger than any political persuasion. The best thing we can do is de-politicise these movements, the entire political spectrum has become so toxic and divisive.
- bjowen 5y agoOkay, you’re using that word in an unconventional sense. In your usage, the US Congress would be an “offshoot” of the British Crown. Movements that stand in opposition to a prior established manner of thought are usually referred to as something like a backlash or a reaction or a breakaway.
- jahewson 5y agoThank you. “Breakaway” would have been a better choice, yes. In that the lineage is there but they are incompatible.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jahewson 5y agoFWIW When I say “The general idea” I am back to talking about contemporary Marxism again, not post-modernism.