jlfeldman.bsky.social
political theory - general strike and democracy
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Absolutely. I found myself wondering how Hayes’s analysis might change if we didn’t isolate attention in this analogical way. E.g. how certain forms of labor as well as resource extraction serve as conditions of of possibility for the harnessing of attention using the internet
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I’m not sure what the “method of motion” of the proletarian masses is today, but if there is such a method and it turns out to be revolutionary, it will not emerge ex nihilo. It will have a history—one that we can all contribute to.
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As @ericblanc.bsky.social suggests here, this admin’s labor repression is meant to prevent us from building such worker/people power. Acting in solidarity with federal workers—and getting people in your network to do the same—would be a great way to build toward smth bigger bsky.app/profile/eric...
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Or replace “coworkers” with “neighbors” and “workplace” with “town,” or whatever. In doing this myself, I learned how risk-averse many people are & how hard it is to get them to do the thing that—they do not yet know—will make their lives better. But over time, and with small wins, trust can develop
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Some are shouting into the cloud about how labor is failing America by not calling for a GS. May I recommend talking to coworkers about the changes you all would like to make at *your* workplace & making a plan to win them? You could use the amazing resources put out by @organizeworkers.bsky.social
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But imagine how the idea of a general strike will sound to someone who has never won something by taking risky actions with others (let alone with coworkers). Many are skeptical that such action could do anything but get them fired (or worse).
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It was under the circumstances of 1905 in Russia, after a decade of growing organization and strike activity—and repression—that workers produced a situation in which the GS was, in Luxemburg’s view, “the method of motion of the proletarian mass”. (She thought the same was true in Germany.)
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Unlike syndicalist general strike proponents, Luxemburg didn’t think the GS was always & everywhere THE revolutionary tactic—“a crafty method discovered by subtle reasoning for the purpose of making the proletarian struggle more effective”. (“Try This One Weird Trick to Start the Revolution”)
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this is nuts... not sure if this is what you’re asking, but as I read it he is substituting “uighurs” for “whites”, suggesting that the endgame of anti-racism is something like Chinese domination of Uighurs but with black/non-white people dominating whites? see his other tweet making a similar move
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Absolutely. And while more and more people have experience going to street demonstrations etc, the different kinds of habits, practices, skills, timelines, and emotions involved in organizing are much less familiar I think...
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What this presupposes, of course, is: belonging to a movement that has a clearly defined goal. It’s hard to find an organizational home, but usually there are people already doing the work you want to support (as @prisonculture.bsky.social often says). Find those people and get to it c:
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Are people from our constituency affected? Use this moment to bring them into the fold. If we’re already organizing on the issue—great! We can mobilize the constituency we’ve been building to act. And we find ways to support the movements working directly on emergent issues we are concerned about.
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Our opponent (the boss, the GOP) is doing something absurd and upsetting? We respond *only if it fits into OUR plan to win*. Directing the movement energy to put out every little fire will distract from the overall goal. Keep building on the movement’s timeline toward its goals.
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easy and extremely good
www.seriouseats.com/bakery-style...
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Love this. I’m not sure how you’d feel about it, but I enjoyed this recent book by Kathy Ferguson on a similar topic in the anglophone anarchist world and it might be of interest www.dukeupress.edu/letterpress-...
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they read virno and negri, came to understand the radical potential of deterritorialized intellectual labor, and pulled the plug on education in general
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I’d rather have your essay than a photo!!
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Please reach out to me here or via email (jfeldman at bard dot edu) if you have any questions! I’m happy to report that we may have some more funding to support participants’ lodging in the Hudson Valley!
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Thanks, Bonnie!
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Thought I’d tag some colleagues who might be interested or who might know others who would be: @bonniehonig.bsky.social @prorogers.bsky.social @juliethooker.bsky.social @fredleept.bsky.social @twasmegan.bsky.social @ajdouglas.bsky.social @nicasiegel.bsky.social @nplaetzer.bsky.social
polisky
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compare with this encounter between Ishmael and Queequeg in “Moby-Dick”, ch. 10—a story told by someone who experienced and survived a kind of apocalypse?
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in case you haven’t seen it, @dennismhogan.bsky.social wrote a great piece on precisely this jewishcurrents.org/who-has-the-...
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maybe not what you have in mind but I think of “Detransition, Baby” as a women’s divorce book, in part bc T. Peters dedicated it to “divorced cis women, who, like me, had to face starting their life over without either reinvesting in the illusions from the past, or growing bitter about the future”
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Congrats! Looking forward to reading.
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thanks for this citation! I had not read this Adorno before. Have you read Arendt’s intro to “between past and future”? I appreciate how she takes seriously the phenomenology of action—how it can both invite and push away thought—where Adorno seems to be “always already” (sry) dismissive of action