Monthly Archives: February 2012

When is it over?

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We have a speaker coming to Leicester to present a research paper from Middlesex University.  I can’t remember for the life of me whether the “comradeship” agreed to boycott Middlesex University in light of the closure of their philosophy department.  I thought so.  But did I make this up?  If there is some boycott in place should it extend to not attending a seminar by a researcher from MIddlesex Uni?  Or would that class as the kind of critical intervention that we edited out of our manifesto?

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The University and the Role of the (Critical) Business School

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Critical University Studies (CUS) is a term which has recently come out of discussions between Carnegie-Mellon literary theorists Jeffrey J. Williams and Heather Steffen. Many of us have already been engaged with CUS, at least according to the manner in which it is described in the article linked above. Having enjoyed reading the article a couple of times, I have 2 connections between CUS and other areas which I’d encourage everyone to consider. 
1) To the specificities of the University based Business School (in light of Khurana, Ghoshal, Locke and Spender, The Rigour/Relevance Debate, Against Management, Critical Management Studies, ABS List, Global Campuses, Distance Learning, etc.)
2) To the current University reforms within the UK (the Fees Debacle [see especially the recent Martin McQuillan documentary, REF 2014 and after, impact based assessment of the university, etc.)
Any insights in this regard would be hugely appreciated.

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Social Scientists of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but Philosophy! (and vice versa)

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Social Scientists are very quick to point out how philosophical activity is readily sociologizable. Philosophers, for their part, have never tired of reading sociology as a series of answers to poorly understood questions. Wouldn’t a philosophical sociology just be philosophy? Wouldn’t a sociological philosophy just be sociology? Perhaps the only effect of pursuing both philosophy and sociology is to end up producing neither.

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Slight update to the reading group list

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On Wednesday we completed the readings from Hume’s Political Discourses, with numerous linked discussions focusing on Hume’s conception of (free)trade, merchants, money and national wealth, commerce, interest rate mechanisms and state roles in industry and trade. There is perhaps too much to discuss here, at length in any case, so I invite you to read and post your opinions as a comment to this note.

On Wednesday 15th February, we’re moving on to read Foucault’s discussion of Hume in Lecture 11 of the Birth of Biopolitics collection. This was originally scheduled for 29th Feb, but we’ve brought it forward in the reading series.

The following articles will be discussed on the changed dates, noted below:

22nd Feb

Caffentzis, C.G., (2001), “Hume, Money, and Civilization; or, Why Was Hume a Metalist?”, Hume Studies, XXVII (2), pp.301-335.

29th Feb

Wennerlind, C. (2001), “The Link between David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature and His Fiduciary Theory of Money”, History of Political Economy, 33 (1), pp. 139-160

If you are interested in coming along to discuss Foucault and Hume, as captured through Lecture 11, then please do so. 12.30 in Bennett Link Building, G82.

If you require access to a copy of Lecture 11, please let me know. However, I only have a pdf of the full book so the file is quite large.

Ken

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International NGO’s Representations of Global Poverty and Development

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A fantastic read: the book brings together the full cycle of representation - It often focuses on development rather than crisis, and generally people-centric. Right through raising how the global poor react to their own representations, and the mixed nature of what ‘development’ means. Also, raising new questions of intimacy with the Other…http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/1848858914/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books 

Upacking the big elephant called ‘development’!  

 

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Occupy yourself and get over it … 50 ways to leave capitalism or don’t you wish socialism was a freak like me

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Stephen’s recent post on Simon Hardy’s manifesto got me thinking…  there’s 50 ways to leave your lover according to Paul Simon.  Well, clearly many of us have been and are falling out of love with our economic and social organization.  What should we do about it?  How should we break up?

I think the metaphor (although I’m not really sure it’s a metaphor and not just the case) of our relationship to capitalism as an emotional and sexual relationship is instructive.  It encourages us see that falling out of love with capitalism is not enough.  We’ve already done that.  But we’ve got other needs to fill.  We’ve got to get our kicks somehow and while we might not love our economics and social relations anymore, I think that we are still very much making the odd booty call to capital when we get that itchy feeling.  We know it’s wrong, we know we shouldn’t, we know neither of us will be able to move on but … unfortunately we are getting any action anywhere else.

In other words, capitalism (or corporatism) might be a horrible partner but it sure fucks us good.  Smartphones, long haul flights for 1p, strawberries in winter, massive houses and massive debts, these things are just to tempting.  We need them (or at least us smart people can find very convincing rationalizations for why we need them). .

No matter how much we hate each other, then, it seems too hard to tear ourselves apart.  Like the battered wife or kidnap victim we cannot help but make emotional attachments to even the very worst of partners.  But what would we say to someone trying to leave this kind of relationship: you’ve just got to get out of it, the big gesture, the arguments, the endless heart to hearts just keep alive the false hope that you can change the other person.

Indeed, I had a friend once who was in a relationship that he hated.  He convinced himself that the girl was both his ultimate partner and his worst enemy.  He loved and hated her.  Rather than deal with it, he’d talk to anybody and everybody about it.  He’d get drunk and pour his heart out to strangers.  Of course, he never did anything about it until he came to realization that he’d have to go a few months without sex in order to keep his sanity, his friends and his livers from frying.

That’s why I’m not convinced about the whole occupy movement.  It has great symbolic value but what else does it achieve?  I’m not sure it really achieves much.  It’s got a few academics on telly and youtube, it’s made a few of us feel better, but it seems to me that it actually ties us even closer to the very things we hate. We all know that out computers are made in horrible conditions that we wouldn’t wish on anyone but what choice do we have other than to buy them!  We buy sustainable tuna when we can, we don’t get plastic bags we don’t need, but fuck man, we need a smart phone to know what’s happening at the occupy camp.  We can politically offset it!

Just as we wish our partners were freaks like the Pussycats Dolls, we wish that some alternative economic and social relations could do the kinds of things capitalism can. At some point we have to move on.  Occupation is not enough.  We need to get over it.

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Disciplining Greece….again

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On the day that Greece is once again being harangued about ‘austerity’ by the wealthy of Europe, a resonant thought from Henry Miller writing in 1944:

“In her hour of greatest need Greece was betrayed by the great powers of the earth.  What in fact can they supply her with, assuming that they regain ascendancy over the common enemy?  Food, machinery, money perhaps.  And distorted codes of justice, of education, of economy.  And in return for these dubious gifts? In return they will ask, as all great powers have always asked, that Greece obediently play the role of cat’s paw.  Perhaps they will renew their archaeological burrowings, turn up new ruins, new evidences of ancient splendour.  And they will weep copious crocodile tears over the things of the past while rearming themselves to befoul the present beauties of the earth.  They will encourage their heroic little ally to fight again with the ancient ardour in the name of all that is un-Greek, un-Mediterranean.  At the utmost they will only be able to teach the people of Greece how to become efficient, soulless work dogs.”

Miller, H, 1944, Sunday After the War, New York, New Directions Books: 61

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Zizek was here…(in Turkey)

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Ok, I cannot say exactly here where I am right now, however he was in Istanbul for two conferences. I could not listen to him or watch him live, but I followed his actions and interviews from the media. Also, the reflections after him were interesting. There were many comments about his talks and many of them were about the current political situation of Turkey and his thoughts on hot topics of Turkey.

He gave two speeches, one of them was in a business-style meeting called “Intercontinental Advertising Cup” promoting local creativity in the course of advertisement competition. It has been organized regularly since 2007 and as the name implies it is basically based on adveritising and marketing. Under the name of the creativity the advertising (bio-)technology is discussed by the agencies and businesses. The second speech was at Mimar Sinan University and it is stated that the hall was full of people in addition to two other halls with screens reflecting his speech.

Zizek mentioned in one of his interviews before he came that they had invited him for a speech and all the costs were compensated by the CUP organization. He added why should he accept it so that he can also talk in the university. Furthermore, he said that he would attack to the advertisers in this speech.

In the web site of the meeting, in the end of his introduction it is written

“The conference will simply try to develop the consequences of such a negative approach for creative thinking in general and, in particular, for advertising.” (http://www.thecupawards.com/program/the-power-of-negative-thinking/)

What strikes me much was his engagement with initiatives such as this advertising competition. Especially, this emphasis on “in particular, for advertising” makes me think.  It is written in the newspapers that he suggested advertisers not to be direct and to play on fantasies to be indirect (Something that advertisers and marketing people would not know!!). An interesting way of attacking to the advertisers. Obviously, he talked about capitalism and its problems however is it really a good place to talk about these things? Should it be like that? Should such a critical oriented philosopher admit the invitation of an advertising competition and tell them about how should the ads be? On the other hand, this was a good opportunity for the ones who would not have any chance to listen to Zizek. Should they thank to the CUP organization.

This may be his style, using such initiatives to also reach to other audiences as in the universities. However, such an engagement and such a justification of using business money to speak to others is a huge question mark for me. Perhaps, this is the best example of the ideology of cynicism. Acting in the field of capitalists but talking about negativity or talking about critical philosophy whilst adorning the speech with popular culture. He is a very succesful person and a good philospher but then there comes the main question how should it be? How critical oriented people manage their relationship with such organizations? Should they use this as an opportunity to show off about the critical ideas, or should they look for alternative ways of reaching other audiences. I do not think that Zizek is as naive as thinking that all these people in the competition would be impressed by his ideas and would think about the unfairness of the current economic policies or implications. Probably they will use such critical and philosophical ideas to adorn their advertisements.

There is also another important point considering the advertising agencies in Turkey. After the army intervention in Turkey in 1980 many left-wing oriented people struggled to survive and many of them founded advertising agencies or worked for them. They had worked on left propoganda formerly and they knew how to impress people with slogans and with attractive symbols. In the agencies (during the 1980s and especially during the 1990s) they used the same tools but for different aims. An interesting intersection with the Zizek’s visit that came to my mind.

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Doubts concerning a Recent Manifesto for the New Left

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This morning’s New Left Project Twitter Feed brought Simon Hardy’s recent manifesto for a New Left to my attention: http://t.co/1WRQkKgo. Though it is already quite succinct, I think the piece lends itself to further synopsis:

Capitalist Realism is challenged by the Global Occupy movement though not yet well enough. Theory needs to be made practical on a global stage through an even more effective organisational strategy than currently exists. Trade unions no longer represent the strong arm of such an organisational strategy since they no longer hold the masses in their grasp. Parliamentary politics is also no longer the avenue to channel radical energy through because the days of the Labour Party’s ideological allignment with the Left are no more. The piece closes with a call to a New Left, currently in formation, to develop a theory and practice of anti-capitalism to match the challenges of the time, lest Slavoj Zizek’s wager that the end of the world is more easily conceivable than the end of capitalism become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This is all good chest thumping stuff and not without its practical and analytical appeal. Nevertheless, the doubts which have presumably dogged every left-leaning book worm with a taste for the surreal, particularly in the post Life of Brian era, cannot fail to have experienced, quickly issue forth. What will this new collective revolutionary subject be? How will we know when it has been formed and the new world has been created? Who will not be allowed to take part? What should be done about the baddies? What achievements should be sought by the goodies?  Who is going to lead the way? Where are we going? How should we start? When is the next meeting to decide all of these things? Who will chair that? When will the minutes be distributed? Can’t we have the next meeting over Skype? Etc.

Simon Hardy thankfully does have an answer to all of this cheek muffled tongue wagging, as evidenced in the excerpt below. The problem with his response, or at least my problem with it, is that it is over-coloured by the sort of cliched hail to spontaneity which really does nobody any good:

It would be nice if we had time to sit and contemplate all these issues in their full consideration before we took steps down this road. But, with the movements as they are developing, in the situation we are in, we will have to build this ‘on the move’. It will require a mutual spirit of co-operation, unity and above all, a new spirit of tolerance and respect for one another.

Building things “‘on the move’”  and in “a new spirit of tolerance and respect for one another”, to me at least, sounds too much like a recipe for nonsense. The revolutionary machine cannot be fueled on the hot air of hope and and the energy of enthusiasm alone. Perhaps what the New Left needs to demand is precisely what Hardy proposes it leaves behind, namely, “the time to sit and contemplate all these issues in their full consideration”. It will need more than that, of course, but I think it will need at least that.

There will presumably (hopefully) come a time when the fires stop burning and the revolutionary bands stop playing. Then, the post-revolutionary subject will have to act with(in) the new time and space it has created. There is nothing remotely utopian in the proposal that individual and collective contemplation be suspended in the meantime, or even at all.

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