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Post by tomover on Aug 23, 2011 16:04:51 GMT -5
Hutch mentioned that having a strong theoretical framework likely will --all else being equal--help us to develop a left movement in that people fighting various human rights, environmental, and social justice causes might have a clearer sense of a common theme tying it all together: the rise and fall of capitalism.
Setting aside the fact that oppression predates and likely will outlive capitalism, how do we use our theoretical framework w/o becoming ideologues ?
What I'm working on is engaging w/ those in power and w/ ordinary people by listening and asking challenging questions. But there's likely more to it than that.
Any suggestions ?
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Post by Logico on Aug 25, 2011 12:30:41 GMT -5
Well I think that keeping a historical narrative and a contextual framework of understanding is very important in building and orienting any kind of movement no matter how broad. I don't really believe that people spontaneously organize against the right kind of oppression but come to those conclusions one way or another. Theory and to some extent, philosophy, is essentially working on a compelling and consistent narrative. So aside from orientating, theory is also important when it comes to explanatory power. If your model matches reality the best, then your account of how to organize around it is much more compelling also.
Theory in Marxism is more dynamic than I think people usually take it to be. First of all I don't think all aspects of Marx's theory is devoted to critiquing capitalism. A lot of effort is taken by Marx, Engels, and others at orienting capitalism as the latest stage in human production relations in a long historical narrative. The theory isn't necessarily just a critique of capitalism but of any society built out of class hierarchical structure.
Now there is a lot of room for critiquing Marx, but that's the importance of theory. Take one example; I believe too many people relied too heavily on a deterministic theory of history in the past which lead to real failures in the movement. Today's example, if you hold that theory, would probably be a lack of any real effort or activism, because after all, all we have to do is wait for capitalism to destroy itself and for a classless society to emerge. That I think is the wrong theory to take, and not just because it directly leads to bad organizing (or in some cases lack thereof).
So now theory takes on a whole new importance when they orient movements in a larger picture. Take some strands of environmentalism for example; we can't hold a deterministic picture of our production and the way it relates to ecology. What do I mean by this? I mean that some people seem to hold the view that the amount of emissions we're putting into the air say that the way capitalism produces today is unsustainable and in a deterministic fashion, will be replaced by one that is sustainable to the environment. Holding this view I think can be directly impeding on organizing, not just on the issue of ecology but on directing attention toward capitalism itself because of a lack of personal imperative.
Likewise, for the same reason large corporations have developed the level of food production to so large amounts in such an unsustainable way mostly due to incentive but also due to a lack of a broader understanding of how we fit into the ecological system and our effects on them, so too do I think calls for a dismantling of our abilities for mass production by some environmentalist activists ignore the role those means of production play in society at large and we would see some devastating consequences. The point is to work toward a more sustainable way of producing things toward the betterment of humanity, not move back to a pre-capitalist system of production.
And so I think that's just one example where theory is important regardless if it's coming from a Marxist perspective.
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Post by grooverider on Aug 27, 2011 22:15:37 GMT -5
There are three parts to this that I think are very important.
The first is that a theoretical framework provides a big picture outlook to social movements, and it'd redirect organizing to more specific areas that will save activist labor time. For example, there are movements to try to put permanent tuition caps on education cost. Typical slogans would be "Make Education Affordable Again" or "Bring Back the American Dream". But with a theoretical framework, philosophical in nature, the demand becomes "Make Education Free", as a matter of moral right to education, and as a matter of theory, where within the grand scheme of things, society will require a free education to satisfy egalitarian requirements of justice. The demands become more substantial and fit within an "end goal" idea (though not necessarily Utopian).
The second part is that a theoretical framework is a direct attempt at finding common ground and understanding what other comrades are thinking. Shared broad theoretical frameworks, but nothing short of anti-capitalism (liberals are still pro-capitalist, and therefore spend their energy on tweaking the system rather than systematically trying to change it), have an underlying culture and current, and the debate level is raised within groups. This way, when there is a request to scrap one campaign in favor of another, comrades see that there is a theoretical reason for this, and the theoretical reason can often times trump practical concerns.
Finally, akin to how many Christians claim that their adopting a system of thought has changed their lives and "keeps them going", the same goes for adopting systems of thought within the political realm. As William Williams, a slave in North Carolina said during the Civil War, "I think the North will whip the South because they are in the right." He is making an ethical claim: Williams expects the North to win because they are right. Extended further, to a more complicated system, there are ways of deriving such confidence from a theory. A theoretical framework serves as a justification for people's actions, and is essential to the development and maintenance of the soul of humans within this line of work. Like raising class consciousness, when the fire is lit within someone, they can never turn back. And developing theory, from basics to grand ones, makes the whole process easier and longer lasting.
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