Yes, that was an intersting article. Its appearence is itself
symptomatic, though the New-Yorker is crusading for some
time against unfettered capitalism. I thought the article
suppressed the question of the function of economic as a
discourse of power, and since that was Marx's own critique,
it gave a very mild picture of Marx.
I was also struck by a certain fetishization of prediction that the
article made manifest. It was overwhelmingly concerned with Marx's
predictions, and pointed to the fact that post Reagan America fulfills
Marx's prediction concerning pauperization and monopolization. Since
earlier this century Marx used to be chastised for the failure of
the same predictions, one has to think here about prediction as an
ideological focus.
On the other hand, I found interesting the use of a Wall-Street insider
as herald of Marx's relevance as a literary strategy, and the unsystematized
remarks about the citation practices of economicians.
GA
On Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:55:34 -0400 (EDT), John Ransom wrote:
>For those interested, there is an article in the recent _New Yorker_
>magazine (Oct. 20 & 27, 1997) on Marx's relevance to our era, in light
>both of globalization and the collapse of socialist regimes in the East.
>The author is John Cassidy. I thought this might be a nice "appetizer" for
>our discussion of Postone.
>
>--John
>
>
-------------
Gabriel Ash
Notre-Dame
-------------
symptomatic, though the New-Yorker is crusading for some
time against unfettered capitalism. I thought the article
suppressed the question of the function of economic as a
discourse of power, and since that was Marx's own critique,
it gave a very mild picture of Marx.
I was also struck by a certain fetishization of prediction that the
article made manifest. It was overwhelmingly concerned with Marx's
predictions, and pointed to the fact that post Reagan America fulfills
Marx's prediction concerning pauperization and monopolization. Since
earlier this century Marx used to be chastised for the failure of
the same predictions, one has to think here about prediction as an
ideological focus.
On the other hand, I found interesting the use of a Wall-Street insider
as herald of Marx's relevance as a literary strategy, and the unsystematized
remarks about the citation practices of economicians.
GA
On Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:55:34 -0400 (EDT), John Ransom wrote:
>For those interested, there is an article in the recent _New Yorker_
>magazine (Oct. 20 & 27, 1997) on Marx's relevance to our era, in light
>both of globalization and the collapse of socialist regimes in the East.
>The author is John Cassidy. I thought this might be a nice "appetizer" for
>our discussion of Postone.
>
>--John
>
>
-------------
Gabriel Ash
Notre-Dame
-------------