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Peace Land and Bread Issue 2

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307 views228 pages

Peace Land and Bread Issue 2

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© © All Rights Reserved
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"The bourgeoisie has gained a

monopoly of all means of existence in


the broadest sense of the word. What
the proletarian needs, he can obtain
only from this bourgeoisie, which is
protected in its monopoly by the
power of the state. The proletarian
is, therefore, in law and in fact,
the slave of the bourgeoisie, which
can decree his life or death."

Friedrich Engels
The Condition of the
Working Class in England in
1844
Editorial Staff
EDITOR & CREATIVE SOUTH AMERICAN
DIRECTOR EDITOR

Ben Stahnke Tony Chamoles


Peace, Land, and Bread
MANAGING EDITOR RESEARCH
strives to be a leading voice of
AFFILIATION
Ethan Deere international Marxist-Leninist
The Center for
scholarship, offering communist
EDITORIAL BOARD Communist Studies
perspectives on politics, history,
D.M.
DEVELOPMENT economics, and aesthetics. Printed
Jarrod Grammel
Ben Stahnke bi-annually, the print journal is
Christian Noakes
dedicated to the publication of
Chris Costello CIRCULATION
rigorous, peer-reviewed work.
Joshua Hodges D.M.

Shane Lawrence Pick COST


ONLINE EDITOR
Seán Ó Maoltuile $19.50 US (print)
Antony Leroy
Samuel Parry Free (online)
Mark LaRubio ART DEVELOPMENT

Zhong Xiangyu Christian Noakes SUBMISSION GUIDELINES


peacelandbread.com/submissions
ACADEMIC
CONTRIBUTING editors@peacelandbread.com
CIRCULATION
EDITORS
Joshua Hodges Copyright © 2020 Peace, Land, and
Red Starr
Bread Press
Josh Zolotin

Tharron Combs

Peace, Land, and Bread is published by the Center for Communist Studies.
All rights reserved. This journal or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotation in a
review or a scholarly journal.
First Printing: 2020
ISBN xxx
Peace, Land, and Bread (PLB) is brought to you by the publications working group at the
Center for Communist Studies (CCS). We are a research center engaged in academic and public
scholarship dedicated to the advancement of Marxist-Leninist theory and practice.

The CCS was founded in 2017 by three graduate researchers, and has since grown to a
diverse and lively fellowship of fifteen scholars and activists engaged in research on the
intersection between communist studies and law, philosophy, history, ecology, education,
activism, art, literature, and theology. We exist to foster inter-disciplinary and trans-
disciplinary research amongst communist scholars and activists, and to build bridges between
researchers, writers, and activists across the globe. At present, CCS fellows live and work
in Brazil, Ireland, Wales, Vietnam, India, Australia, Canada, and the US.

In addition to PLB, the CCS research fellows are engaged in diverse projects such as our
podcast People's Pulse Radio, the creation of audio texts, art, and agitpróp, longitudinal
research projects, dissertation and thesis projects, the translation and publication of out-
of-print works of communist theory, writing, journalism, and more.

Peace, Land, and Bread is a reflection of our collective vision as scholars engaged in the
kind of academic work that is not confined only to the academy; and here, in our second
issue, we aim to continue to bring you diverse, rigorous, and peer-reviewed scholarship, and
to continue to offer a publication platform for all disciplines and peoples engaged in the
pursuit of communist studies, regardless of their academic level or standing.

With Peace, Land, and Bread, we are passionately engaged in the creation of an avenue for
Marxist-Leninist thought. We belive that a publication like PLB is necessary due to the
inherent biases of traditional academic Marxism, which oftentimes seeks to work against the
extant socialisms of the global south. Peace, Land, and Bread is a platform that supports
socialist action as it occurs in the world; not merely in the abstract thoughts of western
academics.

We can be contacted at editors@peacelandbread.com


Features ISSUE 2 SUMMER 2020 PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD

PAGE 17 PAGE 38

ANTI-
CAPITALISM AND IMPERIALISM IS
CORONAVIRUS THE HIGHEST
STAGE OF CLASS
STRUGGLE
MAYA BHARDWAJ ZHONG XIANGYU

PAGE 148 PAGE 204

THE POVERTY-OF REASSERTING


METABOLIC RIFT MARXISM
THEORY

BEN STAHNKE CHRIS COSTELLO


Departments
10 14
PEACE, LAND, PRIMA FACIE
AND BREAD ON FIRST GLANCE
AN INTRODUCTION
15 MAYA BHARDWAJ
28 RAINER SHEA
JOSHUA HODGES 11 36 ZHONG XIANGYU

44 82
POIESIS & LITTERATURA
PHYSIS LITERATURE AND
ART AND THE MATERIAL ANALYSIS
REVOLUTIONARY
83 QUYNH VO
SPIRIT 93 KEVIN GREENE
DREW 45
ERHAN US 46 110 MARK LARUBIO
LIATHÁN NIC GHIBHEANNAIGH 48
DYLAN PARSONS 52

128
RED STARR 56
T. 59 THINGS
CAMILA GALLEGO 60
SEAN MCKINZIE 62 BEFORE
PATRICK BLAGRAVE 63 HISTORY AND
TREVOR ROOT 66 MATERIALISM
JOHN SCHLEMBACH 70
STEPHEN AXEMAN 72 130 DAVID SWANSON
ELLIS DEE 74 136 JARROD GRAMMEL
CHRISTIAN NOAKES 79 148 BEN STAHNKE
174 SAMUEL PARRY
192 SUDDHABRATA DEB ROY

220
204 CHRIS COSTELLO
TEACHING
REVOLUTION
COMMUNIST
PEDAGOGY
SHANE LAWRENCE PICK 221
Contributors
MAYA BHARDWAJ is a community or- TREVOR ROOT is a poet and scholar works on and around clas-
ganiser, musician, and artist originally based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. sical and contemporary
from Detroit with roots and/or com- He received an MFA from Miami Uni- Marxist theory and Social
munity in Bangalore and New York. versity of Ohio and has been pub- Movements.
Maya is a current Masters student at lished in SPAM Zine, Mannequin
SOAS, University of London, studying Haus, and Dreampop Journal. T. is a fiercely proud, an-
South Asian diaspora queerness, left- ti-zionist, Marxist-Leninist
ist activism, and solidarity with Black JARROD GRAMMEL is a worker, politi- Jew living in the midwest-
liberation. She is a member of cal philosopher, and historian. He ern United States, with a
LGSMigrants, and in India she serves holds a Bachelor’s degree in philoso- lifetime commitment to speaking out
on the advisory board of Haiyya: Or- phy from George Washington Univer- against injustices. T believes in the
ganise for Action. In New York she sity with a minor in history. There he power of revolutionary art and its
supports the work of Northern Man- focused on political philosophy and ability to inspire workers.
hattan is Not for Sale, and she is also economic history, and took his senior
active with several QTPOC and South philosophy seminar on the Philosophy DREW is a creative writer and com-
Asian direct action, art, and organiz- of Fascism and anti-Fascism. rade from Bakersfield, California -
ing collectives and community groups home to the police department with
in the UK, India, and the US. RAINER SHEA is a blogger and orga- one of the highest rates of officer-re-
nizer who's dedicated to spreading lated shootings in the country. A for-
LIATHÁN NIC GHIBHEANNAIGH is a ideas that further the cause of social- mer essential worker at an Amazon-
young, working class woman from ist revolution. You can read other arti- acquired company, Mandarin enthusi-
Dublin. She has been writing poetry cles of his on rainershea.com, and on ast, and advocate for a future freed
since a young age, but has only been his Medium profile. of Capitalism. Currently pursuing an
sharing with others for the past year. English degree after many years of
She is also a communist organiser, fo- ERHAN US is a conceptual artist and grocery work, when he isn’t reading
cusing on education. A member of author from Ankara. After Bilkent Uni- literature or writing poetry, Drew en-
the Communist Party of Ireland, and versity TH Management, he was joys auto repair and helping his com-
committee member of the Connolly granted to 25+ local and internation- munity.
Youth Movement, she writes her poet- al / honorary awards, with respect to
ry from the heart, and hopes the his eleven NGO presidency and mar- PATRICK BLAGRAVE is a poet and
themes impact others as much as they keting projects. He has also partici- debtor from Philadelphia, and is the
impact her. Poetry is the language of pated in several exhibitions with his founder and editor of Prolit, a literary
the soul, and therefore the language artworks. He continues his studies on magazine about class, work, and
of the working class creative. Sociology & Philosophy at Istanbul money. His own writing is often about
and Anadolu Universities. Us is a those same issues, and some of it can
BEN STAHNKE is a Ph.D. candidate in member of Photographic & Visual be found in Mad House, Apiary, Bed-
political ecology, where he studies Arts Federations, whose book Digital fellows, Recenter Press Poetry Jour-
the intersection of dialectical theory Prestige was published in 2018. nal, and Sortes. His first book, Profit/
and nature as it applies to climate Prophet, will be published by Recen-
change, security, and border studies. SHANE LAWRENCE PICK is a member ter Press later this year.
Ben holds an M.A. in Political Philoso- of the Communist Party of Canada as
phy, an M.S. in Environmental Stud- well as zone delegate and educator KEVIN GREENE is a writer and high
ies, and a B.A. in philosophy and an- for the Korean Friendship Associa- school English teacher from Brooklyn,
thropology. Ben's writing has been tion: Canada. His mission is built NY. Their current work focuses on
featured in Climate and Capitalism, around trying to shine a light on the democracy, revolution, and ecology,
Forward: Popular Theory and Prac- truth about DPRK; a truth that is heav- always with an eye on literature.
tice, with the CPUSA, and elsewhere. ily obscured by the imperialist media. They completed a Master's in English
Shane studies scientific socialism ex- at NYU, focusing primarily on post-
DYLAN PARSONS is a poet and stu- tensively and strives to educate as colonial independence movements,
dent organizer from West Virginia. many people as possible on it, as especially in Ireland and Iran, and
Along with being the founder and well as the revolutionary Juche idea, 20th century literature. Additionally,
president of his university’s socialist including its validity and universality they are a proud member of DSA
student organization, Dylan is also a on a variety of platforms. and IWW. In their free time, Kevin
member of the West Virginia chapter likes to go to Prospect Park in Brook-
of the International Workers of the SUDDHABRATA DEB ROY is an activist- lyn, and hang out with their two cats,
World and sits on the executive com- academic currently pursuing his Ph.D. Tortellini and Cannelloni.
mittee of his state’s Green Party. in Sociology in the University of Ota-
go, New Zealand. He primarily CAMILA GALLEGO is a Colombian il-

8 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


lustrator who works with tradi- rialism. Much of his work looks at the of Asia and Africa at SOAS. He is
tional drawing and art tech- relationship between capitalism and now training to be a teacher.
niques. His work explores the built environment. He has con-
archetypes and themes loaded tributed to several publications includ- STEPHEN AXEMAN is a grass-fed no-
with references to pop culture, ing An Spréach, Marxism-Leninism To- mad currently residing in Richmond,
mythology, and cliché. day, and Cosmonaut. VA. He plays in a band called News-
caster, and when he's not doing that
CHRIS COSTELLO is a Marxist- JOSHUA HODGES is a Ph.D. student at he is an organizer with the Richmond
Leninist editor, poet, and essay- Charles Sturt University and the Aus- Tenants Union. He has one cat named
ist, whose work has appeared in For- tralian National University studying Borges.
ward! Popular Theory and Practice, the plant ecology of temperate south-
The Forge News, Protean Magazine, eastern Australia. Joshua is a member DAVID SWANSON is a communist pod-
and elsewhere. He is interested in the of the Australian Communist Party, caster, Marxist organizer, and host of
relationship of literature to politics and considers himself a Marxist-Lux- Radical Reflections. He can be found
and the interactions between race, emburgist. He takes a particular inter- at radicalreflections.co.uk — available
class, gender, disability, and sexuali- est in how communist theory can be on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Pod-
ty. used to address contemporary envi- bean.
ronmental issues, and is a staunch be-
MARK LaRUBIO is an ASU Ph.D. stu- liever in open science and political
dent in English Literature. They are a debate.
Critical Theorist who explores the be-
ginnings of Capitalism through their ZHONG XIANGYU is a student of Marx-
work in the Early Modern Period. ism-Leninism as well as a nominated

CONTRIBUTORS
Their areas of expertise are Econom- Chinese hip hop artist based in Tai-
ic, Queer, and Critical Race theory. wan. Anti-imperialism, class struggle,
They are currently working on a forth- and liberation are common themes in
coming book titled The Market of his music.
Eden for CCS’s Iskra Press
GUCCI MINH is an American artist
SAMUEL PARRY is a Ph.D. student in who in 2016 pioneered the genre of
Political Economy at Cardiff Universi- Laborwave, an art style reconciling
ty, where he studies the links between nostalgia for a Soviet past with a nos-
culture, geography and the economy talgia for the visual motifs of the 80s,
through a Marxist lens to explain the 90s and early 2000s. The term
peripherality of stateless nations in "Laborwave," a reference to the Va-
Europe, namely his home of Wales. porwave art style, is known for its sat-
Sam holds an MSc in Welsh Politics irizing of consumer culture. Minh's
and Governance from Cardiff Univer- goal is not only to inspire people ar-
sity and a BSc in Government from tistically, but to educate them as well.
the London School of Economics. You can find more of his art and mer-
More widely, he is researching the vi- chandise on these platforms:
ability of using development and de-
pendency theories to explain the pe- facebook.com/Laborwave
ripherality of areas at the edge of Eu- twitter.com/LaborwaveCCCP
rope and looking how the EU en- IG: @Laborwavedesigns
trenches these inequalities. redbubble.com/people/Laborwave
teezily.com/stores/aestheticsocialist-
RED STARR is a 2018 graduate of designs
Chicago Theological Seminary. She is
pursuing work in the educational field JOHN SCHLEMBACH has been writing
in Vietnam. Her research interests in- poetry for a number of years, with a
clude: intersections of religion and heavy influence from Brecht and oth-
theology, LGBT Issues, Juche, and er working class writers. During this
analysis of popular culture. time of pandemic, he hopes that his
writing will help to build mass class
CHRISTIAN NOAKES Christian consciousness in the US.
Noakes is an urban sociologist and
geographer whose work is grounded ELLIS DEE studied politics and phi-
in historical materialism and anti-impe- losophy at Sussex, and the Religions

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 9


BREAD
THE REVOLUTION IS STILL
UNDERWAY
Marxism-Leninism is Increasingly Relevant
in the Age of COVID-19 and Decolonisation:
An Introduction to the Second Issue of
Peace, Land and Bread

by Joshua Hodges, Member of the Editorial Board

Peace! Land! Bread!

This was the unifying cry of the Russian revolutionaries that called for peace for the war
weary, land for the landless, and bread for the hungry. It is hard to say if Vladimir Lenin
could have predicted just how relevant those words would be some 103 years later. But, in
2020 we once again find ourselves in a position that was not unfamiliar to the Bolsheviks.

Peace is threatened by imperialist conflicts. Land is being bought, sold and exploited by
capitalist industries which leave the land barren through unsustainable agricultural and
mining practices. Food security is threatened by capitalist trade wars, overexploitation and
climate change which drives wide-spread hunger and displacement affecting an estimated
810 million people.1 We also find ourselves governed by an incompetent political class,
under the cloud of a global pandemic and experiencing the resurgence of Fascism.2
Everywhere you look, it seems, the early-20th century is repeating itself and the writings of
Lenin and Marx seem more and more relevant.

Marxism is often turned to as the solution when capitalism becomes strained following
events such as pandemics. In her book, Laura Spinney argued that it was hard to decouple
the revolutionary wave that swept the globe and the effects of the devastating 1918 Spanish
Flu.3 In 1920 Soviet Russia became the first to implement a fully centralised public
healthcare system, resulting in the development of the first flu vaccine.4 In Ireland, the
election of socialist Sinn Féin, the formation of the Limerick Soviet and the sitting of the
first Dáil Éirean saw an end to colonial rule and greater rights for the ethnic Irish working
class (discussed in David Swanson’s article, page 123). More recently, nationalisation is used
to prevent capitalist businesses such as Virgin Australia from collapsing. Perhaps most
excitingly, we are seeing people reckon with deep-rooted racism, anti-semitism, and social

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 11


injustice following the Black Lives Matter protests and the ongoing economic strain of
COVID-19.

Many contemporary issues are examined through the Marxist-Leninist lens in the July
issue of Peace, Land and Bread. The coronavirus pandemic, capitalism, and the potential
for reform is thoughtfully discussed in Maya Bhardwaj’s article (page 15).
Decolonisation and imperialism also features prominently in this issue during Zhong
Xiangyu’s piece (page 36) and during the exciting interview with Pulitzer Prize winning
author Viet Thanh Nguyen (page 81), in which Viet discusses the story behind his debut
novel The Sympathizer with Quynh Vo. Rainer Shea discusses the troubling rise of
fascism in his article on America’s imperialistic economic system (page 29).

Although Peace, Land and Bread is a scholarly, peer-reviewed publication, it is our firm
belief that revolutionary thinking throughout history has been expressed through art
and literature. In our second issue, we continue our tradition of including artwork and
poetry, addressing themes ranging from Black Lives Matter, religion, police brutality,
revolution, American imperialism and LGBT+ rights.

The articles and art work presented in our July issue contribute to some of the biggest
conversations happening on a global scale. Importantly, these articles shed light on how
Marxism-Leninism is best suited to cope with the big issues facing us as a species. We
hope these peer-reviewed, scholarly articles will aid our readers in understanding the
world around them in the context of communism, and suggest new avenues of debate
and thinking.

References
1. The State of Food Security and nutrition in the world. (2020). United Nations report.
Retrieved 18th of July 2020 from http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi
2. Copsey, N. The Radical Right and Facism. (2018). Published in The Oxford
Handbook on the Radical right. Oxford University Press.
3. Spinner, L. Pale Rider: the Spanish Flu of 1812 and how it changed the world. (2017).
PubliPress Publishing.
4. Barberis, I; Myles, P; Ault, S; Bragganzi, N; Martini, M. (2016). History and evolution
of influenza control through vaccination: from the first monovalent vaccine to universal
vaccines. JPMH. 57(3)

12 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


ART BY GUCCI MINH

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 13


ON FIRST GLANCE
BY MAYA BHARDWAJ

Coronavirus
and
Capitalism
Unveilings, Expansions,
and Rupture

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC has upended


much of the constants of modern capitalism.
However, its impacts have not only unveiled
and in some cases exacerbated capitalism’s ex-
cesses – it has also opened space for a potential
troubling of and resistance to capitalism as a
given. This moment under lockdown is a key
political moment, where if the global Left is
able to cohere an analysis about racialized and
gendered capitalism through the increased vis-
ibility of economic and structural violence un-
der Coronavirus, it may then be able to reshape
the narrative around more caring and regener-
ative socioeconomic alternatives and advocate
for deep and transformative systems change.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 15


Maya Bhardwaj

INTRODUCTION under modern-day capitalism. incentivized to increase labour


By applying these theories to exploitation, expand to new
T HAS BEEN over 150 the disruption engendered by markets, or destroy old

I
years since Karl Marx the pandemic, I argue that we productive forces - provoking
upended neoclassical can learn how to shift from cycles of crisis.1
political economy with capitalism’s instability and
his analysis of labour violence to imagine a more THE CORONAVIRUS has
and exploitation under equitable and sustainable revealed these cycles of crisis
capitalism in Das Kapital, and system. in neoliberal globalized
over 100 years since these capitalism, likely triggering
principles sparked leftist recession following 2008’s
revolutions across the world. CAPITALISM, financial sector collapse and
However, following the INSTABILITY, AND the subsequent breakdown of
collapse of the Eastern Bloc CORONAVIRUS circuits of capital propped up
and many socialist by Wall Street and the housing
governments in Africa, Asia, CORONAVIRUS has likely market’s financialization.2
and the Americas, capitalism sparked a global recession. In
has maintained its global Marxist crisis theory, this is
stranglehold. This has not because the free market, With COVID-19,
continued amidst the ordinarily self-regulating, has
millions lose jobs,
hurricanes, wildfires, and experienced disrupted global
pollution of climate change; capital and commodity flows: stores shut due to
mass migration and border it is because crisis is inherent lockdowns, and
camps; endless wars provoked to global capitalism. Marxists tourism ceases,
by oil and the military argue that crises can be massive sums of
industrial complex; and triggered from overproduction, money are no longer
worker and human rights underconsumption,
abuses within most major overaccumulation and falling
reinvested into the
corporations. profit, and disproportionality economy through
alike. Most of these crises consumption as
ADDED TO THIS, Coronavirus include disruption in the disposable income
has heightened the volatility of circulation of capital and the dries up, causing a
labour, trade, and bordering in tendency of the rate of profit to
crisis of
modern-day capitalism, fall. Here, employers
foreshadowing recession and overinvest in constant capital underconsumption
provoking questions on or physical accoutrements in due to disruption
capitalism’s viability. In this the factory to boost of capital
paper, I will apply the lens of productivity, disregarding that accumulation.
Marxist political economy to the true generator of increased
disruptions caused by the capital is labour, or variable
coronavirus pandemic in order capital. This triggers a ratio of SIMULTANEOUSLY, the
to explain how COVID-19 has higher investment to profit, so housing market,
revealed and exacerbated the rate of profit falls. When manufacturing, and garment
instability, worker this happens, and crises ensue, industries are experiencing
exploitation, and alienation the capitalist class is crises of overproduction with a

16 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CORONAVIRUS AND CAPITALISM

glut of goods with slashed may place already shaky the US as the new epicenters
prices on the open market, national economies reeling for disease spread.9 And the
while companies withhold from 2008 in peril for years to drying up of demand for
wages or, due to quarantines, come, especially as commodity goods has crashed
lose total access to the labour governments plan to bail out oil prices, reduced
inputs that they are myriad industries. 5 deforestation, and massively
dependent on to create value. cut air and water pollution
As the labour pool diminishes COVID-19 also threatens from air travel, perhaps
and freedom of mobility emerging markets and indicating that not only
stops, most factories have replicates neo-imperialist instability and environmental
ground to a halt, triggering a patterns. Countries with high devastation are inherent to
crash in global stock markets early supply chain production capitalism, but also that
further exacerbated by the levels, like Mexico, are being transitioning from capitalism
bailouts and interest rate cuts pressured to reopen factories can provide both economic
following the 2008 recession.3 in order to funnel goods into and ecological stability.10
This in turn triggers a crisis of the Global North.6 In response
overaccumulation, with to the pandemic, the World
limited spaces of investment Bank is prescribing further EXPLOITATION
for profit. Border closures and structural reforms - UNDER
the lockdown of trade has left disregarding that its past CAPITALISM AND
many countries, particularly reforms to bring Southern CORONAVIRUS
those in the Global South but markets into the neoliberal
also across Europe, struggling global economy have made MUCH OF THE instability
with a lack of healthcare their economies more within capitalism that
supplies like hospital beds, imperiled by the virus.7 COVID-19 provoked derives
tests, and ventilators. The Trump has neatly called from disrupted labour
legacy of imperialism, forced coronavirus “the Chinese patterns. This falls neatly
dependence on foreign aid, Disease” while disregarding within the Marxist theory that
and the flooding of Southern America’s dependence on value derives from labour -
markets with cheap and Chinese labour, and the US’s that is, the exchange value
subsidized commodities non-citizen-only travel ban produced by selling goods on
under free trade agreements has expanded xenophobia and the market comes from the
mean some countries in the disrupted US-based labour inputs and time
Global South are without international companies required to produce these
basic goods.4 without stopping disease commodities. But, since
spread.8 capitalists need to extract
DIMINISHED remittances to surplus value, or profit, from
the Global South may imperil BUT IN SOME ways, the value that workers create,
millions of families who COVID-19 has disrupted the they will inherently find ways
depend on this international extraction and imperialism to cut wage costs or pass on
capital flow and may even that capitalism engenders. costs to workers in other
result in a “cash crunch” for Countries in the Global South ways. Because workers do not
many cash-poor economies. have shut their borders to receive the full value of their
Concurrently, an Global North travelers and labour, they are unable to
accumulation of global debts businesses, citing Europe and access the goods they

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 17


Maya Bhardwaj

produce, either by deriving use unemployed labour caused by Bezos’s personal assets.14
value from using them, or by mass layoffs where workers
selling or obtaining them on will stay silent in order to POST-PANDEMIC, Amazon has
the market. Hence, it is not avoid being replaced. used the pandemic as a
capitalist efficiency or supply justification for increased
and demand that determines AMAZON TYPIFIES this exploitation. Arguing that
how much profit the capitalist pattern of already existing lockdowns have increased
will make - it is how much worker exploitation expanding online demand, and that
surplus value they can extract and clarifying post-pandemic. implementing health measures
from the labour force. In While Jeff Bezos, at a net increases costs and lowers
essence, this is Marx’s theory worth of over 138 billion USD, production, Amazon has
of exploitation11 is one of the 500 richest people refused to close American
in the world, most Amazon warehouses despite confirmed
THIS EXPLOITATION warehouse workers make just cases of COVID-19 in nearly
precedes COVID-19, through above the US minimum wage. 130 workplaces. Some
unpaid or withheld worker Bezos makes an Amazon warehouses have even enacted
wages, increased hours or worker’s yearly salary from mandatory overtime. When
faster production demanded extraction of worker labour warehouses have caved to
without increased pay, or and reinvestment of capital in pressure to close, Amazon has
unstable or unsafe conditions stocks, in under fifteen required American workers to
that allow capitalists to cut seconds.13 Amazon extracts use their sick or vacation leave,
costs and extract further additional surplus value from and to take unpaid leave after
surplus value. Workers cannot workers through discount that. While over 300 workers
avoid this exploitation because gimmicks and undercutting have walked out, workers who
they cannot opt out or choose competitors by offering have been perceived as
to wait for higher value wages, cheaper products contingent walkout organizers, like Chris
as they lack access to the on lower-paid labour. Prior to Smalls in New York, have been
means of production or the COVID-19, workers had targeted for individual medical
decisions around what is already been pushing back: quarantine or early
produced. Additionally, Marx workers had identified Bezos’s termination.15 In France, in
argues that extracting surplus oversized wealth as deriving response to governmental and
value demands that there is directly from their experience union pushes for better health
surplus labour, or a pool of of low wages, endless hours and labour standards, Amazon
unemployed workers willing to without breaks, unsustainable opted to shutter its warehouses
take on poorly paid or workloads, workplace medical completely.16 Amidst all of this,
exploitative work.12 But prior emergencies, suicides, and Amazon’s profits have
to the pandemic, many of these anti-organizing intimidation. increased by over 25% during
conditions were obscured, Many of the pushes for living lockdown - a clear case of
ignored or normalized. Post- wages and unionization worker exploitation allowing
pandemic, employers can worldwide were fueled by this capitalists to reap greater
blame exploitation on the articulation, plus the argument profit.17
burdens of production in a that Bezos could easily
pandemic, and can expand increase worker wages for AMAZON IS NOT unique in its
exploitation and increase workers without impacting exploitation of workers, pre- or
profit due to a greater pool of Amazon’s financial solvency or post-pandemic: for most

18 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CORONAVIRUS AND CAPITALISM

workers, exploitation schemes or other safety nets. employers. In India, state


characterizes modern-day Infection rates for Uber and governments shut down
labour, and shutdowns and other rideshare drivers have interstate trains and roads
layoffs during the pandemic skyrocketed, and without after meeting with state
have further stifled dissent as protections like sick pay, property developers, trapping
workers must accept rapidly workers who cannot take time migrants to perform unsafe
worsening conditions to sell off to self-isolate have died.19 and poorly compensated
their labour at all. In Similarly, for delivery workers labour for the state, or travel
Bangladesh, multinational labeled independent home on foot.21 In state-run
apparel companies have used contractors, companies like healthcare systems worldwide,
the excuse of unsold product Deliveroo have provided workers are being asked to
due to lockdown to withhold contactless delivery to assuage serve endless hours without
wages from garment workers. customer fears, but require adequate protective equipment
workers to risk exposure at or overtime pay at the same
WHILE BRANDS like Uniqlo food preparation sites. With time that governments fund
and Gap can take the financial increased food delivery bailouts for airlines and cruise
hit, surplus labour and worker demand, and avoiding the lines,22 provoking nurses
precarity mean they can pass costs of acknowledging worldwide - and doctors in
the costs of disrupted delivery workers as workers by Pakistan - to strike.23 Cleaners
distribution to a replaceable labeling them contractors and in government buildings in
labour force.18 In the global gig foregoing providing PPE, the UK have died from
economy, where many workers companies reap massively COVID-19 due to lack of
already experience heightened increased profits. The migrant, protections from outsourcing
precarity due to their status as undocumented, and non-local contractors and direct
independent contractors, language-speaking status of employers alike.24 Public
companies without employees many of these workers means transit workers have faced
can avoid increased costs from employers can further exploit infection and death worldwide,
health measures or sick leave them as workers cannot access with many forced to work
during the pandemic. Uber, employment alternatives and without PPE or lose
already under fire for defining as the state actively sustains employment.25
itself as a platform rather than workers’ status as a precarious
an employer - hence avoiding and manipulable surplus IN THESE CASES, public
costs like providing drivers labour force through sector workers are exploited
security, protections, or paid incarceration, deportation, not merely because their
leave - has bypassed and fear.20 labour time and value is
governmental requirements to necessary, but because
provide workers time off or UNDER NEOLIBERAL neoliberalism has provoked
protective gear by labeling capitalism’s influence on the governments to downsize
drivers independent public sector, migrants and services and public funds,
contractors and thus other precarious workforce transferring duties to the
responsible for their own exploitation has been private sector. When crises hit,
health. Because workers do not expanded during the governments pass on stress to
qualify as employees, they also coronavirus pandemic by the the system to workers by
do not qualify for many state, subverting Marx’s focus invoking morality under crisis,
governmental furlough on private and for-profit masking neglect of worker

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 19


Maya Bhardwaj

well-being and poor relations segregates the lose relationship to each other
preparation for crisis. Hence, proletariat from other classes and instead compete for jobs,
even as a non-profit employer, and hampers meaningful acclaim, and social power on
the state can exploit workers resistance against the capitalist the market. Commodity
through rent-seeking behavior. class by replacing fetishism furthers alienation
And the pandemic has interdependent relations and competition by centering
provided cover for increased between workers with the consumption as core to
privatization of services, market. Capitalism creates and identity, messages reproduced
including UK NHS expanded requires alienation to exploit a in media, advertising, and pop
turnover to consultants and subservient labour force with culture.
private healthcare.26 limited access to rebellion, and
Neoliberalism explains this to maximize consumers who LOSING HUMAN social
form of worker exploitation, turn to the market because relations also obscures
where the state’s focus - like they cannot access their own capitalism’s unnaturalness and
private entities - shifts from production.27 the possibility of alternatives,
providing service to centering capitalist realism -
maintaining profit. WE CAN CHART alienation and the idea that capitalism is the
class stratification’s growth only option.29 Humans accept
through a dialectical worker deaths, sweatshop
CAPITALIST materialist lens in human and labour, and mass migration as
ALIENATION AND class relations from the normal costs to obtain the
CORONAVIRUS capitalism’s rise through goods they desire on the
today. The dispossession and market. Alienation also
BEYOND workplace primitive accumulation that normalizes the bleeding of
exploitation, Marx also pushed peasantry into work into everyday life, where
explains exploitation and class urbanized proletariat in employers require constant
stratification through the Europe’s Industrial contact in an omnipresent and
concept of alienation. Workers Revolution; informalization constantly productive
are severed from the means of and today’s gig economy; and knowledge economy.30 The
production and the product of the development of cure for alienation becomes
their labour time, thus losing “knowledge workers”28 individualized “self-care”
autonomy over their purpose producing intangible goods, through consumption of
or “species-essence.” can all be read as alienation manicures and bubble baths,
Subverting proletarian labour from use value. Urbanization masking that collective
for exchange value and profit, removed humans from rural burnout from capitalism
rather than creating use value, ecology; housing instability, requires rest, community, and
separates workers from their insufficient income, and political education.31
labour, their bodies, and each gentrification now break up
other. This falsely centers communities formed by the THE PANDEMIC has
relations with objects and working-class today. This heightened all of these aspects
obstructs understanding the destruction of community also of modern-day alienation. As
true relations between normalizes competition rather explored above, workers who
humans. This obscuring of than mutual aid as humans produce tangible goods and

20 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CORONAVIRUS AND CAPITALISM

services - the proletariat - have under the capitalist need to consumption as self-care, with
the products of their labour maximize profit regardless of mandates like frequent
requisitioned for profit and worker wellbeing or market exercise, organic food, and
now for the masses, being demand.35 nine or more hours of sleep
moralistically asked to risk that are unattainable to most
dying from COVID-19 as UNDERSTANDING alienation workers. Failing to meet these
companies reap profits. also helps us understand unrealistic goals becomes
Stratified and separated, psychological reactions to late- another yet source of anxiety
workers in intangible stage capitalism, heightened around consumption.37
commodities - teachers, under lockdown. In a
journalists, technology manifesto aptly titled “We Are TREATING anxiety individually
workers, most office workers - All Very Anxious,” anti- allows companies to market
instead have their homes capitalist organizing group individualized cures like food
requisitioned as lockdown Plan C detail the rise of anxiety and drink, medication, and sex
workspaces.32 While many of and depression under late- toys (spiking in online sales
these workers are insulated stage capitalism. While misery during lockdown) to supplant
from the material risk of was the dominant affect (or our connections to other
working outside of the home collective feeling) during the humans, masking our real
during a pandemic, alienation Industrial Revolution, needs for collective care and
still manifests. Fordism’s transmutation of full societal shift. But individual
jobs into assembly-line tasks cures for anxiety mask its
DESPITE lowered demand for centered boredom as workers’ triggers from capitalism and
production, deadlines escalate, dominant affect. Modern-day lost social connections under
work hours lengthen, and capitalism, however, with lockdown. This anxiety is
workplace surveillance extends work, social pressures, and collective, inevitably
through phone and computer commodity fetishism manifesting in a society
programs like Slack, Zoom, or expanded through technology severed from the land, from
the aptly named Panopto.33 and the internet, has made community, and the usefulness
Workers spend more on anxiety the dominant affect. of our bodies.38
utilities and groceries, and Society as a whole has become
parents multitask childcare the factory, with surveillance PROTESTS AGAINST
alongside endless conference normalized in all venues.36 lockdowns in the US also can
calls, while companies save on During the pandemic, the be read as psychological
office rents without covering factory has even expanded to responses to alienation under
work from home needs.34 But the home, and anxiety has capitalism, heightened by the
their loss of species-essence increased in turn, with usage coronavirus. Given America’s
and decision-making from of online mental health service obsessions with privatization,
alienation pushes most spiking during lockdown, and consumption culture, hyper-
middle-class workforces to work from home guides individualism, and fake news,
accept their call to produce, proliferating on how to combat the country’s antisocial
forsaking organizing for better anxiety while maintaining approach to COVID-19 is
conditions in order to ensure productivity. These guides unsurprising. But the recent
their wages are reproduced frame narcissism and armed uprisings against

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 21


Maya Bhardwaj

lockdowns display a society of the examples above, the colour in the Global North and
that ignores science and brunt of exploitation - and the South. In addition to political
community to anxiously majority of the labour of economy, then, we must
prioritize consumption and organizing - has fallen on examine racial contract theory
production as identity. When people of colour and and racialized capitalism to
(white) Americans invoke particularly women of colour, understand the specific impact
freedom from lockdown, they from Amazon to Uber to that COVID-19 has wielded on
don’t mean freedom from Bangladeshi garment workers. populations of colour
harm - they mean freedom to The vast majority of those worldwide.43 It is capitalism’s
consume, to access (POC) protesting lockdowns are gun- manifestation through the
service workers, and to earn toting white Americans. While commodification and global
money for further cases have largely remained trade of dark bodies by the
consumption. This invokes lower in the Global South, the Global North that led to these
Marx’s theory of false tearing apart of society in migration patterns from the
consciousness, where due to India and Brazil under South to the North, and that
alienation, these workers lockdown point to a struggle locked people of colour into
believe their freedom derives that is not only classed but generational poverty and
from capitalism and raced. Indigenous disease today.44
consumption.39 These are not communities have been
precarious workers protesting particularly impacted by DISPROPORTIONATE impact
to return to work in order to COVID-19, lacking access to has also held true for other
feed their families - they are treatment and in some cases groups at the margins of
workers protesting for more experiencing explicitly capitalist society, like migrant,
consumption, encapsulating a withheld care.41 The legacy of undocumented, and queer
country created around the imperialism and slavery under people. This is unsurprising: in
alienated individual who globalized capitalism help us a capitalist economic system
prioritizes objects over understand this: even after that constructs classes in order
community and health.40 migration to the Global North, to exploit human labour, and a
people of colour have social system that centers the
remained relegated to the nuclear family as the nexus of
RACE, GENDER, margins, creating a second consumption, many of these
AND CORONAVIRUS layer of exploitation on top of individuals are more likely to
class. Not only do these live in unstable housing, with
ONE CRITICAL element not communities suffer the most precarious income or with jobs
explicitly addressed from a precarious situations like poor that force exposure, and with
purely economic perspective is housing or unstable incomes, underlying health conditions
the racialization of precarity they also fill a large percentage and limited access to care.
and death under Coronavirus. of the frontline labour most COVID-19, like HIV/AIDS
Across the Global North, susceptible to contracting before it, has exacerbated this
COVID-19 deaths have been COVID-19.42 Here, we see burden.45 The impact of the
massively skewed towards capitalism’s need for surplus virus has also been gendered,
black, brown, indigenous, and labour resting on the though not necessarily in the
migrant populations. In many exploitation of communities of ways we might expect.

22 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CORONAVIRUS AND CAPITALISM

Feminization and social Workers across sectors have making space in a system that
reproduction theory explain the gone on strike against excludes them. And activists
large numbers of women on the exploitative conditions are explicitly citing class, as
frontlines against the virus in worldwide: nurses, doctors, well as race, gender, and
health care, cleaning, and cleaners, Amazon warehouse sexuality, in their analyses of
garment work, as well as the workers, public transit workers, the disproportionate impact of
high numbers of women and more have refused to the virus.50
holding the majority of comply with exploitation so
COVID-19 organizing and bleak that it ruptured the AMIDST ALL OF these
mutual aid labour. But, system of acceptance. The virus examples of organizing lies a
gendered household labour can has reinvigorated calls for linking thread. COVID-19 has
also insulate women from prison abolition, stopping shown us that class struggle is
exposure by staying in the deportation, shutting down real, that the impacts of the
home.46 So far, deaths from the detention centers, opening pandemic have fallen primarily
coronavirus are higher for men borders, ending student loan on the working class, on people
- though scientists have yet to debt, placing moratoriums on of colour, on women and queer
explain whether this is evictions, making rent free, and folks and migrants, and that
biological, or attributable to redistributing wealth through that is by design - that
behavioral and cultural factors universal basic income - and in COVID-19 is exposing and
like poorer health or increased many cases has shifted these heightening the violence of
time outside the home that can idealistic calls into realistic capitalism for those at the
be understood through a social policy propositions that can, margins. COVID-19 has
reproduction theory lens that and do, pass. Tenants have surfaced the inherent flaws of
asks men to risk exposure in refused to pay rent when their our socioeconomic system, and
the workplace while women incomes have ceased, students shown that it is at its breaking
manage domestic care labour.47 have called for making tuition point.51
free, and community members
have taken over restaurants
CORONAVIRUS, and food banks to ensure food But the pandemic
CLASS STRUGGLE, is free for all.48 Mutual aid
AND ANTI- networks surge forward in
also opens space
CAPITALIST cities and communities to imagine a new
FUTURES worldwide, where citizens
collaborate to create anti-
way to be, a way
WHILE THE coronavirus competitive and anti-capitalist forward rather
pandemic is illuminating and in systems of support, outside of than a return to
some cases exacerbating the the control or negligence of the
exploitation, alienation, and state.49 Online spaces for pre-pandemic
instability in capitalism, it is finding community, activism, life.52
also stoking class and joy have proliferated,
consciousness, class struggle, particularly in queer
and in many cases, explicit communities and communities MOVEMENTS are not merely
critique of racial capitalism. of colour, accustomed to reacting to alienation,

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 23


Maya Bhardwaj

exploitation, and instability - then, is not only a pandemic:


they are calling these out as as Roy says, it is a portal that
symptoms of capitalism, CONCLUSION can help us envision the future
showing that this is not we want to create.56
inevitable, and articulating THROUGH applying Marxist
radical, transformative political economy to the
economic and social current crisis, we can ENDNOTES
alternative worldviews as understand how COVID-19
accessible - and, in Toni Cade illuminates and exacerbates 1. Marx 1894, Fine & Saad-
Bambara’s words, irresistible.53 instability, exploitation, and Filho 2016
alienation within modern-day 2. Hanieh 2016
THIS IS NOT all smooth capitalism. The global spread 3. Hanieh 2020
going - just as prior to the of COVID-19 has sparked 4. Ibid., Bhattacharya 2020
pandemic, coronavirus- worldwide economic crises, 5. Ibid., Mazzucato 2020
inspired activism can fall into triggered massive increases in 6. Linthicum 2020
the trap of opportunism, worker exploitation across 7. Hanieh 2020
disingenuously placing the companies and countries, and 8. Talzaman 2020
working class and the most intensified alienation, anxiety, 9. Phadnis 2020
marginalized in visible roles and class stratification. 10. Milman 2020
merely to mobilize and turn Alongside its disproportionate 11. Fine & Saad-Filho 2016
out, with careerist activists impact on the poor, COVID-19 12. Fine & Saad-Filho 2016
reproducing class stratification has also magnified the 13. Stolzoff 2018
by occupying leadership systemic racism, patriarchy, 14. Hamilton 2019
roles.54 Similarly, emphasis on and queerphobia inherent to 15. Smalls 2020, Paul 2020,
class struggle alone may mask capitalism. But COVID-19 has Gurley 2020
and exacerbate the also fueled global resistance, 16. Alderman 2020
disproportionate amount of through strikes, mutual aid, 17.Thomas 2020
organizing labour performed and expanded class struggle. 18. Haque 2020, Winterstein
by women and especially In this way, Marxist political 2020
women of colour, while newer economy helps us not only 19. Bhatia 2020
- and whiter - mutual aid clarify why the economic and 20. Chan 2020
efforts may supplant acclaim social impact of the pandemic 21. Abi-Habib 2020, Dev
and funding for historic has been so vast, but why its 2020
community projects led by impact on organizing and class 22. Laville 2020
marginalized peoples under struggle has been so powerful. 23. Day 2020, Jan 2020
racialized capitalism.55 But if By starkly highlighting the 24. Busby 2020
resistance to COVID-19 can flaws of the capitalist 25. Gidla 2020
center a raced, gendered, and organization of society, the 26. Thompson 2016, Garside
intersectional analysis in their pandemic also has the and Neate 2020
stoking of class struggle, the potential to illuminate more 27. Fine & Saad-Filho 2016,
pandemic can push us to effective ways for us to Fromm 1961, Meszaros 1970
develop a more nuanced lens organize resistance and 28. Rotta 2018:18
in our resistance. restructure society. COVID-19, 29. Fisher 2009

24 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CORONAVIRUS AND CAPITALISM

30. Rotta 2018 New Imperial Challenge. London: The Merlin


31. Bloom 2015 Press, pp. 88–113.
32. Jones 2020
33. Newman 2020 Alderman, Liz (2020). “Amazon Loses Appeal of
34. Thompson 2020 French Order to Stop Selling Nonessential
35. Jones 2020 Items,” New York Times, 24 April 2020.
36. Plan C 2020
37. Woods 2020, Bloom 2015 Ali, Khalilah (2017). “The Job of the Writer is
38. Thompson 2020, Mellor 2020 “to Make Revolution Irresistible,” International
39. Eyerman 1981 Journal for Social Studies, 3, 1-15.
40.Mudde 2020
41. Steinbuch 2020 Ball, Phillip (2020). “Coronavirus hits men
42. Holbourne 2020, Essa 2020 harder. Here's what scientists know about it,”
43. Clennon 2017 The Guardian, 7 April 2020.
44. Albo 2004
45. LGBT Foundation 2020, Cozzarelli 2020 Bhatia, Shekhar (2020). “Death of sixth Uber
46. Uzman 2020 driver linked to coronavirus prompts urgent call
47. Ball 2020 for all minicabs to be equipped with PPE,” Daily
48. Sawant 2020 Mail, 23 April 2020.
49. Dhillon 2020
50. Essa 2020 Bloom, Ester (2015). “How ‘Treat Yourself’
51.Essa 2020 Became a Capitalist Command,” The Atlantic,
52. Roy 2020 19 November 2015.
53. Ali 2017
54. Dhillon 2020 Bhattacharya, Tithi, and Gareth Dale (2020).
55. Gurba 2020 “COVID Capitalism,” Spectre Journal, 5 May
56. Roy 2020 2020. Chan, Wilfred (2020). “Food delivery
workers are coronavirus first responders —
here's how you can repay us,” NBC News, 22
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PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 27


Rainer Shea

THE
FASCISTIC
RESTRUCTING
OF AMERICAN
CAPITALISM

by RAINER SHEA

28 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE FASCISTIC RESTRUCTURING OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM

Introduction

Since the United States became the main world


power in the 1940s, opening corporations up to
the countries the U.S. empire would come to
exploit in the following decades, working class
people in America have filled a role more
disposable than had previously been the case.
Labor could be easily extracted by U.S.
corporations from the Third World, because
capitalism was now centered around the largest
empire in world history. But now the economic
order is changing, and the U.S. capitalist class
is needing to adapt.

$ $
$
PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 29
Rainer Shea

Neoliberalism north had been thoroughly OPEC countries, one where


and the transformed by the new they deposited oil profits to
Petrodollar paradigm of privatization, Western banks in exchange
austerity, deregulation, and for Washington sending
In his book Against
a shifting of the tax burden U.S. companies to
Empire, Michael Parenti
onto the poor. westernize Saudi Arabia.
concluded about the
economic arrangement of Neoliberalism was the way Under this global economic
recent generations that for the corporations to model, the 1% enjoyed a
“Designed to leave the maintain rising profits in a mostly steady uptick in
world’s economic destiny at world where the mid- profits for several decades.
the mercy of bankers and century welfare states had But at some point it had to
multinational corporations, become detrimental to the come back down.
Globalization is a logical capitalist class. Spending on
extension of imperialism, a the Vietnam War had sent
victory of empire over the U.S. into a recession Boom and
republic, international that was making corporate bust
finance capital over profits drop, exacerbated by After the 2008 crash, the
democracy.” the quadrupling of oil prices power of the big banks was
that was brought on by the further consolidated,
When the value of labor
1973 oil embargo. making2 the financial
from American workers was
reduced and corporate The embargo, which was a system more concentrated
interests were global rather response by the and unstable than it had
than national, the Organization of Arab been before. New financial
corporatocracy could afford Petroleum Exporting bubbles appeared3 around
to deindustrialize the Countries to Washington’s
imperial core. Millions of support for Israel,
U.S. jobs were moved to demonstrated the need for
lower wage countries U.S. imperialism to adapt.
through free trade deals like The capitalist class
NAFTA. In the 1970s, a preserved U.S.-led
neoliberal shock doctrine globalization amid this

$
began to be imposed upon crisis both by
exploited countries like implementing
Chile, and neoliberalism neoliberalism, and by
was soon brought to the placing a new level of
U.S. and the other imperial importance on the
powers. By the end of the petrodollar system. The
20th century, both the U.S. made a deal1 with
global south and the global Saudi Arabia and other

30 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE FASCISTIC RESTRUCTURING OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM

the globe as all of the below zero, the dollar could


lending schemes that had easily collapse. Free
led to the previous crash market advocates, gold
continued. When the bugs, and cryptocurrency
Covid-19 crash came, it proponents have always
correlated4 with a new said that today’s monetary
housing crisis that was system was immoral and
already in progress, making manipulated.7
the Federal Reserve
powerless to stop it from
turning into a recession. Of all the
Now most investors are countries in the
saying5 that the current crude oil briefly dropped to
downturn will be worse below zero. This is partly
world, U.S.
than the last one, and tens the result of the ill-timed leaders have been
of thousands of U.S. recent increases in oil some of the worst
capitalists have lost6 their production from the Saudi- manipulators in
statuses as millionaires. Russian oil price war, which history and the
has been heating up at the nation’s super-
The petrodollar system has
same time that Covid-19
been growing unstable as powers may be
has shut down world
well. Since the creation of coming to an end.
economies and decreased
the petrodollar, Iran’s U.S.-
demand for oil. Despite the
installed Shah has been
attempts from U.S. oil
overthrown by an anti-
companies to maneuver the This goes along with the
imperialist government
situation, the American oil crisis being faced by
that’s abandoned the U.S.
industry is especially Washington’s key middle
dollar in international
vulnerable to rapid price eastern economic asset
trade. The Chavista
drops, as is the U.S. dollar Saudi Arabia, which former
revolution has made
itself. Market reporter CIA analyst Bruce Riedel
Washington lose Venezuela
Jamie Redman writes: says is “facing the perfect
as a petrodollar asset as
storm — weak oil prices,
well. This is why Experts say that the
Washington continues to pandemic, and quagmire in
continued sell-off shows the
escalate its efforts towards Yemen.”8 If the currency
oil problems are not going
system and global economic
regime change in these two away and the severe issues
leverage that U.S.-led
countries: they add to the could ultimately destroy
globalization depends on
great losses that the the U.S. dollar. Since 1944,
are crumbling, what does
petrodollar is experiencing the USD has been propped
this mean for the continued
amid the current crisis. up by the petro-dollar
viability of neoliberalism?
scheme and with oil prices
Last week, the price of

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 31


Rainer Shea

U.S. is now doomed to a themselves to Western


continued series of imperialism. America’s
downturns in the coming recent economic chaos and
months and years, with governmental ineptitude to
unemployment sure to respond to the pandemic
remain very high no matter has proven the U.S. is a
how soon the quarantine failed state, and similar
measures end. It doesn’t situations are arising for
help that the U.S. is partnered powers like
preparing to default on Brazil11 and the U.K.12
debts owed to China, which Around the world, the
It means that could further harm the U.S. contradictions of capitalism
neoliberalism-which has economy.10 are heightening.
long had the destabilizing All of this is a recipe for
effect of exacerbating rising lower class
Economic
wealth inequality-is discontent and a continued
Nationalism
becoming more of a liability growth in labor struggles. It
for the capitalist class. The also reduces the economic Trump’s “America First”
U.S., whose capacity for power of the capitalist class. economic approach is
internal economic The American workers, who becoming more accepted
productivity has been were more expendable among the U.S. ruling class
diminished by decades of when the U.S. as the cold war with China
deindustrialization and a corporatocracy could reach escalates. Bloomberg
twelve-year-long state of further out, are now more reports that “Businesses are
recession, is now essential for the system to reassessing China’s role in
committing economic function. This is why global supply chains, and by
suicide9 by shutting down Trump is rushing to get all the time this virus burns
its economy with no of the laid off people back out, many of them will have
meaningful measures to to work. started planning to relocate
protect the public welfare. at least some of their
There’s a perfect storm to production elsewhere.
China can quarantine its be faced not just for the Deglobalization is
population for months and Saudis, but for the U.S. and accelerating.”13 This
economically bounce back, the other countries which embrace of isolationism
because it has a planned have embraced within the corporatocracy,
economy with a strong neoliberalism and the political establishment,
social safety net. But the economically tied and the military elite is the

32 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE FASCISTIC RESTRUCTURING OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM

latest part of how American represents “the Wall Street- complex. And intelligence
imperialism is turning ization of the Fed,” as the agencies and the military are
inward. journalist Pepe Escobar has going to need more
called14 what’s happening to resources as they seek to
In this situation where the
the financial system. further fortify the national
U.S. empire is in decline and
security state.
looking towards nationalism It’s a scheme that will both
over globalization, the make BlackRock a supreme Bill Gates, whose COVID-19
biggest corporations are financial power over the philanthropy has worked17
trying to reshape the United States, and make to solidify billionaire control
economy best to their plutocrats like Jeff Bezos15 over public health, stands to
advantage. A consolidation benefit from the pandemic
of economic power is going in more ominous ways.
on within the imperial core, Gates’ multi-billion dollar
one where the 0.01% are project to create and
growing richer than ever distribute a Covid-19
while almost everyone else vaccine isn’t motivated by a
becomes poorer. pure humanitarian desire;
part of the endgame of his
If a number of financial
mass produced vaccination
institutions go down like
Lehman Brothers went campaign is a new digital
down in 2008, they’ll be mass surveillance system, as
he’s explicitly stated in one
replaced by BlackRock, the
private contractor that’s recent talk: “Eventually
what we’ll have to have is
been tasked with managing
certificates of who’s a
the Federal Reserve’s
bailout slush fund. recovered person, who’s a
come out on top by injecting vaccinated person…So
BlackRock is bigger than
a market stimulus that is eventually there will be this
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan,
increasing the market value digital immunity proof that
and Deutsche Bank
of Amazon and other will help facilitate the global
combined, and because of
monopolies. Bezos in reopening up.”18 This is a
the Covid-19 crash it’s
particular has opportunities prospect for the long term.
become the operating
system of the U.S. treasury. to profit from the turmoil of In the short term, other
BlackRock is also a major the coming months and facets of big pharma, like
years, because Amazon the notoriously corrupt
Trump donor. This political
provides16 technology for the company BioPort, are
and economic power grab
military/intelligence profiting greatly from

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 33


Rainer Shea

COVID-19.19 Silicon Valley tech giants the old neoliberal model


that have ties with the and (the ruling class hopes)
Gates’ vision for a vast,
NSCAI. They’re already reach a stable new
high-tech tracking network
facilitating the transition equilibrium. The future
is where the demand for
into their ideal post- these oligarchs and
artificial intelligence-driven
COVID-19 scenario, as corporate giants want is one
mass surveillance comes in.
Microsoft, Amazon, Google, where living standards are
Last year, the National
Lockheed Martin, and improved enough for
Security Commission on
Oracle are advising the workers and poor people to
Artificial Intelligence—
White House in its project stop organizing, and where
which has ties to the CIA
to reopen the economy. dissension is kept in check
and to top Trump donor
by intensive surveillance
Sheldon Adelson—called for Now we can get a sense of
the U.S. to adopt a mass what the ruling class plans and a militarized police
surveillance system far to replace neoliberal state. This is the repressive,
more extreme than that of globalization with. The extremely unequal, and
any other country.20 A NSCIA’s ultimate goals are globally isolated version of
American capitalism that’s
desire to compete with to overhaul traditional car
going to follow the
Chinese technology was the ownership and normalize
country’s era as a
NSCAI’s main rationale for self-driving cars, to move
hegemonic power.
advocating for the beyond in-person shopping
implementation of a new so that all shopping is done
national infrastructure, one online, and to do away with
where interconnected AI paper money and make
systems monitor everyone’s currency entirely take the
daily activities. The form of digital wallets. It’s
commission stated that no wonder why they’re
surveillance represents aiming for a replacement of
“one of the ‘first-and-best the American currency
customers’ for AI,” and that system, since the U.S. dollar
“having streets carpeted is losing its value.
with cameras is good
If these changes accompany
infrastructure.” a universal basic income, as
The companies helping to many billionaires have
bring us towards these begun to propose21
“smart cities” are Google, implementing, capitalism in
Palantir, and the other the U.S. will move beyond

34 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE FASCISTIC RESTRUCTURING OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM

References
1. https://www.mintpressnews.com/petrodollar-warfare-the-common-thread-linking-venezuela-and-
iran/255123/

2. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/secrets-and-lies-of-the-bailout-113270/

3. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-global-economy-is-a-time-bomb-waiting-to-explode/

4. https://www.ccn.com/fed-cant-stop-coronavirus-fueled-us-housing-market-crash/

5. https://www.ccn.com/70-of-investors-the-coronavirus-recession-will-be-worse-than-2008/

6. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-loses-500-000-millionaires-152034654.html

7. https://news.bitcoin.com/petro-dollar-system-crumbles-us-dollar-could-collapse-from-the-worlds-
oil-wars/

8. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/russia-saudi-arabia-oil-coronavirus.html

9. https://eand.co/america-is-committing-economic-suicide-c7c1f7122169?source=search_post-

10. https://www.stalkerzone.org/the-us-is-preparing-to-default-on-debts-owed-to-china/?
fbclid=IwAR2dMXl_8mfM6Zhe_PHDSesE92tv1BRbkn7Y8PiB1cH94DjOIoFhIyWMhiw

11. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/27/braz-m27.html

12. https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/brexit-britain-is-becoming-a-failed-state-here-is-the-
evidence-20190822

13. https://www.thenation.com/article/world/globalization-unravelling-internationalism-coronavirus/

14. https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/04/05/ground-control-to-planet-lockdown-this-is-only-a-
test/?fbclid=IwAR0Go0ip4Hc2j_zlHL7L8Y0pigL7LMmGu8aBzjGWWZgnQD_lZPp7EF4U-3I

15. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/16/bezo-a16.html

16. https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/03/investing/trump-amazon-bezos-government-contracts/
index.html

17. https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-the-dangers-of-relying-on-philanthropists-during-
pandemics/

18. https://consortiumnews.com/2020/04/08/pepe-escobar-who-profits-from-the-pandemic/

19. https://www.mintpressnews.com/how-emergent-solutions-plans-corner-covid-19-cure-
market/266615/

20. https://www.mintpressnews.com/national-security-state-using-coronavirus-push-artificial-
intelligence-driven-mass-surveillance/266820/?
fbclid=IwAR2t8NdgGiJ0f91pMPVJuZNCRH6J38tuoKzT100tE5zMIKJgIuV4bTTbrF0

21. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/02/oligarchs-guaranteed-basic-income-scam

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 35


If Impcrialism Is
thc Highcst
Stagc of
Capitalism, Thcn
Anti-Impcrialism
Is thc Highcst
Stagc of Class
Strugglc
by ZHONG XIANGYU
ANTI-IMPERIALISM, THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CLASS STRUGGLE

Like many communists born to immigrant families in


the United States, my political development has been an
extension of connecting with my cultural roots. Though
I was born and raised in the United States, I spent many
childhood summers in Tainan, my mother’s hometown
in southern Taiwan, which undoubtedly strengthened
my bond with my heritage.

Y FATHER is a Hwagyo – a taught the curriculum designed by the

M member of the Chinese


diaspora in Korea – and
although he was born and
raised in Korea, the south
Korean regime refused to
recognize him as a citizen because
“R.O.C.’s” Ministry of Education. Many of
those who chose to attend university did so in
Taiwan due to affirmative action programs that
favored overseas Chinese.

THE BASIC INFORMATION I absorbed


his father was not Korean; the fact that he was growing up provided me with a schematic, and
born to a Korean mother did not matter to the frankly trivial, understanding of my
Rhee and Park regimes. At the time, the south background; to truly understand it, I needed to
Korean regime had not established diplomatic study how these realities came about. In
relations with the new Chinese government in addition, I realized at a young age that I would
Beijing, and therefore the “Republic of always be considered a foreigner in the United
China” (whose effective administrative area States, similar to how my father was never seen
had been reduced to Taiwan, Penghu, Jīnmén/ as a real Korean despite having been born and
Kinmen, and Mǎzǔ/Matzu) was the Chinese raised in Seoul. With these realizations, and my
government recognized by Seoul. Because the affinity for and with Taiwan (the island and its
Kuomintang (KMT) lost the mainland and had people, not its reactionary ruling class), and by
its authority openly challenged in 1947 by extension all of China, maintaining my
Taiwanese people unhappy with the KMT’s connection with my cultural roots became a
mishandling of internal contradictions, the serious matter that involved the self-study of
KMT actively tried to win over overseas history, current events, and the Chinese
Chinese people during the first few decades language.
following its relocation to Taiwan. As a result,
people like my father in Korea became citizens THE COLD WAR placed Taiwan and south
of the “Republic of China,” and attended Korea on the front lines of a global divide
schools set up for the Chinese community that between capitalism and socialism, so my desire

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 37


Zhong Xiangyu

to dig deeper into my cultural heritage was also Taiwan, but they were merely a starting point.
inseparable from an understanding of the Cold To truly understand Taiwan, I needed to
War. I returned to facts I had learned as a further study how these realities came about,
child, like Chiang Kai-shek being a bloody which necessitated familiarizing myself with
tyrant, or the difference between waishengren the indigenous history of Taiwan, the various
and benshengren in order to investigate their waves of Han Chinese migration from the
real historical meaning. Witnessing the riots Chinese mainland starting in the 17th century,
that occurred after the election in 2000, when the Qing Empire’s attitudes towards Taiwan,
the first non-KMT leader was elected, I found Japanese colonization, the KMT’s exile to
out that much of the strife stemmed from the Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek’s White Terror and
antagonism between the waishengren and martial law, the history of the opposition to the
benshengren, which was the result of the KMT, and especially U.S. imperialism.
KMT’s policy of excluding benshengren from
higher levels of government for the first few OF COURSE, one can study all of this
decades of its rule in Taiwan. The KMT policy through a liberal, pro-U.S. lens, but such an
deepened mistrust between the two broad approach leaves many related events and
categories of people in Taiwan: benshengren, trends unconnected. One of the questions I
meaning “people of this province,” referring to asked myself as a college freshman was this: if
those people already living in Taiwan by the the goal of United States foreign policy is to
time the Japanese imperialists surrendered spread freedom and democracy, how do
and Taiwan was returned to China in 1945; and dictators like Chiang Kai-shek and Syngman
waishengren, or “extra-provincial people,” Rhee not only gain the support of the United
meaning those who arrived in Taiwan from the States, but get upheld as democratic leaders?
Chinese mainland between 1945 and the The liberal answer might go something like
mid-1950s. Because the ruling elites in the this: “True, Chiang and Rhee were brutal
KMT were all waishengren, waishengren of all leaders who were far from ideal, but they were
classes were seen by many benshengren as fighting communism, which was much worse
oppressors, even though neither was safe from than anything imaginable in Taiwan under
the KMT’s anti-communist White Terror. Chiang or south Korea under Rhee.” At the
same time, liberals downplay the fact that most
INTERESTINGLY, though, anti- of those imprisoned and executed by Chiang
waishengren and anti-KMT sentiments did not were communists or suspected communists.
translate over into anti-U.S. sentiments among Victims of his right-wing dictatorship are
the petty-bourgeois opposition that grew in the nowadays portrayed in the mainstream as
1970s and 1980s, despite the ruling elite “freedom fighters” in the abstract with little
drawing their power from the U.S. imperialists. mention of their communist leanings. Though
It also did not escape me that benshengren, Chiang Kai-shek is dead, and although the
who are majority Han just like waishengren, bourgeois opposition to the KMT casts him in a
often exclude indigenous Taiwanese from their negative light, his anti-communist spirit lives
conversations regarding Taiwanese rights. I on. Realizing this hypocrisy, I began studying
share these facts in order to better illustrate my U.S. imperialism, how it relates to capitalism,
path towards communism and why anti- how ideologies such as white supremacy are
imperialism cannot be neglected by designed to justify the various systems of
communists in the 21st century. These facts do oppression that are in place, and how much I
indeed provide a basic understanding of had been lied to.

38 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


ANTI-IMPERIALISM, THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CLASS STRUGGLE

MOST at worst misguided and IMPERIALISM forms the


GOVERNMENTS mismanaged, and that the line that connects seemingly
overthrown by the United appearance of the Chiangs, the unrelated dots. Studying the
States are democratically Rhees, the Mobutus, and so works of revolutionaries like
elected. Once overthrown, they on, were the exception rather Marx, Lenin, and Mao
are, without fail, replaced by than the rule. Because illuminated the underlying
comprador regimes that serve Taiwanese liberals have failed structure of historical events.
U.S. corporate interests. The to draw these connections, “The history of all hitherto
United States formed alliances their idea of international existing human society,” in the
with political figures like solidarity has been to reach out words of Karl Marx, “is the
Chiang and Rhee to control as to Uncle Sam and the ruling history of class struggles.” If
many populations and classes of the “advanced imperialism is the highest
resources as possible. The democracies,” rather than to stage of capitalism, as
liberal interpretation of history form an international theorized by Vladimir Lenin,
without an anti-imperialist solidarity with oppressed then it follows that anti-
context would have us believe peoples. As a result, imperialism is the highest
that the United States was on a “progressive” politics in stage of class struggle. Soon, I
quest to “civilize” the world Taiwan are suspended in a began to see the connection
with the universal values of limbo of historical nihilism between various seemingly
“freedom,” “democracy,” and and no real solutions. unrelated events: the Chinese
McDonald’s, a quest that was communists fighting the

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 39


Zhong Xiangyu

Japanese invaders, the Korean the National Liberation Front. controlled—acted like the
guerillas led by Kim Il Sung, occupation troops they were.
and the anti-Japanese Hence, you would be less
COUPLED WITH the
rebellion in Taiwan’s Wushe likely to question the
study of U.S. imperialism,
by the indigenous Seediq mainstream narrative on
knowing how much of your
people that tragically ended topics like the Korean War,
own family’s history was
with the Japanese Air Force filled with mentions of the
shaped by imperialism makes
dropping chemical weapons. “democratic” south Korea and
imperialism a very real system
These three events were all “dictatorial” north Korea.
of oppression rather than an
part of a greater struggle
abstract concept.
against Japanese imperialism. IMPERIALIST
In 1950, the eruption of the AMNESIA not only distorts
Korean War not only crushed our understanding of world
Studying imperialism is
my grandfather’s dreams of events, but also impairs our
the process of
returning from Korea to his ability to interpret domestic
home in China’s Shandong relearning everything developments, because the
Province (he happened to be you’ve been taught. It is two are inseparable in the age
in the south when the war a struggle filled with of imperialism. Without a firm
broke out; his brother in the anger and sadness, but grasp of imperialism, we will
north escaped back to China also love and liberation. be deceived by reformists like
as the US Air Force was Unfortunately, this is Bernie Sanders who call for a
bombing every city north of not a struggle phony form of “socialism”
the 38th parallel), but also undertaken by many funded by the hyper-
shaped the destiny of Taiwan self-described leftists exploitation of the Global
as U.S. attitudes towards South by the imperial core.
nowadays, especially
Chiang shifted from What use is “socialism,” or
those whose families
abandonment to reluctant more accurately, social
support, rescuing the “R.O.C.” have been in the democracy, in the United
regime from certain defeat. imperial core for States if millions continue to
This time, it was U.S. generations, since the suffer under the boot of U.S.
imperialism that became the incentive of aggression? Can these social
greatest common factor understanding one’s democrats “make progress
between seemingly unrelated roots is generations with the Latin American
developments. Decades later, removed. immigrant community” in the
the Black Panthers and other United States when they
groups who fought for continue to attack and
liberation drew a similar If your family does not have destabilize Latin American
conclusion about the Vietnam history in Korea, for example, countries, subjecting the
War and the fight for racial you won’t hear stories about people to levels of poverty
inequality: that the U.S. ruling how the Korean People’s unimaginable to the average
class was the common enemy. Army treated the people in American and condemn
And, further, that standing up areas it liberated with dignity, leaders like Hugo Chavez as “a
against the U.S. ruling class whereas the U.S. forces—and dead dictator” as Bernie
meant support for the the south Korean army it Sanders has? Do social
People’s Army of Vietnam and democratic politicians in the

40 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


ANTI-IMPERIALISM, THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CLASS STRUGGLE

United States have any credibility talking settle for the likes of Sanders or AOC, and they
about Black rights in the U.S. when they are will be able to see through all such
complacent with “humanitarian intervention” unprincipled careerists.
resulting in the reemergence of slavery abroad
as in the case of Libya? I do not believe IN THE United States, the favored tool of
Sanderistas have the intention to do harm the ruling class has been the ideology of white
abroad, but this is where social democracy supremacy. Taking liberally from phony
leads every time. Social democracy is European race “science,” the U.S. ruling class
capitalism with a better safety net; it markets created two broad categories of people —
itself as capable of managing capitalist crises, white and non-white —thus enabling them
as a humane “middle way” between laissez- to divide and conquer the working class,
faire capitalism and actual socialism, yet knowing that a united proletariat would
without scientific socialist answers to the threaten the power of the bourgeoisie. From
problem of imperialism it only provides a this, we can see that white supremacy
temporary and deceptive delay to yet larger sabotages not only the solidarity between non-
capitalist crises, and without the super-profits white people and white people, but also the
generated by imperialism, the source of its solidarity between different groups of non-
“shared wealth” evaporates and along with it white people. In response to this reality,
the legitimacy of “social democracy” as a ideologies opposing white supremacy emerged
political position. among oppressed nations in the United States.
Broadly speaking, these ideologies fall
WITHOUT a political line that is between a reactionary chauvinism that does
uncompromisingly anti-imperialist, we will not pose a threat to the bourgeoisie, and a
settle for concessions that do not threaten our revolutionary nationalism that does not
class enemies, but do threaten the lives of contradict internationalism. Just as is it
members of oppressed nations worldwide, important to connect the struggles of different
including those within the United States. Can racial groups with one another in order to
we overlook the fact that Sanders endorsed the undermine white supremacy, we must connect
bombing of Yugoslavia and supports Israel, a the various struggles throughout the world
settler-colony that has occupied Palestine and with one another in order to undermine the
terrorized the Palestinian people for decades? imperialist system.
What use is Bernie popularizing the word
“socialist” if the meaning of the word has been MOST PEOPLE who call themselves
bastardized to such an extent? Ironically, leftists would agree that reactionary calls for
Sanderistas are quick to point out how the white power are qualitatively different from
mainstream media lies about the phony revolutionary calls for Black power. They
“socialists” they support, but are equally quick would also agree that when people of
to regurgitate lies about countries that oppressed nations in the United States express
challenge U.S. hegemony in any way that reactionary chauvinism, they do so as a
they’ve been told by the same media. response to white supremacy, and therefore
Socialism is not capitalism with a big safety combating white supremacy should be the
net, but the establishment of a proletarian main ideological issue at hand. Unfortunately,
state that serves the interests of those who many self-described “leftists” lose sight of this
work for a living. As people gain a greater when it comes to the international arena.
understanding of imperialism, they will not Ultra-leftists and anarchists often refuse to

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 41


Zhong Xiangyu

stand in solidarity with the SYMPATHIZING with, personally do, should we not
people of countries targeted making excuses for, and support the defense of their
by U.S. imperialism, because, objectively enabling U.S. sovereignty from U.S.
failing to recognize U.S. imperialism on the aggression, especially since we
imperialism as the primary international stage is similar are in the United States and
contradiction at hand and the to making excuses and have the power to exert
domestic issues of its victim objectively enabling white pressure on those who run
countries as secondary supremacy within the United things here?
contradictions, they hold the States. We cannot overcome
position of both sides being national divisions and form
“equally bad” and objectively political solidarity within our
side with imperialists. During class, the working class, We live in the age of
the Chinese Civil War, an anti- without understanding and capitalist imperialism,
Japanese united front combating white supremacy, and the United States,
between the Communist Party and we cannot expect though not the only
of China and the Kuomintang international solidarity if we imperialist country, is
was formed, with the do not understand and the leading imperialist
understanding that the actively oppose U.S. power. This makes the
contradiction between the imperialism. Furthermore, it struggle against Yankee
Japanese imperialists and the is nothing but chauvinism to imperialism the
Chinese people had become expect anything less than
primary contradiction
primary, and the perfection from other
in today’s world. Many
contradiction between the countries while turning a
Communists and the KMT blind eye to the imperialist who consider
had become secondary. Mao activities of the country we are themselves “leftists” in
stressed the fact that the fall in. To give an example: even if the west fail to see this,
of China to Japan would have everything the mainstream and are instead against
compounded the existing media says about China were an abstract form of
oppressions faced by the true (this is not the case, but imperialism which
Chinese people, and would let’s say what-if), we must ask deems all countries
have made the Chinese ourselves: who is threatening equally bad.
people’s liberation far more whom? Is it China or the U.S.
difficult. Had the Chinese that has the other surrounded
people taken the position of by military bases in client To draw the parallel once
the KMT and the Japanese states? Is it China or the U.S. again between what the
being “equally bad,” China that actively overthrows United States does internally
would have been completely democratically elected with what it does externally, if
subjugated by the foreign governments abroad? And is it we are able to recognize the
boot, which is typically more China or the U.S. that actively false equivalence the U.S.
difficult to fight off than the props up military legal system makes between
domestic boot. Communists dictatorships throughout the the weak and the powerful
must learn from this example world? Can we honestly say when it claims there is
and honestly analyze the the two are “just as bad” as “equality before the law,” then
contradictions of today’s one another? Even if we have we must also see that those
world. criticisms of China, like I

42 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


ANTI-IMPERIALISM, THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CLASS STRUGGLE

who claim the U.S. and Assad are “just as bad scenery, history, food, or supposed
as one another” are really siding with U.S. helplessness, etc.), of apathy (“we can’t do
imperialism. anything from here”), are simply expressions of
western chauvinism that leave the door open
for U.S. intervention. Just as white supremacy
WHILE THERE should be no controversy
damages the solidarity between various ethnic
in condemning U.S. aggression against the
groups within the United States, these
DPRK and supporting the Korean people’s
chauvinist attitudes similarly keep the workers
struggle against U.S. imperialism, expressing
of the world divided and conquered by the
such views invokes the scorn from across the
imperialists. The bourgeoisie has its own
U.S. political spectrum, including from self-
international solidarity known as globalism to
described “leftists.” You will even hear these
them and imperialism by us. It is time that we
pseudo-leftists call for the assassination of Kim
fight their international solidarity with our own
Jong Un. For the sake of argument, even if
anti-imperialist solidarity.
every lie told about him is true—that he is the
ruthless and maniacal tyrant the bourgeois
news outlets make him out to be—when and
Suggested reading:
where has U.S.-sponsored regime-change ever
resulted in more freedom and democracy for Killing Hope by William Blum
the people of the targeted country? Did the Rogue State by William Blum
situation of Iranians improve after Mosaddegh
Late Victorian Holocausts - El Niño Famines and the
was overthrown? Did Chileans live better lives Making of the Third World by Mike Davis
after Allende was killed and Pinochet was
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
installed? Do Libyans enjoy more freedoms
now that Gaddafi is gone? Are Bolivians Black Bolshevik by Harry Haywood
enjoying human rights and better living Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir
standards now that Morales has been exiled? Lenin
The problems, real and imagined, of countries On Contradiction by Mao Zedong
attacked by imperialism are not excuses for us
Against Empire by Michael Parenti
to withhold our internationalist solidarity.
Oftentimes, problems such as limited freedom How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
of expression in countries on the receiving end Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
of imperialist aggression are exacerbated if not
caused by the imperialist aggression itself. If we
truly want these countries to thrive, and if we
truly care about the people of those countries,
then we must do our part as people living in the
imperial core to stand up against the military
aggression, economic sabotage, and political
isolation carried out by the country in which we
reside. All other positions, including drawing
false equivalence (“both parties are bad, so pick
neither”), liberal savior mentality (i.e.
advocating non-intervention based on the
target country’s non-political factors like its

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 43


POETRY, ART, AND THE
REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT
Elegy for George Floyd,
American
by Drew

If George Floyd had been born in Havana


Maybe he'd have been a doctor instead...
Whose patients would all smile when they'd see him
Hold their newborns in his large, gloved hands;
A healer's hands and those of a father,
The hands of a Black man, turning
The same well-worn pages he's read to his daughter
A thousand times, as she lies in bed,
Who he swears gets bigger and bigger every time he looks away,
So he says to himself,
Don't look away, don't ever look away.

45
Checkpoint Charlie A

by ERHAN US

46 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Checkpoint Charlie B

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 47


James Connolly
by LIATHÁN NIC GHIBHEANNAIGH

It is belief in the working people


that will tear down this sham democracy
It is belief in the working people
that must be our philosophy
It is belief in the working people
that martyred James Connolly
who believed that without a socialist state
1916 was for nothing
who believed that if it wasn't the brits ruling us
the capitalists, the imperialists, would be governing
The USA uses Shannon airport
where was the people's vote for that?
Fianna Gael and Fianna Fail in government again?
Pretty sure we voted against that
Our lives are not our lives when our choice has been taken away
What more do we have to say
We want it our way
Not under the pretense of some 'democracy'
A load of richies beg for your vote, then blatantly display their hypocrisy
and serve their own interests and the interests of the US and the EU
And pee ew the stink of taking on their debt
and feck you if you think we're doing that again

48 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


These are our lives too and we're not playing the same game
104 years ago James Connolly was shot, what a shame
We still haven't kicked the crappiest system away
Where all the rich get richer
While the working poor have to pay
Many are aware that pretty soon comes the day
Where we stand united and refuse to be exploited anymore
and shake off the propaganda you've been spouting since the cold war
Take back what was stolen from the hands that built it
Knock down the ones that took our planet and killed it
They have held us down for so long with violence with oppression
with stories with lies, they got better at hiding their weapons
Like the ones that shot James Connolly right here in Kilmanham Gaol
for an idea that still stands, for an idea that has not gone stale
To rip down the system that poisons our souls

Put in place for the minority to achieve their goals


To stay powerful, when they know we are the ones with the real power
A majority, and hundreds of years of working hour to hour
Living from week to week on a shitty wage
And they make all the decisions, and we are enraged
Slaves to capitalism and forced to carry the burden
And austerity will only get worse, of that I am certain
''And our demands most moderate are: we only want the earth ''
We wouldn't murder her for profit, we know what she's worth
So when this is all over we won't forget
We won't work twice as hard to pay off this debt

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 49


The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system, it must go
Less slow and just throw
Just shove
Just rip them down from above
And we'll take authority as the majority
with the ability to right a monstrosity
a monopoly
thriving on inequality
a tyranny
that has no place in our economy
in the actual sustainable economy that we can build
where the ordinary working people's needs are fulfilled
and don't think it'll never happen
because it's been done before
it's not folklore and we'll no longer just ignore
because we're reaching the end of our tether
and guess what, we know better
how to run our own lives
in a system that won't deprive
''Governments in capitalist society are but
committees of the rich to manage the affairs of
the capitalist class''
Take a look at your hourglass
Time's running out
''The day has passed
for patching up the capitalist system

50 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


it must go''
Wise words from a wise man, it's time to overthrow.
James Connolly believed in the working class
It cost him his life

but he was right


We've taken all that we can clasp
Capitalism's given all it can give
''Men perish but principles live''
Ode to Frida
by Dylan Parsons

remember,
in the 5th grade,
we all laughed
at you?
what an ugly
woman,
what
is that caterpillar
on her face?
what strange
paintings, from
a deranged mind,
surely.
but every hair,
every brush stroke,
every thought as
revolutionary
as the hammer
and sickle
draped over your
casket.
your broken columns

52 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


upheld your radical
femininity, free
as a doe in the meadow.
your spirit defied
the colonizer’s beauty,
defined yourself as a model
of liberation,
wishing bread and roses
to the workers
and health
to the sick.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 53


The Last Words of Leon
Czolgosz by Dylan Parsons

no weapon formed
against a man of God shall prosper,
but I cut that president down like a
goddamned cherry tree.
I pulled my pistol, fast as
the lightning they will soon
force into my veins, and shot twice:
once for Hawaii, once for the Philippines.

and each passing day in my cell,


my pacing quickened as I waited for that
son of a bitch to croak. on the seventh day,
they said he'd make it, and on the eighth
the Lord saw that i was good
and returned the old devil to the dirt.

after they had strapped me down


in the electric chair, my last words
hung in the air like a red phantom

(a spectre is haunting America, and soon


i will be too).

54 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


If Elections Were Held in
Heaven by Dylan Parsons

conservatives would vote


for Lucifer,

liberals would vote


for Judas,

running third party are


Cain and Herod.

and over there is the madman


Jesus,

talking about revolution.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 55


No Peace
by Red Starr

They say we must fight.


Peace, We must make sure
Peace, there is No peace
Where there is until
No Peace. we bring about
Yet, a better world.
In this deadly
American
society
There is
only insistence
on false peace.
We must
Be nice
to change.
Or so we are told
by the country
with its boot
on the neck of
the world.
No,
we must organize,

56 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Hanoi
by Red Starr

Hanoi, You, Hanoi


My heart calls you Have shown me
Home. Revolutionary optimism
When you first Of true hope.
Welcomed me I leave you
I came A more committed
With so many notions Communist
Of organizing,
Revolution, For you have convinced me-
Change. A better world is ours
You , Hanoi for the taking
Have been my teacher.
You, Hanoi
Have shown me-
Dialectics
In motion,
In life,
In the life of a city.
You, Hanoi
Kept me safe
And nourished
In time of global chaos.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 57


Trans
by Red Starr

I have heard joining the fight


That for
Being trans, revolution,
Is a revolutionary act. my heart
And when I face swells.
the glares We
the anger will create
the hatred a new world,
surely together.
this feels true
the pain
that can come
simply by challenging
others
with
my existence.

And when I look


and see
so many
Trans Siblings
organizing
and

58 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Christmas in Tornillo
by T.

Children’s cries The children cheer back to us


Echo through the Knowing we are with them
Dry desert air We grab our switchblades
Flood lights illuminate And rip the tarp away
The soccer field
In front of us, a black tarp
The State has placed to
Cover up its crimes
Peering through the chain link fence
To see the interned play
Comrades behind us
Cheering and Shouting with colorful
banners
High over the barbed wire
Voices command over the speakers
Telling the children
“Do not look over there”
Slowly ripping away their humanity
Instilling a lifetime of American branded
trauma
We call out to them, ripping and slashing at
the black tarps
Singing “No Estás Solo”
Threatened by guns and violence

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 59


END THE
EXTRACTION
OF SURPLUS-
VALUE

60 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


by CAMILLA
GALEGO

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 61


I’ve Been Robbed
by Sean McKinzie

Help! Help! I’ve been Robbed!


I’ve been robbed by the capitalist system.

They’ve taken
My Raise
My Insurance
My Pension

I’ve been robbed by the capitalist system.

They’ve taken
My Work
My Home
My Car

I’ve been robbed by the capitalist system.

They’ve taken
My Time
My Labor
My Rights

I’ve been robbed by the capitalist system.


It’s high time we organise and fight.

62 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Untitled Sonnets
by Patrick Blagrave

1.
Neruda said you can cut all the flowers
but you cannot keep spring from coming
but the season gets shorter every year.
Sometimes the daffodils will die before
anybody has the chance to see them.
Their genes have been patented by DuPont.
Governments have sold the rights to weather
to some oil & gas executives.
They are scheming at HAARP to make it so
the earth will become an endless golf course.
The sun goes on aging invisibly.
The earth will become an endless ocean.
It happened before. Whether we see it
or not the next spring will be beautiful.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 63


2.
College courses are taught in what was once
the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where
in a fire 100 years earlier
146 people were killed—
mostly women, immigrants, teenagers.
The owners kept the doors locked to prevent
unscheduled breaks. The foreman with keys saved
himself before thinking to unlock them.
The owners were put on trial & escaped
consequences. They opened more factories.
They profited off the insurance claims.
They kept locking doors. In these same rooms
I was trained how to be above all else
a good worker, how to ignore the ghosts.

64 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


3.
A modern Job, a balancing act by
higher powers constantly pushing you
ever closer to despair, to the point
just before you lose faith in the system
they devised. If you lose, lose everything:
health insurance if you had it then health
naturally, your home, your friends & loved ones.
You can sit in the ash when it settles
& curse the gods who sit behind closed doors
& decide your future for you. Wail proof
that you exist but they already know--
you’re not forsaken, they found a new use.
Detail your disaster on their forms. Ask
for their pity; pity might be enough.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 65


Call to Munity from the Many Lost
(Finale Against Empiric Fetishism)
by TREVOR ROOT

Hyperrationality becomes reaction. All can be


mapped out, made sense of, found fully. And

because of this, all can be controlled. This the impetus


of exploration. Not the mystery, the mastery. The many dead and madly
buried at sea bear testimony to the nothingness of knowing.
Since all is duration, all is incapable of dissection.
Split not a moment more, nor another mound of earth. For those sent
deep into earth the outcome is the same: hyperrationality means

my body but a factory. And then so many factories—in tandem


in series. In synergistic fits of orgasmic production. Inorganic
mastery as another micro-fascism. Then time is made

material, like all things, only to be mapped out. Maps as panoptic


towers, though flat. Looking down on time as material means
time can be mastered, held still. Held, in general, like territory.
Apportioned. All that is solid is colony. Back to the many dead

the madly buried, the first to see it clearly. The spent human
resources who sung themselves adventurers then found

half-rigored with not much grip left on living; we were always raw

66 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


material. Reason for reason’s sake makes the Earth a board
of wires, and all that is as well. Like a child’s first edutainment
wiring kit, plastic board and bright rubber ringed holes for
the plugging. As he’s plunged in William Orren knows the plank ends.
We will build a very good plank, and plop right off it. Hyperrationality

makes the dying plunge an aufhebung. Congratulations collect


your widow’s pay. Mutiny lasts as the last solid plot against

our orchestration. Ghosts hum in the recesses of reason like


a factory belt just slightly off or unaligned, droning; the malcontents
whose corpses bent the ink lines of coastlines into shape. But rational
time prohibits the intermixing. Fix your gaze on this: the gauze strips

which wrap Will Orren as he’s sent down or the film strips of
Eisenstein. Time has always been malleable, materially artifactual yet

not material itself. The deafening sound is the unison


of mutinies, the shouting out of those who know
the ordering of hyperreason is contestable. The ghosts
alone can know the method of control’s growth
well enough to stake their half-held names and say:
The mapping out is not to move but to monitor;
Make waste to the chains of Reason;
Strike, you mutineers, while you can!

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 67


conference communique
by TREVOR ROOT

some tenured folks take issue with the term


vaudeville existentialism because
some tenured folks are tomorrow presenting
a reading of an edward albee vaudeville so
some tenured folks know
the definition of vaudeville is flexible.

left, the man in the navy


blue suit stretches his elbows out
to single finger type a text, extends
too far and strikes me on
my shoulder. an old white man below
a presentation slide
of his own book cover explains
the political urgency of the arabesque. the political urgency
of the orientalism of the obsession with the arabesque is brought to bear.

some tenured folks aren’t


asking for the definition of vaudeville which
they certainly already know, they’re asking
for its defense. then a red wine reception

in a gallery of award winning high school art which marks

68 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


the only place in three full days of academe I’ll see
some tenured folks stand beside
trans-celebratory art or solidarity displays.

some tenured folks take the opportunity of a cancelled keynote


to expound on the fall
of the first communist state
as the freeing of an archive which
revived a living and politically relevant modernism.

some tenured folks stroke


each other’s reputation as polemical while
the machine runs smooth the archive
goes three full days un-vandalized.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 69


Signs of the Times
by John Schlembach

Setting:
A corner store owned
by a company headquartered
several states away
five loose receipts
loitering near
the ATM
before 9
Tuesday morning
Ledger balance = $1.81
Ledger balance = $53.06
Ledger balance = $4.12
Saldo en cuenta = $ -0.22
Ledger balance = $7.17

70 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Blindspot
by John Schlembach

A trial began today


some wealthy man charged
with robbing investors
fraud it's called
among politer company and
denounced with self-interested
solemnity by his peers
none of whom
will answer the accusation
they rob us
8 hours daily
5 days weekly

If we're lucky

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 71


Cavatinas
by Stephen Axeman

Much is now multiple,


Bundled like lemons in twine.
Some innate reservation
greeted me the first time.
Like tap dancing
on the surface of the moon,
I stayed my hand
on shifting plates.
From my shadow
to a flower,
motivation came
in molecules.
And now,
when I blink,
deep in a night
of unbridgeable histories
A geist
permeates my vision
so that I see
No part of a tree not from the seed.
And through it
I pledge
to adopt the manifold
against my own reclusive tongue.

72 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Fulcrum
by Stephen Axeman

A fascist would distort your ego


You wouldn’t know what you’d learned
It would rip through you like
A pestilential purpose
Egged on by its cousins for their mutual gain;
Unless you represented something bigger than its
Selfish motive
A break with s abl d order
e t is e
h
A becoming of the present time

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 73


The Present State
by Ellis Dee

Perpetuating production,
Plastic wrapped novelties pour from the City of London’s fonts,
Financiers focal to the artificial reproduction of wants,
Individualised possessing is capitalism’s essence,
Propped-up by advertising and built-in obsolescence,
Our pursuit of pleasure pushes us towards the precipice, lost,
Deep in a dopamine delirium, and at what cost?
Hedonism’s hopeless, nihilism negligent, and stoicism misunderstood at best,
It’s socialism for the very richest, and brutish competition for the rest,
To which Amazon dot com’s tax contributions will attest,
The people are persuaded by false facts,
A whole generation on zero-hour contracts,
Wages stagnant, bills rise in every nation above inflation,
To rent, food, electricity and internet you could always add another,
Be it clean air, child care or dental cover,
Encroachment has been the only progress of the 20th Century,
And every last grain of sand will be owned eventually,
Once we concede that it’s not society’s duty to cold, house and hungry, feed,
The embryo is at the mercy of the vulture’s greed,
You have the right to remain silent as you suffer through it all,
The mice have got you cats at their beckon call,
You have the right to anything you can afford,
Which is to say, you have no rights at all.

74 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


London Victoria
by Ellis Dee

See it, say it, sorted,


Get that man deported,
Put the kettle on the boil,
Blood and sweat, steel and soil.
Living wages? Distant dreams,

Loud music to drown out their screams,


Hoodies up and headphones in,
Stylish yuppies drinking gin and laughing,
See the bobby in his beat,
Hum a tune and tap his feet and smile at white people,
Ten thousand people every day
Pass through this building on their way to fuck knows where,
Empty workers filled with haste,
Macdonald’s, Smith’s and Paperchase,
A man sits under a sleeping bag,
His teeth are black, he draws a fag,
His hands are shaking, eyeballs too,
Does he look out of place to you?
The only thing that you can do is
See it, say it, sorted,
Get that man deported,
How am I supposed to feel?
Blood and sweat, soil and steal.
The City of London is a place of worship,
Gods of metal, time and hardship,

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 75


The suits are singing in their choirs,
The skyscrapers became their spires,
Before our days on earth are done,
See capital block out the sun,
Adverts pass you on both sides,
CCTV, no place to hide,
The omnipresent sky eye never blinks,
The wanting ego never thinks,
And deeper into maya sinks,
The smell of aftershave it stinks of animal testing.
Too pushed for time to chew much slower,
Too loud to keep their voices lower,
A dark, unholy trinity,
The only Gods that I can see
operating through this station;
The church, the banksters and the nation,
And over in that central region,
Dead flowers of the British legion,
A man in military uniform sits,
He mourns the dead but supports more war,
We know what they think of the poor,
We love to love those royal hypocrites,
A group of men in suits stand proudly,
And talk about themselves so loudly,
Are they getting a bit rowdy, or are they on a stag?
IS THAT AN UNATTENDED BAG?

See it, say it, sorted,


Get that whole family deported,

76 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Or is my vision distorted,
A terrorist plot aborted?
I’d be willing to bet a pound,
It’s luggage for the lost and found,
We build walls for the coming flood,
Sweat and soil, steel and blood.

The rent’s a struggle,


But what’s the harm?
A smartphone sits in every palm,
Eggs and bacon from some “farm”
Sweat inside this plastic box,
The best of British kills the fox,
A man in worn-out socks sits crying,
You can make it if you’re trying,
He must be lazy – spirit dying,
And I can see just by his skin,
This chosen land is not for him,
Keep eyes forward, lift your chin,
And strut your stuff past the pearly gates,
The owners of the grand estates assured a place in heaven.
Black friday hysteria whilst bombs still fall on Syria,
Before a half-past-seven,
Outside, smokers, toward death puffing,
Pigs in blankets, turkey, stuffing,
A coffee and a “fresh” Mcmuffin to really start your day,
A line of coke, the Daily Mail,
Coca-Cola, Southern Rail to send us on our way,
Knuckle dusters and a shank to save you from the fray,

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 77


Seeds of hatred we are sowing,
No-one asks where we are going,
Straight to Nuremberg,
Babel’s towers fill the sky,
And from each one our proud flag flies,
Fascism, creeping in disguise,
Infesting Tory Britain,
See it, say it, sorted,
Get that man deported,
Keep consuming, never fret,
Blood and soil, steel and sweat.

78 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


Mná na hÉireann
by Christian Noakes

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 79


WE WILL

80 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


NOT FORGET

by CHRISTIAN NOAKES

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 81


LITTERATURA
LITERATURE AND MATERIAL
ANALYSIS
CRE
ON AESTHETICS,
A I
NG T
AU
ANGER, &

CALIBRATED HOPE

D
BY QUYNH VO

After his phenomenal debut, The


Sympathizer, which reaped sev-
eral prestigious awards—Pulitzer
A CONVERSATIONPrize, MacArthur,
WITH VIET and others—Vi-
THANH NGUYEN
A C I
et Thanh Nguyen has swiftly em-
barked on his new project that
O
pursues the sympathizer’s jour-
ney to Paris. This sequel is an ir-
resistible vocation, an ardor that
drives Nguyen fervently in his
US

moral imagination. What is the


catalyst for this sequel? Is it a
burden or a zeal? Viet Thanh
Nguyen has never ceased to in-
spire us.
L

INTERVIEW WITH
Y

VIET THANH NGUYEN


PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 83
Quynh Vo

NGUYEN BELIEVES that “the right to be


mediocre and rewarded for it” is “one mea-
sure of equality.” When it comes to identity
politics, Nguyen touts unsparingly, “Mi-
norities must dissent from the terms that a
regime of whiteness offers. They must call
forth anger and rage, demand solidarity and
revolution, critique whiteness, domination,
power, and all the faces of the war ma-
chine.” But, then, how does a writer grace
his work with rage without undermining his
political agenda or remaining in bitter dark
after displaying his violent interiority?
IN THE SYMPATHIZER, Nguyen smooths his
inflammatory language into aesthetic phi-
losophy. Hatred is mostly hostile to art,
while anger—its tough, brooding kin—em-
powers writing and makes it sardonically al-
luring. If Tony Morrison exhibits her impe-
rious difficulty in her writing, Nguyen dis-
plays his thrill of wrath in The Sympathizer.
One of the marveling episodes is when the
NGUYEN, with his flippancy, his ele- protagonist confronts the Hollywood Au-
gance, and charisma, may at first be- teur in his movie, Hamlet, which portrays
guile his jejune audience, seems American white men as saviors to Viet-
worlds apart from the fiercely, politi- namese yellow victims. In his helplessness,
cally polemic and didactic predilec- the protagonist senses that “something
tions that come to define his oeuvre. new" would dominate the world, it is for the
Nguyen does not hesitate to express first time in history, “the most efficient
his thrill of “mediocre” movies, like propaganda machine ever created,” when
“Crazy Rich Asians,” nor does he the losers would write history instead of the
take any umbrage at having his victors. The spy’s irascible, haunting
Pulitzer prize winning novel, The Sym- scream “AIEYAAHHH!!!” reverberates.
pathizer, sold in Costco (as he grace- This is where rage extends to literary art.
fully quipped in an interview with That scream of fury is nonetheless soothed
Seth Meyers,) as long as Asian Amer- by the lure of Nguyen’s powerful craft. This
icans achieve what he calls “narrative is a kind of strategic appeal. If we are to fol-
plenitude” rather than inhabiting the low outrageous narrator into his destruc-
economy of “narrative scarcity” tive vision, an intrinsic beauty goes a long
where Asian Americans are either un- way.
derrepresented on screen or must HIS FIERY WRITING reminds me of Kafka’s
perform exceptionally to be seen. aphorism: “…we need books that affect us
like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like

84 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CREATING AUDACIOUSLY

the death of someone we loved more than VIET THANH NGUYEN: Well, I'm of two
ourselves, like being banished into forests minds as a narrator of my novel, which is on
far from everyone, like a suicide. A book the one hand, I just want people to enjoy the
must be the axe for the frozen sea within book, which is meant to be entertaining. So
us.” Nguyen’s oeuvre is that transcendent that's one dimension. Yeah. But the other
like a sentient apparition furiously haunt- dimension is that it's a political novel and
ing human consciousness. political in a couple of different ways at
least, I mean it's explicitly about commu-
WE TALKED recently when Nguyen came to
nism and revolution and capitalism, but it's
the University of Hawaii at Manoa to
political in the sense of trying to provoke
present a keynote lecture on War, Refugees
the reader, whether it's a Vietnamese read-
and Storytelling: From Representation to
er or an American reader or Vietnamese-
Decolonization.
American reader. The book is designed, be-
cause of the way it's told, the way it's con-
structed to challenge the dominant ideolo-
QUYNH VO: Leaving Vietnam as a little
gies that people have from different sides.
four-year old boy, how could you suture
So in fact, if the book works, it's meant to
your fragmentary memories into such a vi-
make people uncomfortable, which as
brant and poignant narrative of the war
someone who's a scholar and a critic, I don't
time in Vietnam replete with guns and po-
think it's a bad thing. I think some of my
etry and artillery and music? How could
best learning experiences have come from
you read poetry by the revolutionary poet
being made uncomfortable.
To Huu who created verses only in Viet-
namese?

QUYNH VO: Yeah, I enjoyed the dark hu-


mor of your narrative. And I really appreci-
VIET THANH NGUYEN: Well, I did read
ate your idea of juxtaposing aesthetics with
them in Vietnamese. I went to Vietnam to
politics, it's truly amazing!
study Vietnamese formally at the Vietnam
national universities. I'm pretty sure we
read To Huu and then also read them in
VIET THANH NGUYEN: Yeah. And if any-
translation, too.
thing, that interest in aesthetics and politics
actually comes from being Vietnamese.
Like being aware that in Vietnam, aesthet-
QUYNH VO: Revolutionary poets like To
ics and politics have historically, at least in
Huu wrote rosy paeans to the Communist
the decolonizing period, been brought to-
Party, which seem worlds apart from the
gether by communist revolutionaries in
grim and melancholic stories about Viet-
Vietnam in a way that I thought was fasci-
nam that you’ve created. The Sympathizer
nating. But I think the intersection of aes-
pulls the reader into a visceral war, dark
thetics and politics is necessary and fasci-
with violence, destruction, and emptiness.
nating. But I realize also that if I was in
Is that what you expect the reader to feel? Is
Vietnam, I would be on the losing side of
there any hope emanating from such dark-
that aesthetic and political debate, which is
ness?

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 85


Quynh Vo

why writing the re-education camp scene at like the protagonist in your narrative,
the end was my way of working through seems treacherous. The sympathizer here is
that. So being inspired by the Vietnamese not about a communist sympathizer, as the
revolution, I also went in a completely dif- symbolic color in the background of the
ferent direction than what the revolution it- cover might hint to the reader. He seems
self would want. very politically ambivalent. So could you
please elucidate your philosophy and liter-
ary preoccupations behind the entitling of
this book?
QUYNH VO: But is there any hope emanat-
ing from that grim story, in your book? It is
not total despair, is it?
VIET THANH NGUYEN: Well, one thing
that's interesting is that there's a debate
among Vietnamese people who read the
VIET THANH NGUYEN: No, not total de-
book about "how do we translate The Sym-
spair. When I finished The Sympathizer,
pathizer, the title itself, into Vietnamese?"
right at the very end, I thought, "Oh, I have
And so that gets a little bit to the fact that,
to give people some hope" as I was writing
in English at least, The Sympathizer has a
the last pages. And so the last few pages are
very particular meaning to be a sympathiz-
supposed to be hopeful, but hope has to be
er, it has a very particular meaning to obvi-
calibrated. It can't just be sentimental.
ously be someone who is sympathetic with
So the hope is there, the narrator has hope, communism, and then of course someone,
but it's only a ray of light in all this dark- in this case, who has the capacity to feel
ness. And so yes, the overwhelming mood is great sympathy. And really the novel at this
all these terrible things that happened, but emotional level is not so much concerned
he has enough light, enough hope to still with sympathy as it is with empathy, our ca-
continue. Is it a foolish hope? I think back pacity to feel deeply for other people as oth-
to all those people, like you were saying, er people, which is what he does.
who fled the country as refugees, half of
But The "Empathizer" doesn't exist in the
them didn't make it. They didn't live. So
English language, so The Sympathizer had
what do we make out of that? The ones who
to do. And I just felt that bringing together,
lived, they had hope, they survived. But the
in English, bringing together these two
hope has been measured against the degree
meanings of a sympathizer as someone who
of danger and darkness that awaits him and
is politically sympathetic with someone
everybody else on that boat.
who feels emotional and is sympathetic
with other people, would allow me to deal
with what I see as the central problem of
QUYNH VO: Well, I'm deeply affected by revolutionary politics. Which is we feel
your books, not only because they are very sympathy for a cause and for people, and
beautiful and amusing and haunting, but al- then that motivates us to action, and then
so because they challenge our moral imagi- when we take action, we have to be unsym-
nation. The title of your novel, for example, pathetic to people. So whenever I looked

86 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CREATING AUDACIOUSLY

back at Vietnamese history, this was a thing there has been a tradition of political litera-
that I couldn't get around, that it was such a ture in the United States and I've read some
terrible situation that the Vietnamese peo- of that. I can see that the easiest weakness
ple found themselves in, of this time, be- or the easiest trap to fall into was to write a
cause there was, for those who were in- novel in which the politics weren't clear. In
volved in the politics, there was no way out terms of cause, we're going to stand on the
of this dilemma. That feeling for other peo- side of the good cause and that's what the
ple and then having to not feel for other political novel's about. That's not very in-
people in order to carry out a revolution or teresting, because literature is best when it
to fight a war. And in the aftermath of 1975, deals with the ambiguities, moral ambigui-
that problem never went away. And that ties and the ambiguity of our actions and
was a big mistake, because you can make their consequences.
that excuse during war time, but peace
So I had to create a character and a plot that
time, they really chose the wrong path.
would allow me to engage in ambiguity
even as the whole topic of the novel is about
politics. And so making him biracial was
QUYNH VO: That's how we can't sympa- fundamental to that for a number of differ-
thize with one another and reach a radical ent reasons. I could just work from a very
conciliation. easy stereotype that people who are of
mixed race, Eurasians in this case, are
somehow inherently divided between
themselves, between their two different
VIET THANH NGUYEN: Yeah.
cultures. That's a stereotype. So one of the
dangerous things that the novel does is that
it goes really close to stereotype and then
QUYNH VO: Contamination or anything hopefully does not fall into stereotype. But
impure could never exist in communist by making him biracial, then logically in the
consciousness, as the commandant in The plot, I could bring up all kinds of conflicts
Sympathizer reminds the protagonist, that and contradictions. So the other problem
"people like you must be purged because with political novels is oftentimes the, the
you bear contamination that can destroy writer will impose her or his political vision
the revolution's purity." So why do you still onto the story.
construct that man of contaminated mind,
and even more audaciously, a biracial spy in
your novel? VIET THANH NGUYEN: And as a reader you
can always see that happening. There is a
point that novel wants to make and the nov-
VIET THANH NGUYEN: I wanted to write a elist is going to drive the novel in that direc-
political novel and in the context of the tion. So I didn't want to have that happen
United States it's hard to do that because in with The Sympathizer. The events of the
this country, unlike Vietnam, politics and novel had to proceed naturally. And so the
art are not supposed to be brought togeth- fact that he's biracial means that he of
er. We think that's a communist idea and course will feel conflicted, not because he's

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 87


Quynh Vo

inherently conflicted, but because biracial VIET THANH NGUYEN: Especially when it
people in Vietnam are subjected to racism is not alleviated by other emotions like hu-
from both the Vietnamese and the coloniz- mor or self awareness or satire. [...]
er, the French in this case. So it was because
So in the sequel it's about, "Well, redemp-
of these historical reasons that he would
tion is not about that version of the revolu-
feel this conflict within himself. And then as
tion, redemption has to be about revolu-
a writer, all I had to do was show that these
tion, but in a different way. What shape
conflicts were happening and to point out
does that take?"
where they were taking place. And that in
and of itself would be an indictment of this For Americans, redemption in this context
colonial system of racism, which the Viet- would be about someone who is disillu-
namese themselves agreed with. sioned with communism, embracing Amer-
ican capitalism. That's the usual narrative
in the United States. We have a whole genre
QUYNH VO: At the core of the narrator’s of literature that deals with communist dis-
disillusion is an amalgam of triumph and illusionment. And the conclusion is always
calamity and anger and lunacy. By the way, that the disillusioned communist decides
you don’t look as outraged as you sound in that he or she in the end loves America or
the novel, which is intriguing. Is there any loves capitalism. And that's not the end of
redemption after the narrator’s excruciat- the novel. And so the sequel... And I think
ing confession in the cell or, in your strate- that when people say hope in the United
gic agenda, is there a “just memory” after States, at least in the context of this kind of
the torture? politics, they're talking about this kind of
hope in the American dream. So the sequel
will try to take up this question of redemp-
tion and to do it without returning to either
VIET THANH NGUYEN: Well I think that
the communist revolution or the American
like my narrator, I am good at having
revolution.
masks. So the fact that I don't seem angry,
it doesn't mean I'm not angry, but you have
to wear different masks in different situa-
QUYNH VO: That’s really insightful. So
tions. Writers do that all the time and so do
does a “just memory" only arise after the
public speakers and so do spies. Anger is, to
torture in the isolation cell?
me, a good motivation for writing. It can't
be the only motivation and you can't really
just let the anger exist, you have to do
VIET THANH NGUYEN: I think that I've
something with it. So in the novel, hopeful-
talked about that in my book, Nothing Ever
ly I'd do something with it by couching it in
Dies, as the critical companion to The Sym-
political critique and humor and satire and
pathizer, which is true.
making it-

QUYNH VO: Absolutely, your anger is QUYNH VO: I love that.


quite infectious.

88 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CREATING AUDACIOUSLY

VIET THANH NGUYEN: Oh thank you. But I think back to the history that the commu-
don't think The Sympathizer has fully car- nist party celebrates in Vietnam. For exam-
ried out the critical arguments of nothing ple, all those young revolutionaries who
ever dies. So I think at the end of The Sym- were executed by the French, the famous
pathizer, he does reach this moment of ethi- ones in the 30's and '40s, they were devoted
cal recognition where... Let me put it anoth- to a cause, right? There’s a lot of martyrs in
er way, he reaches a moment where he's Vietnamese communist history. [...]
forced to see this traumatic event, the rape
This is when the dialectic stops because
of the communist agent, that he's always
they obviously don't understand it. But the
wanted to deny. So he's forced to see it. Has
point is not about holding power. The point
he recognized it? Has he fully dealt with it
is [also] about justice. That's what they
in the ethical way that my arguments about
fought the revolution for in the first place.
Just Memory say you have to do? I don't
think so. There's just too much for him to
absorb, which is why again, I think there's a
sequel because he has to figure out how to
VIET THANH NGUYEN: For our narrator,
ethically deal with what he has seen, but she
his dialectic continues. So he's recognized
has not yet fully understood.
that his revolution has gone from fighting
against power and for justice to embodying
injustice and holding on to power.
QUYNH VO: You make me feel very curi-
Now he has to figure out, now he's complic-
ous about the sequel. What fascinates me
it in that. Now he has to figure out how to
the most is your brilliant construct of duali-
move away from that and it gets more com-
ty in The Sympathizer, which bears a perfect
plex because so much of the discussion
resemblance to dialectical materialism or a
around war, politics, violence, and so on,
powerful synthesis of the thesis and the an-
treat these things purely in political terms,
tithesis, which the commandant stresses as
but as he discovers with the rape at the end,
revolutionary consciousness. Every charac-
it's not only about politics, it's also about
ter in your book embraces this troubling di-
sexual violence and masculinity and gender,
chotomy. Towards the end of the novel, the
which is always there but not acknowl-
narrator finally realizes that, what he sacri-
edged. So part of his... The movement of the
ficed his entire youth for, is nothing but a
dialectic has rendered this ethical recogni-
rotten fruit. So here I see an obvious disillu-
tion of any humanity is for him to try to fig-
sion or an apocalypse of idealism and alle-
ure out what that means now that he's seen
giance. Do you deem revolution, in the end,
it, now that he's seen this atrocity that re-
a travesty of communist idealism?
veals to him how much revolution is based
on sexual violence or gender violence.
So his understanding of violence, of revolu-
VIET THANH NGUYEN: Well, I think that
tion just got a lot more complicated at the
many revolutions start off with high ideals
end of the novel and he's been forced to see
and hopes and harness the best of people,
that and now he has to deal with it. [...]
their idealisms or passions or convictions. I

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 89


Quynh Vo

QUYNH VO: Thank you enormously for


your inspiring and enlightening insights.
May you always keep your fire for the art.

Đảng cộng sản muôn năm!

90 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CREATING AUDACIOUSLY

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 91


Crises of Rural
Irish Identities in
the Age of
Globalized
Capital

BY KEVIN GREENE
CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

Rural Irish Literature as a


Signifier of Tradition During
an Era of Rapid Capitalist
Modernization

In the opening chapter of The Country these ingrained memories of


country and city, one contin-
and the City, Williams denotes a di- ues to associate with each lo-
chotomy in England between the two cale characteristics outdated in
light of vast demographic
predominant locales suggested in the shifts, if those characteristics
title. Upon each has settled certain were not already inaccurate at
their inception.
ideas: “On the country has gathered the
This notion can be extended to
idea of a natural way of life: of peace, in- the perceived radical differ-
nocence, and simple virtue. On the city ence of an era: as Cleary claims,
each era views its cultural pro-
has gathered the idea of an achieved duction as innovative and new,
center: of learning, communication, despite the fact that each era
typically has its own innovative
light.” 1 and new production. These
two formulations hint at the
opposed to a non-place) de-
These labels, for Williams, are difficulty in perceiving one’s
spite its rapid literal and figura-
less accurate markers than own time, as well as the tenden-
tive disappearance as cities be-
they are stereotypes, with the cy for cultural production to
came more ubiquitous, grow,
unintended result of maintain- root itself not in reality, but in
and sprawl outwards in 19th
ing the country as a place (as perception of reality. In order
century England. Because of

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 93


Kevin Greene

to minimize generational dif- from the country to the cities resents a dramatically chang-
ferences and bolster consis- over the past several cen- ing landscape of Dublin "from
tent, timeless identities, the turies, as a means of preserv- a compact ‘Slum city’ at the
memories of the past will al- ing the cultural identity and beginning of the twentieth
ways intimately impact the national imaginary in geo- century, to what Horner de-
present. This introduces a cu- graphical locations which scribes as a ‘Globalised City
rious paradox—if one per- have encountered various Region’” at the beginning of
ceives their own time as irrec- crises in the nature of those the twenty-first, which
oncilably different than that traditional identities. spreads out into several sur-
which came before, one will rounding counties.4 Such a ro-
One example of these crises in
immediately seek out ways to bust shift in so short a period of
the contemporary moment
link these diverse periods to- time undoubtedly changes
can be gleaned from Irish cul-
gether, as to divert various how the state relates to the cit-
tural production, owing to the
crises of identities that may izens, the land itself to the citi-
drastic changes it has gone
arise from generational dis- zens, and those citizens to
through over the past century
continuity. each other and themselves.
—politically, demographical-
The most provocative to me is
For Williams, this attempted ly, and economically. A report
the final of these three rela-
linkage contains the justifica- from Ireland’s Spatial Plan-
tionships—how citizens re-
tion of producing in an artistic ning Unit illustrates simply
late to each other and them-
mode (the pastoral) which is how rapid urbanization has
selves.
not so much mimetic as it is occurred in Ireland. Shipman
nostalgic in the period he is re- Martin speaks of Dublin, for
flecting upon. Despite the vast instance, in terms of a 50-kilo-
industrialization and urban- meter radius. As he writes, “In Due to Ireland’s
ization of England in the 19th 1936, over 80% of the urban uniquely strong
century, Williams notes that: population was actually locat-
ed in the 0-7 kilometre [radial] bond to literature,
it is a critical fact that in and
through these transforming ex-
band.”3 This continued with a literary study is
only minor changes for the
periences, English attitudes to
next thirty years. However, necessary to track
the country, and ideas of rural
life, persisted with extraordi-
“The 1970s witnessed the five changes in this
and six-fold increases in many
nary power, so that even after
places beyond the main built- respect.
society was predominantly ur-
up area” constituting the shift
ban, its literature…was still
of populations from both the
predominantly rural. 2
city and the country to subur-
In this formulation, Williams Recent literature illustrates,
ban areas, considered “urban-
is hinting at a notion which is on the one hand, the resistance
ized” in this particular context
not only true of England; one in the Irish population to
because of the city’s role as a
could argue that rural or so- morph their identity wholly to
job creator, regional cultural
called traditional identities their newly-urbanized state
center, and logistically central
persist globally, even and per- and, on the other hand, their
due to the infrastructural lack
haps especially in states that attempt to hold onto the rural
of links between the burgeon-
have faced mass migration past—despite over 60% of the
ing suburban areas. This rep-

94 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

population now being urbanized, and likely duction—“that Irish studies still lacks serious
many more reliant on cities on a day-to-day ba- materialist attempts to historicize Irish literary
sis. This presents a problem—the cultural iden- and cultural production” and are instead too fo-
tity and imaginary of the Irish have failed to cused upon the admittedly incredible artistic
modernize along with the vast changes in the innovations produced in 20th century Ireland
state and its space. from a predominantly aesthetic perspective.5 In
his critique, he challenges the trend of heralding
modern and contemporary literature as innova-
tive simply because of its newness—to do so
The goal of this paper is to look would be to ignore the fact that each generation
specifically at how Irish litera- brings with it innovative newness in a variety of
disciplines. Rather, the work of cultural critics is
ture based in the country has to examine new-fangled cultural production in
found its niche as an anachro- how it inevitably—if only implicitly—inter-
acts with contemporary structural shifts out-
nistic representation of days side of cultural production.
of yore within a context of ex- For this period, he speaks specifically about the
tremely rapid urbanization, “capitalist modernization process,” a set of pro-
cesses initiated by the West which have resulted
maintaining a distinctly Irish in the globalization of capital; the attempted
and distinctly rural flavor de- secularization of non-Western, backwards, re-
spite the importation of Angli- ligious regions (including Ireland despite its ge-
ographical nearness to the epicenter of these
cising, secularizing, and ur- projects); and the hierarchization of the West
banizing values and the influx above the rest, so to speak, which was at once a
Western-justified civilizing project as well as a
of global capital in the Celtic project complicit with the global slave trade and
Tiger period, as a means of pre- colonial oppression. According to Cleary, while
aesthetic production of 20th century Ireland
serving and reforming those likely deals directly with these aspects of soci-
identities which Irish popula- ety, cultural critics have not accounted for this
in meaningful ways.
tions continue to view as Irish.
Cleary situates the global crises of late capital-
ism in a specifically Irish context to account for
the vastly different experiences between the
modern period in, say, Britain and that in Ire-
This anachronicity is touched upon by Cleary,
land: “while this massive discrepancy in nation-
particularly in his chapter “Capital and Culture
al experience speaks for itself, the real challenge
in Twentieth Century Ireland.” He identifies
posed by these concurrent developments is to
core issues that are concomitant with this major
conceive of them not as two altogether alien and
shift in the demographic makeup of Ireland. He
disjunctive histories but rather as two divergent
points out in particular the issue of critiques
vectors of the same capitalist modernization
about modern and contemporary cultural pro-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 95


Kevin Greene

process,” voicing the relatively recent realiza- longer exist as theorized, witnessed by Williams
tion promoted by non-Western critics that the in the English novelists of the 19th century—
modernization of the West absolutely came at the characters of these plays are anachronisti-
the expense of the Other.6 Two contemporary cally related to the spaces they occupy, interact-
plays—Carr’s By the Bog of Cats and McPher- ing with these spaces in ways that might have
son’s The Weir—offer provocative entry points been possible one, two, or even three hundred
to this specific socioeconomic moment as a years earlier, but have fundamentally changed
means of better understanding both the plays in light of the mass migration centered upon
and the moment from which they hail. cities as well as the identity-transforming (or
identity-erasing) difficulties that have been part
Both of these works take place in rural localities,
and parcel of the North Atlantic forces of global-
and therefore display manifestations of rural
ized capital which sought to turn humans theri-
identity, addressing the collision of contempo-
anthropically into consumptive animals, and
rary urban normativity and extant rural set-
human centers of habitation into centers of con-
tings. By the Bog of Cats addresses the loss sense
sumption (to paraphrase theories of Ali Shar-
of locatedness, which was once associated with
i’ati and John Parkinson, respectively).
rural life. There is a clear sense in the play that
the characters feel displaced, despite being in Carr’s play, By the Bog of Cats, approaches the
the same geographic location as always, evi- anti-/posthumanness of the late capitalist mo-
dence of the fact that the land around them has ment by challenging the characters’ presumably
changed as well as the ways they interact with it long-held beliefs that their identities are inex-
through their stiff resistance to modernization. tricably tied to the land on which they live as
The Weir presents an interesting way of looking means of self-building separate from any capi-
at one particular space—the Irish pub—and talist mission. Each of the characters at times
how it has become compromised as a location of presents their connection to the bog itself.
(individual and collective) identity-formation. Amongst the very first lines of the play, for in-
It also illustrates the inverse of the spatial iden- stance, Hester tells us that she has spent much of
tity problem in By the Bog of Cats through its her life by the bog. A stranger to the bog could
introduction of urban folk into the rural land- hardly have cultivated a relationship to feel con-
scape. Both fold into the Williamsian paradox of nected with a "corpse of a swan" who she’s
attaching one’s identity to institutions that no "known…the longest time."7 In Scene III of the
first act, Hester displays her devotion to the
land: "Ah, how can I lave the Bog of Cats, every-
thin’ I’m connected to is here. I’d rather die."8
This moment, foreshadowing the violent end of
the play, shows that Hester would rather die
than to give in to the trending urbanization that
is occurring around her; in her words, “I’ve nev-
er lived in a town. I won’t know anywan there
—.”9 In the town or the city, she would have no
land to be beholden to in the same way that she
identifies with her bog. To move away would be,
to her, literally slicing part of her identity from
her—she is fearful to find what might be left (if
anything) if this crucial aspect of herself were to

96 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

disappear.
This is due to the fact that she
feels the bog gives her life in
some way, in the same way
that she attributes agency to
the bog. She describes it, after
all, as a close friend or lover
—“I know every barrow and
rivulet and bog hole of its nine
square mile. I know where the
best bog rosemary grows and
the sweetest wild bog rue. I
could lead yees around the Bog
of Cats in my sleep.”10 Hester
thus sees the bog as central to
her psychological makeup, as
if the literal geography of the
bog were programmed into
her from birth. To leave the
bog would be to sacrifice that
intimate knowledge that has
become central to her identi-
seems to prefer living in the
ty, in favor of the designedness
But more worrisome for Hes- caravan which both connects
of town, easily navigable by
ter is the notion that a new- her to her mother (Without
anyone with the crudest map,
comer to the bog would finally “this auld caravan, I’d swear I
even those just arrived—to
bring the change from the out- only dreamt her.”) as well as
leave would be to “eradicate
side world to which the bog projects her view of the bog as
[her], make out [she] never ex-
and its inhabitants have been a sentient organism on whose
isted” and drop her into the
so resistant. Hester is cog- space she’s encroaching (“…
city where she is no one.11 For
nizant of this in the fact that only an auld house, it should
someone who sees their per-
even allowing someone who is never have been built in the
sonal history and identity
from the area to occupy her first place”).12 This brings up
paired with the bog’s, knowing
space near the bog would be to an interesting, though per-
its intricacies is hereditary in
irreversibly harm it, inasmuch haps obvious, point about this
the sense that one just arriving
as her living there is as central proposed two-way street of
there, especially without the
to the nature of the bog as the identity: there is no identity
help of a song sung to them by
bog is imbricated to her own inherent to a particular space,
their mother as a child, would
nature—even her own house only that identity which is pro-
be lost—in the literal sense of
on the bog is troublesome to jected upon it by those who oc-
not knowing their location,
her. Her decision to burn the cupy it.
and in the capitalist sense of
having nowhere to consume, house down between the final Hester does not seem to real-
neither of which appears to be two acts illustrates her view of ize that this is the case though,
a problem for Hester. the house as temporary—she and refers throughout to the

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 97


Kevin Greene

bog as a person existent with Hester is only interested in with—of course, there are
or without her. As she wreaks winning Carthage back not be- houses around the bog, but its
havoc upon the property in the cause of her love for him, and character remains virtually
final scene, she exclaims of the not even for Josie’s sake, but unchanged.
house: “Let the bog have it because Carthage is of the
Furthermore, the Catwom-
back. In a year or so it’ll be cov- land, and reuniting with him is
an’s discussion about
ered in gorse and furze…”13 but a guarantee that she too
medicine puts into direct op-
The bog is surely comprised of will be able to stay at the bog.
position the bog and capitalist
living things and will in-
shifts—“Gave auld Xavier
evitably reconsume the im-
Cassidy herbs to cure his wife.
posed house and regain its lost
What did he do? Pegged them
land. But its status as an agent
which is going to actively take The second interest- down the toilet and took Olive
Cassidy to see some swanky
back the house as if defending ing implication from medicine man in a private hos-
it from a non-Hester stranger the bog’s ascribed pital” where she went on to
is interesting in two major re-
spects. agency is that it cre- die.14 The people of the bog
have a clear distrust of modern
First, it reaffirms Hester’s ates a false binary be- institutions, making them ap-
view of what might be called tween nature (con- pear as stereotypically rural,
the primacy of the land. Hes- gruent to premoder- backwards, and utterly resis-
ter’s deep connection to the tant to modernity.
land and the agency that they nity) and culture
But a line from the Catwoman
give to each other would indi- (congruent to from early on puts this in an in-
cate that Hester views the land
as central to defining human
modernity) in such a teresting light—“I know ev-
way as to indicate erythin’ that happens on this
beings—humans can live
bog,” she says. “I’m Keeper of
around the edge of the bog, that the Bog of Cats the Bog of Cats in case ya for-
and enter into it at their risk,
but at the end of the day it is the
has been wholly un- gotten? I own this bog.” Own-
ership of the bog is certainly at
bog’s ability to take back that changed by the na- odds with Hester’s view of it,
which has been stolen by set- ture of capitalistic as she does not seem to think of
tlers on or near it that grants
the bog the first and final say in modernization. it as something tenable but
rather as something elevated
the state of the land. This ele-
to human status, able to think
vates the land not only as an
for itself. It is too at odds with
identifiable Self, but also as
Hester’s feelings about her
one that is indivisible from the Hester’s thinking would sug- close relationship with the
identities cultivated around it, gest that—although the capi- bog. Although it is unlikely
like Hester’s. Hester looks at talist project has not insisted that the Catwoman owns it in
leaving the land as a ridiculous upon turning the bog into golf the sense of holding its deed,
action—as evidenced by the links or cranberry farm just yet she nonetheless brings in a
play’s dramatic closing—as a —there have been no changes toxic implication with this line
lover looks upon separation in the bog because of its relent- —if she too believes as Hester
from their beloved. One might lessness in maintaining itself does that the bog is some kind
even go so far as to argue that as a force for humans to reckon of anthropomorphic being,

98 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

the notion that it can be owned, bought, and sold ly, requires a payment of blood, comparable to
runs into the issue of late modernity’s complici- the steep price of identity in the capitalized
ty with the consumerization of subjectivities world. The structures of globalized Western
and commodification of spaces. After all, paired capital are inescapably oppressive—one is
with Hester’s view of the bog as an equal, a forced to find their identity in what they con-
friend, or a lover, the Catwoman’s view of her- sume. The same can ultimately be said of the
self as a veritable empress of the bog would im- bog, or any notion of literally grounding one’s
ply too her status as an unofficial landlord over identity, which requires a static, unexamined
not only the bog, but Hester as well. This hierar- existence as opposed to a malleable one.
chy imposed by the Catwoman presents a curi-
What this does, finally, is peel back a layer of the
ous metaphor for land’s role in modern capital-
capitalist project to suggest that the goal of
ism that is perhaps best reflected at the end of
moving beyond the increasingly oppressive
the play.
capitalist order ought not be to return to prece-
At the last bit of Act III, Hester is prepared to dent ways of life via a rejection of moderniza-
live up to her word, and take her own life as an tion. Williams implicitly identified the danger
alternative to leaving the bog.15 Though the play in one living anachronistically in that they inad-
ends with this very outcome, the delay in her equately address the reality of their own time.
suicide illustrates the timelessness, as well as But the nuance neglected by this is that, in light
the anachronicity, of their surroundings. When of late modernity, there is no turning back—the
Josie unknowingly wanders onto the stage, and bog will never return to its former glory, Hester
Hester informs her that she’s going “Some- will not be able to identify herself with it forever,
where ya can never return from,” Josie man- and everyone who now lives there will ultimate-
dates that she will not let her mother leave. ly reach a fate similar to hers. The question is
“Mam,” she cries, “I’d be watchin’ for ya all the one of reconciliation: how, if at all, can one em-
time ‘long the Bog of the Cats. I’d be hopin’ and brace the admittedly positive aspects of capital-
waitin’ and prayin’ for ya to return.” This, of istic modernity (arguably: modern healthcare,
course, mimics Hester’s own experience as a wider access to knowledge, a more liberal ability
child—“…I watched her walk away from me to define oneself as a particular type of con-
across the Bog of Cats. And across the Bog of sumer) with those aspects labeled traditional,
Cats I’ll watch her return.”16 This, in addition to and how can one excise the negative aspects of
the utterances of “Mam—Mam—” of each as each of those respective modes of living? The
they die indicates the cycle they exist in on the bog for Hester is something fetishized, in the
bog. It implies that one can hardly escape the same way that a city dweller might fetishize the
bog except through death, in much the same im- latest material object, and so her traditional idea
possibility of escaping the capitalist yoke. But of identity can be said to be equally harmful. The
moreover, the youngster’s name, Josie, might goal of a postcapitalist, post-Western, postsec-
also imply that Hester’s own mother, Josie, too ular, and postmodern theory is to break down
was trapped by the bog, perhaps left by her own these oppressive structures and replace them
mother as a child in turn, in a way that makes with an ideal mode of living as oneself and with
identifying with the bog a necessity for Hester a plurality of other selves as one desires, without
and previous women Swane to remember their the exploitation inherent in a capitalist society
forebears. But such speculation is unimportant; that is arguably peaking at this very moment,
what is important is the fact that to keep one’s though the proposed possibility of this is per-
identity with the bog, at least in the Swane fami- haps already too idealistic.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 99


Kevin Greene

she feels so utterly connected


to the land she lives on and
averse to moving to town, in
addition to many other person-
al problems. The tragic ending
of the play speaks to her fierce
resistance of the forces of glob-
alized capital, which posits
that culture is simply better sit-
uated in an urban environment
—the closer people are to each
other, ports, government
spaces, and businesses, the
more efficiently they can con-
sume.

By giving urbanites
By the Bog of Cats can be read in barity associated with her na- so many amenities,
tive county: “Do you know
line with the changing land-
how copper wire was invent- and making rural
scape of global capital in its re-
lationship to the land on which ed? Two Cavanmen fighting life so difficult in
over a penny.” The only option
it takes place, and in light of the
to continue cultural develop-
modern times, the
strong relationship between
the characters and the land and ment, in the eyes of the mod- forces of global cap-
ernizing project, is to allow
their attempted resistance of
their lives to be taken over by
ital are perhaps felt
modernization. The mass mi-
gration to the cities has left urbanity, either in moving to strongest in places
these characters in the Irish the city, or becoming directly where its presence
Midlands developmentally be- reliant upon it—conversely, to
hind, denoted implicitly by leave literally or figuratively is the weakest, such
Carr in her specificity as to the the country and the land they as rural Ireland.
characters’ brogue and their identify with. Hester is the
general lack of financial pros- most clearly resistant of this
perity. A friend from Cavan pull to the city, as well as resis-
once recited an old joke, indi- tant to the a forceful push from
the country, where financial Though Hester might feel that
cating the lack of financial op- her land has been relatively un-
portunities as well as a sort of stability is hard-won for Hes-
ter due largely to the fact that changed in the modern period,
backwards, premodern bar-

100 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

the fact remains that the land group identities form with a identity formation, and the
has changed—people from community framework.” But other pretends to be.
near where she lives may even with the rise of global capital,
This is witnessed by intervie-
be commuting to Dublin to and the consumerization of in-
wees in Scarborough’s paper in
work on a daily basis according dividuals, so too has come the
Irish “themed” pubs in Ireland
to the statistics from the Spa- commodification of culture,
—and seen internationally as
tial Planning Unit’s report, perhaps evident no more than
in many of the dozens of Irish
thereby abandoning the local in the decline of pub culture:
pubs in Midtown Manhattan
economy and leaving those “public venues for the produc-
—via use “of various ‘props’ to
who are resistant to the forces tion of social capital and identi-
present an atmosphere of an-
of capital in the lurch. Hester is ty construction [have] trans-
tiquity and heritage,” feigning
essentially a caricature of the formed or [disappeared].”
a connection to the identity-
stubborn ruralite resistant of This change has been marked,
forming spaces which display a
change, even as change persists according to Scarborough, by
geographical history, only to
around her. One clear case of the shift of pubs in Ireland from
bolster their attractiveness to
the changing nature of Irish ru- third places to fourth places.
consumers.19 Fourth places,
ral areas is in the pubs, which Fourth places are essentially
Scarborough maintains,
have seen their relevance in lo- identical to third places, but
“while appearing to provide a
cal culture recently wane for a “The primary purpose of the
temporary solution to the loss
number of reasons directly fourth place is, not to provide a
of place in the emerging post-
correlated to the rise of urban location for social groups to en-
modern geography, are ulti-
centers. gage in the community, but
mately inadequate due to their
commodification of place for
Rural pub license renewals and dislocation from communi-
consumption.”18 In other
applications are on the decline, ty.”20 This is echoed by a num-
words, third places and fourth
according to Scarborough, ber of her interviewees, who
places are the same except for
who convincingly argues that note the “great craic” in the
their role in the public spheres
pubs were at one point central past of rural pubs in Sligo in
—the former is essential to
to notions of identity in Ire- particular which are now emp-
land, particularly rural pubs, as
a “third space”, a place sepa-
rate from work and home, per
Scarborough. The role of such
spaces is
to provide continuity, regularity
and a sense of place, all of which
contribute to the construction of
the self, the projection of the self
within the public sphere and the
generation of collective identi-
ty.17
Scarborough views the Irish
pub as the ideal third space as a
site “where individual and

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 101


Kevin Greene

ty most of the time, even on the This context is brought up


weekends, due to the rising even before the first lines of the
popularity of themed spaces in play by McPherson, who One can sense,
town which promote connec- specifically situates this play in then, that without
tions to false identities (biker the modernizing and urbaniz-
bars for non-bikers, frontier ing processes by noting the pic- support—and, in-
bars for non-frontierspeople, ture hanging in the bar of “Peo- stead, a notable
etc.) and lower prices (due to ple posing near a newly erected
their more convenient location ESB weir.”23 While the weir it- theft of support—
and ownership by larger com- self is hardly central to actual from the encroach-
panies as opposed to local pro- action of the play, this early
prietors). mention, its later invocation as
ing modernizing
This is directly echoed by Fin-
a temporal marker, and the projects, the rural
name of the play itself all hint at
bar Mack in The Weir, who ex-
the importance of the modern-
men in this pub are
plains to the new ruralite Va-
lerie upon entering the kind of
izing projects to the rural lo- seeking a way to
cals, interestingly referred to hold on to what
rural pub that is exactly the fo-
as “natives”, as perhaps a turn-
cus of Scarborough’s study, they view as a no-
ing point for rural Ireland
“half the townland used to
nearly live in here” while walk-
which presupposed that reality ble past. One way
which has been greatly high-
ing into a nearly empty pub
lighted during the Celtic Tiger in which they do
that is filled only by those inti-
mately close with the owner,
period. As in Carr’s Irish Mid- this is through
lands, The Weir’s setting in
none of whom are particularly
“Northwest Leitrim or Sligo” their retelling of
young.21 In fact, it is made clear
that the only reason Finbar
indicates a geographical class old tall tales, which
of people who have been rela-
even appears to bring Valerie
tively untouched by modern-
both preserve the
to this particular pub is be-
cause, according to Jack, “This
ization, and therefore those land as unchanged
most harmed by it, as econom-
is the nearest place to old Mau-
ic transformations have likely
as well as resist the
ra’s” and that there is even a
certain novelty in visiting this
driven their neighbors to living incoming impor-
and consuming in the towns tance of logic and
pub to “introduce her to the
and cities of Ireland and thus
natives” implying that even rationality that is
left the rural pub empty, and
pubs which have resisted the
commodifying turn are sub-
those still around—like Jack venerated by
and Jim in the play—without
jected to the process of becom-
consistent work. Even in their modernity.
ing fourth places.22 The fact-
employment status, with the
driven decline in Irish pubs as
exception of Finbar who owns
noted by Scarborough has had This dynamic is first intro-
a successful business, one can
a remarkable effect on culture, duced by Jack’s story of the
cull that they have not received
is inextricably tied to the rise of house which Valerie recently
any sum in the vast influx of
cities, and is necessarily linked began to occupy. This fairy tale
capital to Ireland.
to The Weir. is particularly interesting be-

102 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

cause it illustrates a direct rejection of modern pects.


reason, and yet is not wholly discredited by the
Interestingly, perhaps the strongest resistance
men in the pub except to comfort Valerie, to dis-
to modernity comes from the character who one
miss this story and the ones to follow as “only old
would assume has benefited most from it—Va-
cod” seen “up and down the country.”24 In this
lerie. Her move from the city to the country is
story, as in each of ones that follow through the
directly contrary to the statistics spelled out by
play, the men seem to be convinced of their ve-
Shipman Martin, and is somewhat paradoxical
racity because of the transformative experi-
otherwise as well. As she explains, she moved
ences they view of these stories. Jack, for in-
out to the country as the result of a painful expe-
stance, tells the story of an old woman whose
rience of the death of her daughter, and discom-
“house was built on what you’d call [the fairy
fort after a phone call where she claimed to have
road]” and recounts one moment in particular
heard her deceased daughter speaking to her.28
when a “soft knocking at the door” was attribut-
She even indicates that her move to the country
ed by old Maura Nealon to one of those fairies.25
was directly a rejection of modern reason: refer-
Interestingly, Jack brings up the construction of
ring to the phone call and the men’s attempts to
the weir as paired with the only other instance of
rationalize it: “it’s something that happened.
the knocking heard by Maura other than the sto-
And it’s nice just to be here and…hear what you
ry he’d just shared, perhaps an implicit affirma-
were saying. I know I’m not crazy.” She identi-
tion that modernity had driven the fairies away,
fies more with the men and their unreasonable
or that the accompanying age of logic and reason
ghost stories than those in the city who would
assured he and Maura Nealon ceased believing
likely encourage her to either forget the phone
such events were possible. After his own story,
call, or seek psychiatric help to figure out what
Finbar attributes his experience as the reason
the true meaning of the (presumably imagined)
he’d quit smoking.26 Jim’s story appears paired
phone call was, marked by the implicit “now” in
with a lesson that he’d learned the regional na-
the last clause of that quote. She derived a sense
ture of these stories, and how one’s specific mi-
of affirmation in hearing their unlikely stories
cro-area identity impacted directly one’s life.27
that matched her own. But, in an interesting
What all of these stories have in common
way, her time in the pub is comparable to time
though, even the last one shared—hardly a
spent with a psychiatrist in its form, as she and
ghost story like the others—is that they are at-
the men talk through personal issues and from
tempts to hold onto something that has disap-
where they come until they reach more settling
peared as people have grown less superstitious.
conclusions, or breakthroughs. This is for Va-
Much like Hester in By the Bog of Cats attempt-
lerie even more valuable than time with a shrink,
ing to keep the land beneath her feet intimately
as her audience does not simply listen to her and
connected to her identity as opposed to moving
prescribe medicine and, in fact, is complicit with
to the town, and like the 19th century novelists
letting her feelings be once she tells them to.
discussed by Williams, the characters in The
Weir are, as particularly noted in their retelling But this presents a troubling paradox. In one
of these stories, attempting to hold on to the past sense, Valerie’s retreat from the city to the coun-
in such a way as to resist the rise of modernity try supports the fact that there is merit in the
paired with urbanization. It is not unreasonable declining ways of life found there, and that their
for these men to attempt resisting modernity conservation is virtuous. Contrary to the over-
though; they have been largely excluded of its whelming logic of their contemporary moment,
benefits, yet all too keenly felt its negative as- there is solace to be found in a lack of reason and
lack of modern mores. Instead of the country-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 103


Kevin Greene

side losing value as a place, then, its value is sim- nity, but only perpetuates them. In other words,
ply transformed. But at the same time, there is an overcorrection indicative of a social order
an unsettling novelty in her retreat. Replaced which fails to critique its ills and remains com-
are the actual identities of the men and the plicit with the decidedly negative parts of itself.
places she is encountering with identities as
This overarching theme is specifically denoted
simple objectified Others compared to the ur-
by Scarborough’s discussion of the pub’s trans-
ban areas and their subjectified populations.
formation in the same chronological period, as
They are mere actors within an urban narrative.
well as by McPherson’s use of the rural pub as
This keeps them trapped beneath the capitalist
the center of Irish rural life for those whose lives
yoke they are implicitly rejecting by continuing
can still be called predominantly rural. It would
to live in the country, and capitalizes the coun-
be particularly difficult to miss the changes in
try in a way one might view the commercialized
pubs over the past few decades. As Scarbor-
simplicity of the vacation destinations, exem-
ough’s research would indicate, they have
plified by the incoming German vacationers re-
transformed from old-fashioned, seemingly
ferred to throughout the play as a financial God-
timeless centers for community and individual
send for the barkeeping Brendan, or the country
identity building to spaces complicit with the
living tours of Lancaster County, PA’s Amish
larger trends associated with the various mod-
Country.29 In this respect, they are urbanized
ernizing projects, and contrarily related to the
outcasts, and subjects to be taken advantage by
individuals who still wish to occupy them as
those who have faced hardship in cities and wish
third places as opposed to fourth. The weir is, of
to find retreat—solidifying their roles within
course, the symbolic manifestation of this
the modernizing processes as a viable alterna-
transformation from rural people with identi-
tive to modernity precisely because of the invia-
ties overlapping with the land they occupy to
bility of their lifestyles, an overcorrection for
rural people who are simply outcasts of moder-
the problems included in the modern moment.
nity. While I hesitate to call them outcasts, the
This overcorrection, though, solves neither the
fact is that despite their efforts to resist moder-
attendant problems of pre-modern, country life
nity and continue an Irish way of life has only
nor those associated with urbanity and moder-
resulted in their being repurposed, and their re-
sistance to modernity becoming the very aspect
of their lives which has allowed them to become
thoroughly assimilated into the modernizing
project. Whereas Scarborough denotes third
places becoming fourth places as something
that seems to happen to one place at a time—
she quotes one interviewee who notes the
marked differences between “themed” pubs
and the real thing—it is not the specific places
themselves that are transformed but people’s
ideas about them. Thus, as pubs as intended
fourth places become more ubiquitous, all pubs,
regardless of their intended status as third or
fourth places, are going to be assumed fourth
places.
Likewise, as space in general is consistently
commodified as fourth places are (Parkinson),

104 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

all space is already fourth-


placed; the only difference is in
the degree and manner of its
commercialization. As the ra-
dial concentric circles used to
describe the population shifts
in greater Dublin by Shipman
Martin, urban centers can be
viewed as centers of Western
capitalization, with the out-
ward-extending rings simply
being diagnostic of the varying
stages of Westernization. As
Dublin and other Irish cities
can be called the Westernized
hubs of Ireland, places like the
settings of these two plays sim-
ply become spaces on a contin-
uum between spaces waiting to
be urbanized and spaces which
already have a specific role in not plan here to posit a philo- capitalism play an ever-in-
relation to urbanized spaces. sophical argument as to the na- creasing role in the ways that
This is related not only to Ship- ture of the self, it is clear that we think about and view our-
man Martin’s findings, but too the spaces in which we spend selves, each other, and our
to the very nature of Irish iden- our time have an impact on communities.
tity of the country, of the city, how we see ourselves. This is
Going through this paper, a
and of the state in general as evidenced by the two plays dis-
reader might be tempted to
seen in the collision of city and cussed in this paper, which
think that the best means of
country in both By the Bog of both hold centrally the impor-
challenging the growing nor-
Cats and The Weir. tance of spaces to individual
mativity of global Westerniza-
and collective identity-build-
This all relates to identity in tion and capitalism is to simply
ing.
the ways in which people view resist by maintaining, as these
themselves. But, of course, But to simply acknowledge of characters appear to, so-called
identity is not always limited to a spatial impact upon identity traditional ways of life that al-
the solipsist’s formulation; formation is not enough; fol- low for identity-formation sep-
there are spaces in which we lowing from Cleary, it is impor- arate from oppressive Western
exist and interact with others tant also to view the impact of structures. But such a view is
which impact the ways in various social and cultural naïve. While these characters
which we view ourselves and structures which are essential can certainly be seen to reject
the various communities to in these processes of identity- the developed ways of life,
which we belong. To ignore the building. This appears to only what is more important is their
spaces we interact with as cen- become more necessary as we various reconciliations with
tral aspects of identity-forma- move ever closer to a wholly modernity—an antithetical
tion would be to ignore those globalized world in which the relationship between the way
aspects altogether; while I do Western forms of oppressive things used to be and the way

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 105


Kevin Greene

whatever is to replace the untenable, oppressive


order that has come as the side effectual cost of
the amassed wealth of the West over the past
500-odd years.

At the center of an anthropological study by


Duroy and Caulkins is a place in the northwest
of the Republic of Ireland surreptitiously re-
ferred to as Ballylough. Much like the rural lo-
cales featured in each of the plays this paper has
focused upon, there is a clear crises of identities
occurring there, as there have been for the past
century, and the past three decades in particu-
lar. There is hardly a general agreement as to
what it means to be Irish, what it means to be
good, and whether or not being Irish and being
things are now, which allows for the possibility good are equivalent. The residents of this town
of a synthetic order to come. Brendan, for in- are variously troubled, as “Ballylough exempli-
stance, does not turn away tourists seeking a fies some of the tensions of a rapidly changing,
glimpse to the way things once were from his economically expanding region.”30 These crises
pub on principle; he reconciles the modern no- are intimately paired with the processes of mod-
tion of consumptive vacationing with his rural ernization that have strangled Ireland since the
life. This suggests not a simple, wholesale rejec- rise of urbanism began in Ireland in the 1970s.
tion of the Western modern order, but rather Such strangulation has thrown into doubt the
radical reimaginings of that order through the grounds on which people in Ireland are to iden-
eyes of those typically referred to as the Other. tify themselves—one center of their identity
Hester Swane, on the one hand, illustrates dis- formation, the pub, has begun disappearing,
tinct resistance to modernity; she went to the and has already lost much of its cultural value;
extreme of suicide as a means of refusal of the another center, the very ground on which they
Western order which sought to separate her stand, has as well. This is a sequence of events
from her land. The Weir, on the other hand, which has occurred the world over—in former
presents a synthetic order necessary for the re- colonies, in so-called backwards regions, and
versal of the globally-repressive machine that even within the West itself—in which the capi-
resides in the capitalist order in its confluent talist machine, ever searching for centers of
ideas of the city and of the country which chal- profit, has begun to take even those most com-
lenge both the characters’ and the audience’s plicit with its oppressive properties and turn
notions about both. In exposing these manifes- them from human subjects into animals of con-
tations of rural and urban identities to veritable sumption. Everything—from the ways that we
representatives of each, both the Self and the educate our children to the ways that we design
Other can gain a sense of how the other half our cities—serves only to bolster this as every-
lives. It is this relationship, which I referred to as thing is merely auctioned off to the highest bid-
psychiatric above, which will promote a break- der. The price we are paying for these processes
through in the global order and allow for a radi- is seen every day in the ways illustrated by Carr
cal reimagining and subsequent institution of

106 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

and McPherson—people are losing the land Print.


they’ve identified with their entire lives, if not
Scarborough, Gwen. “New Places, Non-Places,
for generations before; rural pubs as crucial in-
and the Changing Landscape of the Irish Pub.”
cubators for all levels of identity formation are
Belongings: Shaping Identity in Modern Ireland.
being turned into pastiched centers of con-
Eds. Corcoran, Mary P., and Perry Share.
sumption and forced, false identities. There is
Dublin: Institute of Public Administration,
something radical at the core of someone like
2008. Print.
Valerie moving from the city to the country. It
illustrates the possibility of reimagining moder- Shari’ati, Ali. What Is to Be Done? North Hale-
nity as something other than the quasi-dystopia don, NJ: Islamic Publications International,
I have just drawn out. It offers a glimpse into 1986. Web.
how one might subvert the most subversive of Shipman Martin, Brady. “The Irish Urban Sys-
all civilizational orders the earth has ever wit- tem and its Dynamics.” Dept. of the Environ-
nessed. Though it too has its shortcomings as a ment and Local Government: National Spatial
means of escape, it radically imagines a world in Strategy, December 2000. Web.
which the capitalist yoke is reversible. And it of-
fers the possibility for a better future, when Williams, Raymond. The Country and the City.
identities are in crisis because we are troubled New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.
by their philosophical nature—not because the Web.
globalized nature of Western capital has pre-ar-
ranged the world for us to think in its terms.
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1. 1
2. 2
3. 33
Works Cited 4. 32
Carr, Marina. "By the Bog of Cats." Modern and
Contemporary Irish Drama. Ed. Harrington,
John P. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Print.
Cleary, Joe. Outrageous Fortune: Capital and
Culture in Modern Ireland. Dublin: Field Day
Publications, 2006. Print.
Duray, Tanya H. and D. Douglas Caulkins. “An-
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McPherson, Conor. "The Weir." Modern and
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Parkinson, John R. Democracy & Public Space:
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PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 107


Kevin Greene

5. 59
6. 60, his emphasis
7. 353
8. 357
9. 380
10. 380
11. 381
12. 383, 385
13. 385
14. 359
15. 394
16. 371
17. 57-8
18. 61
19. 62
20. 64
21. McPherson 317
22. 311
23. 309
24. 326
25. 326, 325
26. 330
27. 336
28. 339-42
29. 315
30. 77

108 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


CRISES OF RURAL IRISH IDENTITIES

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 109


Mark LaRubio

by MARK LaRUBIO

Forever Maternity and the


Child in Alejandro
Morales’ The Rag

Forward Doll Plagues.

The cries of the Child fill the pages of The Rag Doll Plagues with its
shrieks, begging to be born; this is the conception of childbirth that is
most often thought of. However, this essay will focus on how through
the image of women and their maternity whether realized or potential
serves as a tool for heteropatriarchy through its desire for futurity. Be-
ing that this book is constantly concerned with the figure of the Child,
it subsumes the needs of the Mother and reduces her to merely a ma-
chine by which that Child is born. Being that this is so, one will be able
to see just how the Gregories of the novel represent the patriarchal
plague against Chicanx Feminism and how those women become
queered by their relationship to the Child through La Mona.

While many will try to ab- body for us the telos of the Adrienne Rich writes,
solve the Gregories of the social order and come to be motherhood as an institu-
novel, there is still some- seen as the one for whom tion “aims at ensuring that
thing which remains prob- that order is held in perpetu- that potential [for Futurity]
lematic. From the colonial al trust,” which is definitely —and all women—shall re-
to the futuristic, each Gre- a foundational notion in The main under male control.”2
gory relates to the women Rag Doll Plagues.1 This is In this way, the Child itself
around him by their possible due to the Gregories build- infects the women with a
and realized maternity. This ing their relationship to the queered sense of being since
becomes a focus then be- Child by connecting it either they are unable to be moth-
cause of the concern for fu- to the fait accompli of birth ers to the Child because of
turity which pervades the or the potentiality of women La Mona.
novel. As Edelman contends and viewing them by way of
“the Child has come to em- their fecundity. Indeed, as

110 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

here is according to Edel- This becomes central to the


man’s and Muñoz’s vision of vision of the Gregories in
Virreyes the Child as emblematic of their respective sections
Straight Time. To better de- since they are so deeply in-
Of all the most evocative and
fine Straight Time we must grained in the biomedical
recognizable images one can
know that: field and are at any rate
imagine of motherhood is
linked to that vision of as is
the child wrapped in the
Straight time tells us apparent throughout the
mother’s warm embrace. In-
that there is no future novel.
deed, this image is constant-
ly at the center of the imagi- but there here and now The colonial Gregory or
nation when it comes to the of our everyday life. The rather Gregorio comes to
role of mothers. La Mona only futurity promised the El Virreinado de la Nue-
however, represents then a is that of reproductive va España not just as a
Queering device by which majoritarian heterosex- peninsular but as the penin-
that role of motherhood is uality, the spectacle of sular who will save the
effaced for as it ravages the the state refurbishing its colony from La Mona. Since
maternal body it causes the ranks through overt and Gregorio is the figure that, in
maternal body to be re- subsidized acts of repro- Vasconcelos’ eyes, had “ge-
moved from its place in rela- duction.3 nius and cunning,” to solve
tion to the child. Queerness this problem there is a cer-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 111


Mark LaRubio

tain aspect of the Spaniard proves important.6 Here this discussion especially
having predominance over then, by Gregorio’s decision since “medical rhetoric …
the situation.4 Yet, it is pre- to amputate her arms, her forms a fact of colonial dis-
cisely through Gregorio’s ability to fulfill the mother course.”8 By having a
inability to halt the spread of role is taken away but in a Spaniard remove the mater-
La Mona that the Child is more salient way because it nal ability of the Mexican
given precedence over the is through the “pregnant pe- woman shows how the
mother being that “Don riod” by which Vasconcelos biomedical vision of colonial
Gregorio … use[s] medicine imagines the Cosmic Race patriarchy can inhibit the
to control.”5 Indeed, it is to be fully developed.7 Of maternal.
Marisela herself who begs course, this is not to conflate The piercing of the uterus in
“‘Do not take my hands mestizaje directly with order to extract the Child is
from me. I want to hold my motherhood but to merely one of the more stark images
baby,’” and here the afore- assert that since the Child of where, by way of his posi-
mentioned image of the here is mestizo its enfigura- tion, the mother is invalidat-
mother holding the child tion then is paramount to ed in the eviction of the
Child and its placement
solely in the ambit the patri-
archy. An important ex-
change then where the
mother’s life is thrown out in
favor of the Child is in the
following:

We must try to save


them both,” I said to Fa-
ther Jude, who shook his
head no.
We cannot. We must
wait until she dies. Then
we can open her up and
baptize the child.9

This scene is particularly


salient since not only does
Gregorio at first want to
save Marisela, but it is Fa-
ther Jude who dismisses that
wish in favor of the wunsch

112 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

of the Child.10 Being that Reproductive Futurism. cial order,” and here it is key
Marisela is infected with La Therefore, when Gregorio to recall just how the Child
Mona, it queers her and “br[eaks] the bag of life.”15 It figures into the ending of
makes her become a form of is not merely a biomedical this section.16 Not only does
“radical alterity.”11 It re- procedure but a act that in- the Vicereine herself fall vic-
moves her completely from volves the literal invasion of tim to La Mona and commit
the ambit of the patriarchy the womb by those who de- suicide, which itself is queer
not only in removing her sire to save only the Child. in the face of theological
ability to conceive but in her Of course, one might claim concerns given the “subju-
ability even to give birth. that this was necessary in or- gation of women and also
Indeed, as Father Jude der to save the life of the nature,” but also the Biblical
states “our duty is to baptize daughter being born. How- prohibition thereof.17 By
the fetus’ soul,” but no such ever, given the all too com- this, there is need for a dis-
consideration to duty is ever monly known fact that cae- cussion of the subjugation in
directed toward Marisela.12 sarean sections tended to be question. Being that The
But even so, as Gregorio quite dangerous before the Vicereine is—as is well re-
himself remarks concerning advent of modern Western marked and commonly
the effect we see “what La medicine coupled with the known—seen, like a Queen,
Mona has created—a dis- admonitions of Father Jude to be the mother of the na-
tended limbless woman towards Gregorio for even tion then her position as be-
heaving for breath,” and attempting to save Marisela, coming invalidated in such a
here is where the physical one cannot help but see how position by way of La Mona
queering of her is present.13 her life is held at lesser value means that not only is she re-
Here, as a queering agent it than the child itself. More- duced to being subject to the
becomes important to note over, to consider the fact disease but she is still subject
that queerness is here exist- that by doing this operation to the double standards of
ing outside of the realm of Marisela’s death is essen- the patriarchy. Then, it
Futurity since “the Child re- tially sealed it goes without would seem that she is not
mains the perpetual hori- saying then that her womb only committing suicide to
zon,” of everything con- was the central focus of avoid a gruesome death, but
cerning Futurity.14 What Marisela’s importance to to avoid the emotional dis-
this ultimately means then is Father Jude and the Viceroy. paragement that would have
that Marisela by being in- Thus, both Church and occurred otherwise.
fected by La Mona becomes State are deeply invested Then, to look at how this
subject to the realm of the parties in Reproductive Fu- changes other women, it is
queer. She is no longer vi- turity. easily missed that the
able to the politics of Futuri- Yet still, there are aspects youngest daughter is
ty. Not only is Marisela ex- which show just how then “seized” with the disease as
pendable to Father Jude but the Child “works to affirm a well and “ventured into the
towards the entire project of structure, to authenticate so- jungle and disappeared.”18

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 113


Mark LaRubio

Here, I think there are many


things to be said alongside
the question of maternity.
Not only does the Vicereine
commit an act that goes
against the State and
Church, which I would en-
deavor to read as queer. This
is because:

in this fearful state of


colonial Mexico, it be-
comes clear that cultur-
ally imposed definitions
of love, sex, propriety,
honor, and so on, and di-
visions of gender and so-
cio-political sensibility,
not excluding power re-
lations between two or
more entities, are all
challenged and splin- makes the visualization of futurity becomes very much
tered.19 the disease all the more pal- aligned with the language of
pable. By this, I mean to say fecundity. This of course
that it is very much then a comes with the initial de-
Here, the youngest daugh- Queer entity that seized the scription of the cypress tree
ter of the Viceroy, literally daughter and it is by that which is emblematic and is
the last person who could reasoning that we can see “a pure delicate crystal,”
enhance Reproductive Fu- how in this portion of the which given the context of
turity the farthest into the novel, La Mona is able to maternity holds a lot of
future runs away into the queer motherhood even in weight.20 Yet still, it is when
jungle and removes herself its potential form. Gregory turns to Sandra for
entirely from the ambit of the first time where this im-
both the laws of the city civi- age of fecundity turns to the
tas but also the ambit of Re- feminine form proper. As he
productive Futurity by plac- describes in her he “saw the
ing herself in the forest and Modernidad world, the sea, the moun-
away from the Court. The tains in her legs, her arms,
very fact that the language of When it comes to Sandra in
the portion of the novel and her face. The cosmos be-
seizure is brought out is came her body,” and here
salient then if only because it called Delhi, the language of
the blazon of sorts becomes

114 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

She wore a skirt of undulat- the traveling through the


ing fields of corn,” and here womb evokes the image of
the literal image of fields the industrial vagina, a con-
and perhaps plowing can be cept by Sheila Jeffreys which
imagined.22 This, I think is stark but important con-
goes without saying that the sidering that what matters
variety of notions of fertility in this conceptualization is
concerning wombs are very the woman’s reproductive
much linked to the fertility body.25
of the fields as is present in One should not think that
cultures as diverse as those this language of fecundity
one can imagine. Here, one and fertility is just focused
can also turn to Vasconcelos on seeing the feminine with-
who in his treatise on Her- out any relationship to the
nan Cortes is very must masculine or in this case,
aligned as well with these male aspects of fertility as
conceptualization of the fe- well. There is always the
male body with the natural conceptualization, as with
world even stating of things Vasconcelos of the “pristine
being “lasting and fecund,” odor of earth and semen,” is
with the land and women not only a heuristic of fertili-
her way of becoming a part being placed in the object of ty both in literal senses but it
of the natural world in a way this adjectivization in rela- also evokes something per-
that negotiates between fe- tion to Cortes.23 Still, it haps more important.26 As
cundity and femininity .21 Of seems to be that in this pas- mention with Vasconcelos,
course, these two things are sage Gregory is heavily iden- there is always the gendered
linked when it comes to fu- tifying with Sandra’s mater- viewing of the earth in rela-
turity since although Edel- nal futurity, or rather the po- tion to men, in the case of ei-
man is primary focused with tential for futurity through ther Hernan Cortes or oth-
the Child, it must be born in motherhood and this is erwise. This, is deeply im-
someway for it to be ideolog- aligned with “male anxiety portant when considering
ically salient. for the female body.”24 This how the Child functions in
Yet, when it comes to San- is the central (dis)connec- this text. By bringing in the
dra’s womb, we get explicit tion which (un)binds the different senses such as
mentions of it in reference to perception that Gregory has smell not only are we able to
the natural world and speak- of Sandra, but also that the see just how fertility and in
ing of it in terms of fecundi- patriarchy, as aforemen- relation to it fecundity are
ty. Indeed, Gregory states tioned by Adrienne Rich has brought out but how ubiqui-
that he “traveled easily towards women. Yet, here, I tous they are to our senses.
through Sandra’s womb … claim that this goes a step Then, for them to have “in-
further. In the same passage,

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 115


Mark LaRubio

haled [Sandra] through their scribes how “[Sandra] col- lowing:


nostrils, mouths, and eyes,” lapsed as her roots rushed
means that she is also sub- blood,” we can see just how And it barely fits the hand
sumed into an essence .27 By deeply the cypress and the But it slides in clean
essence, I of course mean to verdant tendrils of life are
Through the astonished flesh
play with the double-sense of tied to the female body in
And stops there, at the place
the word but to also relate Sandra’s case.30 Still, with
back to the sensory aspect of this disease her roots be- Where the trembles
enmeshed
how this all works together. come not only a deracina-
The dark root of a scream.32
However, this is is ravaged tion in the sense of un-
by disease. La Mona strikes, grounding from her life be-
fore La Mona but rather it It would seem to make how
shakes, and shimmies itself Gregory “went quickly to
(or herself) into very avail- becomes her roots in rela-
tion to the fecund ground her side and took the knife,”
able viable portion of the a reflect not just of securing
sufferer. It is important that that is maternity.
her safety but with discus-
“it’s transmitted by semen Is there any prefiguration of sion of her womb, the possi-
and blood,” which in a way this one might ask? In one bility for futurity .33 Yes, the
adds something to the Bibli- sense, there is. It is by per- claim might be that the im-
cal naming of Adam and formance which in its own portant thing here is not to
Eve, but I digress.28 Being right brings out a very get her to bleed however, the
then that this virus which unique sense of reading this emphasis put on the womb
functions as a queering de- novel. Sandra is in the per- and later the breasts seems
vice is spread by the same formance of Federico Lor- to suggest more than just the
means of progenition brings ca’s Blood Bride as the concern with blood. Here, as
some interesting thoughts eponymous bride. As the with the reference to a “root
to bear on this text. The very play comes to an end she of a scream” seems to indi-
fact that viruses are not alive “pulled a knife from under- cate the consequences of
in it of themselves and yet neath her blouse, danced birth.34 The scream and its
can wreak havoc on those and caressed its point, edge, enmeshed nature with a root
who are means something width, and length. She is once more the image of the
more in this text. Here, La kissed the blade, [and] she cypress above Sandra. San-
Mona is makes Gregory see held it to her womb,” which dra and her lack of roots lead
“above Sandra the green- might in some readings have to the lack of the Child.
blue cypress with its drip- the blade be a phallic symbol
ping roots exposed,” since but in this represents the How does this enfigura-
now by way of the disease cutting line between tion work with other aspects
her connection to fecundity queered femaleness in ac- of the novel? Well, one can
is effaced.29 Indeed, in an- cordance to futurity.31 turn to Chapter Five for
other and more palpable Then, for the play to have in what I think is salient here.
way, when Gregory de- relation to the play the fol- The young woman -- a girl
really, being only fifteen

116 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

“grew the jewel of her love


for her homeboy,” and here
the scene turns tragic .35 Just
as before with Gregorio and
Father Jude there is the de-
sire to “save her and the ba-
by,” and Gregory’s mind be-
gins to conflate both the
young woman and Sandra.36
This mixing between them
will prove important in a bit,
but for now, focusing solely
on the Child. Gregory him-
self is the representative of
the champion of the Child
when he states “we can save
the child,” because he wish-
es to keep futurity alive as is
evident in the next chapter,
but here we see how drugs
which if speaking about in- As is commonly known, the Therefore, to have this mo-
travenous drug usage can Holocaust or Shoah had cen- ment where his hand is over
lead to spreading HIV or La tral to it the extermination her uterus, is where the
Mona change how the par- of the Jewish people among queerness of this moment
ents of the young woman others. It claimed, and this is becomes fulfilled.
view futurity. merely from my own memo- Still, their “vision is forever
Another important image ry, 90% of European Jewry. forward,” and still Straight
here is when Doctor Flink Here, we see someone who time is seminal to this nov-
“pulled the white sheet over lived in a queer space, the el.38 This is evident not only
the mother and placed his concentration camps where in how everything is cen-
hand on her uterus. The sim- fecundity, fertility, and even tered on “protecting … the
ilarities of the dead woman’s natality where negated by child she carried,” but in
tattoo and the serial number the push for death. For Gre- how this is starkly placed
branded on Flink’s forearm gory to then see Flink’s tat- next to the queer moment of
were unavoidable,” which too in and her tattoo with the unnamed girl.39 What
only adds to Edelman’s Jimmy’s name on it, it re- this seems to signal then is
ideas .37 Here, I would claim, minds me of Yad Va’Shem, that the deep anxiety
is an example of where or Hand and Name. Both straight time has in refer-
queerness is available to these people here are not on- ence to queer time is some-
view in a very distinct form. ly similar in their tattoos but thing which hasn’t really
in being in queer time.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 117


Mark LaRubio

been spoken about in either ing guarded is a positive Mother stood before me.
Cruising Utopia or No Fu- thing? In terms of vitality, She spoke, but what words
ture at least in that because it yes, but it seems to be more whispered were images
is so focused on this aspect, as the result of a subsump- which revealed her other
it wishes to assimilate that tion of her maternity or forms. Around her danced
which has been queered rather, in the idealization of life and death. She was vir-
back into the fold of straight her maternity solely in the gin of the sun and moon,
time in order to protect the ambit of futurity. water and earth, fire and
Child. This becomes an im- How does that which is “in wind. Since birth I had
portant aspect to consider the past, in the present, and been falling toward her
when thinking of when it in the future,” come to bear who pushed me out into
comes to “Sandra’s royal on Gregory himself?41 In life.42
guard. [who] were her eyes Chapter 18 there is a very
toward the future.”40 Here, particular scene that speaks And here we can see the way
we can literally see how San- volumes on the idolizing of in which maternity is so cen-
dra is protected by men with maternity. As it occurs to tral to the conception of
futurity firmly in their gaze. him: Gregory in the imaginary
What does this mean then? feminine. Here we can see
Couldn’t one say that her be- not a mother but Mother it-

118 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

self, almost as if it is the Mother but in a greater way eternal natural sentinels of
Mother goddess of lore he is coming to terms of a Tenochtitlan,” which is of
come before him. But in kind with maternity. Of course an important image
more ways than one, it is the course, this does not mean concerning both Aztlán but
mother goddess. This is not that he reaches some final also something more.44 This
the central crux of this point end-all-be-all of under- something more is that fact
here but merely a segway in- standing, but he does invari- that by definition, being that
to something more. With ably come to understand these volcanoes are in the
Mother being an enfigura- great aspects of how mater- story the bodies themselves
tion of the elements and nity is portrayed. As afore- of the lovers, in a Queer
above all else a virgin. Here, mentioned, there is an inex- state. By this, I simply mean
we can of course think of the tricable link between the vi- to say that their ability for
Virgin Mary but it is by way sualization of the natural futurity in relation to
of a Queer aspect—that be- world and the feminine body straight time is halted and
ing the virgin birth—by as being in themselves unit- arrested before Gregory’s
which her maternity is ed and interchangeable. eyes. This is the symbol that
brought out. Here, I think Once again, the language of looms over Mexico City, a
there is something much fecundity proves queered futurity. No longer
more at play. It is much paramount his relationship can the couple ever hope to
more than merely a gesture to Mother and motherhood commit to straight time and
towards some aspect of a in general. reproduce for they are not
mother and more a line to- Then, for Gregory and San- only encased by the vol-
wards the maternal as a con- dra to essentially imitate a canos, as it were, but are un-
cept. Here, I would say that wedding proves important able to fulfill the role of ma-
the typical division between since they are, of course, not ternity since the woman of
virgin and whore breaks getting married but rather the story was cast to sleep or
down in a novel way. How is going to Mexico in an effort in some tellings dead.
it that one can be a mother to get away from the United For the entire story then, it
without also losing virginity States which made the life seems that this anxiety
(current day procedures saving drugs illegal.43 How- about women and in partic-
notwithstanding)? Of ever, the most important ular their ability to bear chil-
course, there is much im- scene here is when Gregory dren is literally looming over
portance placed on this in states to us that “In about the novel. From the cypress
terms of the relationship be- three and a half hours we with exposed roots to the
tween a father and a mother looked down into a volcanic two peaks, there is a very
and this is where I think Gre- cradle crowned by deeply ingrained concern
gory’s relationship to moth- Popocatepetl and Ixtacoate- that bothers the second Gre-
erhood becomes key. petl, two white magical gory in this case to the point
Not only is Gregory having peaks, the symbols of a leg- where it seems as though it is
this immense scene with endary love affair and the central to who he is as a char-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 119


Mark LaRubio

acter. But in the grander to Los Angeles, it becomes am alive.47 Still, this comes
scheme of things it becomes clear however that her at a rare moment of intro-
central in the way men relate chance of life is at its end. spection that proves impor-
to women. Even the topog- Here her “becom[ing] their tant for Gregory since he
raphy and geography seems child again,” is not only a re- himself begins to view the
to speak tomes about beg- version to a cared-for state aforementioned biomedical
ging and the progentive urge but also a state of defemi- vision of Sandra and of
of the world, as it were. nization.46 Of course, this is womanhood. As he states
Geography then becomes an the product of the disease “[it] became a medical com-
important focus when it which has been the great fig- pulsion, to write about her
comes to working with San- ure of this part of the novel. became a fetish,” which at
dra’s affliction. As they are Indeed, I think in one sense any rate seems to point to a
taken to Tepotzotlan by La Mona figures in a very very real commodification
Señora Jane, there are taken deeply domineering way in of her progentive proper-
to the place where “the this second portion. This is ties.48 This is a very serious
crops flourished deep because of how it works to scene due to his realization
green,” and this like with undermine Sandra’s exis- of how the “recreation” of
Marisela is where Sandra tence in every possible ca- her really means being able
will interact with the curan- pacity. It goes without say- to hearken back to repro-
deros and the very air of the ing that there are many as- ductive futurity.49 It would
countryside.45 This place- pects of the disease which, seem that then, the idea of
based return is, I think, very because it is a literal disease the blood transfusions,
salient. Not only is it keep- —that is, because it is HIV, again working with the Bib-
ing with our discussion of it comes with the very literal lical, is part of the Queering
how nature and femininity complexities that come with element. Another Adam has
—through which maternity being diagnosed with it dur- become part of Sandra and
is expressed—are linked ing the AIDS crisis of the infected her and has now re-
but it also goes back to how 80’s. This means that the re- moved her ability to repro-
the Queered elements of version then of Sandra is duce. How interesting it is
both disease and place come something which goes to then to consider the impli-
together when it comes to show how this movement to cations then that Sandra
these various aspects. Of make everything solely “spoke to him “like a tree, a
course, it is very important biomedical ignores the so- river, a seed … a humming-
that Sandra wishes to be in cial implications of that de- bird, like a butterfly,” which
Mexico all things consid- sire to reduce it thus. Being is of course going to back to
ered. Yet, it comes, once then that “it’s transmitted portion about the language
more, at the very important by semen and blood,” of fecundity and all but here
crux of how Gregory relates evokes the Biblical call once it evokes something else.50 It
to the death of the maternal. more to Adam and Eve evokes very particular im-
where Adam means I am of ages of progenation that are
Once Sandra is returned the blood and Eve means I important in Gregory’s eyes

120 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

not only because they are naming actually is impor- to the electrical charger,” it
aligned with the cypress but tant being that she is in the is a coupling that is heavily
also because they are very middle section of the book. queered.51 Indeed it “smell
distinct heteronormative [s] of burning flesh,” which
images of the same repro- points not only to a unhu-
ductive futurity upon which manization but to a queering
his image of Sandra is based Futurx beyond the likes of which
upon. Turning now to the depic- we’ve seen prior.52 I, of
To more narrowly zoom in- tion of the very near future, course, can see the objection
to language, I think Sandra’s we can see how futurity is to this being that it is seen as
name is highly key here. Her called into question. When an enhancement but it a
name, which can either be Gregory notices Gabi “cou- sense it removes the rhi-
derived from Alessandra or ple her robotic right arm in- zomatic multiplicity of hu-
Kassandra, is actually very
telling. If we are to take the
Alessandra which means the
defender of men along with
Spear, it actually could
mean something. It immedi-
ately evokes the Spear
Maiden, Brunhilde who de-
fends Siegfried and who ulti-
mately sacrifices herself to
end the world as we know it
to bring upon the new world,
after which the World Tree,
River Rhine, and a seed play
an integral role. Brunnhilde
evokes a Queered futurity
because she is unable to have
children herself because she
is put to sleep by Wotan on a
fiery mountain. This of
course very much resembles
the lovers who figure the
peaks. Regardless, this
background means a lot if
only because Sandra is an
enfiguration of her. I would
go so far as to say that this

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 121


Mark LaRubio

manity and therefore futuri- because it is the past and Perhaps the plague had
ty. Yes, this comes with the present that plays a role in subsided and moved away
known fact of the aforemen- that very decision. Because to another place or time.
tioned herding of woman- as Gregory details “voices Totally unpredictable,
hood and here once more we from the past and present these spontaneous
see another herding, as it warned me not to allow plagues could appear
were. As Gregory himself them to deconstruct my hu- anywhere. Produced by
states “the world had turned manity,” which is very much humanity’s harvest of
against humanity,” and in linked to the totalization of waste, they traveled
that sense had come to be anthropocentric reproduc- through the air, land, and
queered in a sense more dis- tive futurity.54 This then sea and penetrated
tilled than before.53 With cy- would seem to suggest that it populated areas,
borgs it becomes about a is not technology itself that sometimes killing
centralization of human ca- is Queer but rather the way thousands. Scientists
pacity into something be- in which it can erase futurity throughout the world had
yond human. by way of technology. identified thousands of
Here, by cyborg I mean the As for the plague itself, the these living cancers of the
literal interweaving of com- description is heavily im- earth. They were of all
puters with human bodies portant when it comes to the sizes, colors and smells.
not say books, telephones, idea of autonomous tech- Some were invisible.
or bodies themselves as nology and cybernetics. As it From our pollution we
Georges Leroux argues. The is narrated: had created energy
fact that Gregory resists be- masses that destroyed or
coming a cyborg is salient deformed everything in
their path.
Born in the depths of the
Pacific Ocean about one
hundred miles offshore,
three huge masses of filth
had developed
organically and begun to
move of their own
accord.55
This quote is important in
its entirety because of how it
describes the plagues. In-
deed, it is precisely by its ap-
pellation of the plagues that
the following may be assert-

122 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

ed. These plagues are de- of charm,” which reworks tion is not concerned with re-
scribed as cancers which are Gabi into the realm of futuri- productive futurity. And yet,
commonly known to be cells ty and fecundity.56 This again it is so central to the interac-
which are essentially relates to the “identify[ing] tions that Gregory has in par-
Queered in it of themselves. femininity with the body and ticular with Amalia. It is one
They are all Frankenstein’s with earthliness,” which has particular time where she
Monsters and thus are chal- proven to be so central outright asks him “‘Do you
lenging to the paradigm of here.57 Not only are they en- think we should bear chil-
reproductive futurity be- gaging in erotic acts but by dren?’” and this question is
cause they are the enemy utilizing this language it be- something which proves
within the system, as it were. comes very clear how futuri- monumental to Gregory’s
This is then coupled with the ty is still the part that keeps conception of Amalia.59 As
unnatural life of the plague Gregory centered. Indeed, Gregory relates also “Lower
which began to have its own (regardless of how it odd it Life Existence people had
life. This very much resem- might seem to some) he is many children, Middle Life
bles the possibility for a force even think about his grandfa- Existence folks barely bore
against reproductive futuri- ther’s “account of love”58 enough to replace them-
ty because it represents a and he penetrates Gabi selves and Higher Life Exis-
negative futurity. It is not which adds something dis- tence residents hardly had
just the configuration of a tinct to this vision of futurity. none,” which suggest that in-
Child or the Child that is nec- Not only does it exist in a deed the questions of futuri-
essary but of a child who falls very particular framework ty are still present.60 Yes, the
into the heteropatriarchal with fecundity but it seems might have class divisions
system of said reproduction. here to operate with a very and yet that still can relate to
This is important then when definite observation of the the capital C Capitalist
it comes to looking at how Queerness around it. Per- Child. Regardless, the desire
Gregory still tries to sub- haps then, it may be asserted for children then is seen as a
sume Gabi when they are that Queerness becomes true aspect of futurity as de-
back in Temecula. While of something greater in the scribed by Edelman both in
course, there is a literal rep- novel as it progresses but in the sense of replacement but
resentation of A Rainbow of different ways precisely be- also in a socio-economic
Colors which involves homo- cause it can take on forms sense.
sexual acts and thus a literal that otherwise it wouldn’t in When it comes to saving fu-
Queer scene. There is also an the past. This is what makes turity, Gregory is very inter-
interesting counteraction of reproductive futurity then ested in the ways in which fu-
this where a form of normal- so subtle, but at the same turity can be assured by way
ization comes to bear upon time so deeply ingrained in of genetic resilience. So
Gabi. This is when he states the novel itself. when he “went to the two
“I had no choice but to eat Some people might even go stronger children, a boy and
from her passionate gardens so far as to say that this sec- a girl,” there is a very real

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 123


Mark LaRubio

sense where this need for the sea, where from its moth- comes with the later com-
passing on of this resilience er’s wet warmth it nour- modification of Mexican
is also important for biologi- ished and gathered more blood since now people
cal reasons.61 It is interesting vigor to strike again. “wanted these Mexicans to
then when it is by technolo- This human-made beast produce children,” in order
gy that he finds out where he killed rapidly.64 to secure their own futuri-
“would find the child,” and ty.66 This is of course tied to
here then the importance of The implication then that women since Gregory “se-
reproducing, in this case the plague has a mother lected [a girl] myself from a
blood but in a greater sense which in the maternal image group of Mexico City vir-
children, is the focus.62 It is and sense has nurtured the gins,” which means that the
important then that the plague is a Queering of prospect of motherhood
child is a girl which is of motherhood. By also related and femininity are once
course a product of the fact it is human-made also adds against deeply linked.67 It
that she is the survivor but to the fact that it is by hu- means a lot considering that
factors greatly when think- manity’s own hand that there is the traditional vi-
ing of how the Child is a fe- their futurity is called into sion of women that wishes to
male child since it assures question. Humanity has invoke motherhood and vir-
that more Children can be queered itself. This is so ginity at the same time. Nev-
born in the future. This is salient to consider with that ertheless, this comes as a
important considering how fact that it is by the sea— stark image against the sui-
“gender and sexuality al- from which all life sprang— cide of Gabi who is still de-
lowed [the blood] to repro- that the affront to futurity scribed in the language of
duce naturally,”63 that is, comes from. nature as being “like spring
within a heteosexual schema Even still, after the control- rose buds, slowly exposing
that is aligned with futurity. ling of the virus, we have the the inner color of their flow-
When it comes then to the subsumption of femininity er,” of course there is still the
plague once more, it be- into questions of maternity. fact that it is describing her
comes clear how the previ- In this case, with how “Blue in her moment of death.68
ous discussion of cancer and Buster … cause[d] scarring Still, the viewing of her thus
its union with Queer is nec- and damage to her breasts,” is further part of how he sees
essary for this reading. As it but yet how “a good plastic her.
is related: surgeon would restore the When it comes to the Child
epidermis to normal shape however, it is Amalia and
Thousands had perished and color,” which of course
and thousands more had Ted to whom we can turn for
is in consideration for her to this final vision of futurity.
showed the symptoms of have a normal life but also
the plague. The initial in- As Gregory comes to realize
means that the disease at- “people were jubilant for the
fecting gases had evapo- tacked a very integral por-
rated and returned to the return of the man who had
tion of the image of mother- saved the life of their child
earth and probably to the hood.65 And even so, it

124 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

Man-god,” and here is perhaps the place


where we see the role of the Gregories fully
fleshed out.69 Not only do we see that the Endnotes
Child has finally been described in a way that
truly meets Edelman’s parameters but also 1. 11
in a way that seems to show how the organic 2. 13
is important. As we can see from above there
is a very direct tendency to bring together 3. Muñoz 22
the organic into the halls of natality. By that, 4. Translation mine 5
all that is meant is that the non-Queer is up- 5. López-Luzano 49
held in a way that is almost Petrarchan in its
idealization of the Child. It puts the Child on 6. Morales 56
a pedestal that is very much built upon the 7. Translation mine 38
backs of the mothers that bear them in this 8. López-Luzano
novel. Not only are they the prime sufferers
9. Morales 59
of maternity in the first two sections, one
where a baby is born but she is unable to be a 10. Edelman 6
mother in the fullest of senses, in the second 11. Priewe 397
where she is simply unable to bear children,
12. 59
and lastly where some other woman is the
person who has the Child then is interesting. 13. 58
The interest mentioned is not just that is 14. Edelman 3
seems calculated by the means of futurity 15. 59
and propagated by the language of fecundity
16. Emphasis theirs, Edelman 3
but how it is seemingly normalized in the
structure of the novel in a way that makes 17. Althaus-Reid 7-8
even the diseases themselves a Queering 18. 62
agent. This novel as many important facets
19. García-Martínez 28
which are still unexplored but the relation
between maternity, nature, and reproduc- 20. 69
tive futurity was so intense that it seemed 21. 69
necessary to discourse on. After reading this
22. 76-77
novel therefore one cannot help but con-
clude that the anxiety of reproductive futu- 23. Translation mine 121
rity is not only the Queer but also in the 24. McClintock 22
breakdown of the language of nature and
25. 46
how it might change into a Queerness as
seen in this novel. 26. 97
27. 97
28. 105

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 125


Antony LeRoy

29. 77 60. Ibid.


30. Ibid. 61. 164
31. 90 62. 167
32. qtd. in Morales 90 63. 168
33. 90 64. 185
34. Ibid. 65. 192
35. 79 66. 193
36. Ibid. 67. Ibid.
37. 80 68. 197
38. 81 69. 198
39. Ibid.
40. 127
41. 110
42. 111 References
43. 112 Althaus-Reid, Marcella. The Queer God.
44. 114 Routledge, 2003.

45. 58 Edelman, Lee. No Future: Queer Theory and


the Death Drive. Duke UP, 2004.
46. 128
García-Martínez, Marc. The Flesh and Blood
47. 105 Aesthetics of Alejandro Morales: Disease, Sex,
48. 104 and Figuration. SDSU Press, 2014.
49. Ibid. Jeffreys, Sheila. The Industrial Vagina: The
50. Ibid. Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade.
Routledge, 2009.
51. 135
Lara, Irene. “Sensing the Serpent in the
52. Ibid. Mother, Dando Luz a la Madre Serpiente:
53. 136 Chicana Spirituality, Sexuality, and Mami-
54. 143 hood." Fleshing The Spirit: Spirituality and
Activism in Chicana, Latina, and Indigenous
55. 139 Women’s Lives. Edited by Elisa Facio and
56. 147 Irene Lara. U of A Press, 2014.
57. Hakak 30 McCarthy, David Matzko. “Fecundity: Sex
58. 147 and Social Reproduction,” Queer Theology:
Rethinking the Western Body. Edited by Ger-
59. 149

126 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


FOREVER FORWARD

ard Loughlin. Blackwell, 2007.


McClintock, Anne. Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest.
Routledge, 1995.
Rich, Adrienne. Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. W.W. Norton,
1995.
Rothman, Barbara Katz. “Beyond Mothers and Fathers: Ideology In A Patriarchal Society.”
Mothering: Ideology, Experience, and Agency. Edited by Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Grace
Chang, and Linda Rennie Forcey, Routledge, 1994. 139-160.
Vasconcelos, José. La Raza Cósmica: Misión de la Raza Iberoamericana y Notas de Viajes a
La América del Sur. Imprenta Helénica.

ART BY GUCCI MINH

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 127


T HING S
BEF0RE
HISTORY AND MATERIALISM
ART BY GUCCI MINH

129
A RADICAL REFLECTION ON THE

SOVIET
LIMERICK

by DAVID SWANSON

Towards a Socialist Ireland


LIMERICK SOVIET

AS WE ONCE AGAIN move to commemorate


another anniversary of the War of Indepen-
dence (1919-1921), it becomes our collec-
tive duty to preserve the legitimate legacy
of the participants and events that consol-
idated the national reawakening of anti-
colonial sentiments throughout Ireland. In
order to do so, we must begin by articulat-
ing an accurate depiction of this critical
period, one which centers on the collective
struggle of the people, and brings to the
forefront its lessons so that it may guide
our actions today. The activities and af-
termath of 1916’s Easter Rising exposed the
ideological fault lines of economic and po-
litical liberalism embodied by the Irish
Parliamentary Party (IPP), with local com-
munities across the island rising in rebel-
lion and resolutely self-organising towards
a national liberation that went hand-in-
hand with the emancipation of labour.

APRIL'S LIMERICK SOVIET would become


the embodiment of this new-found ambition
sweeping across Ireland in early 1919, es-
tablishing itself as a symbol of resistance
that would resonate across the island and
fwith uture generations.

131
David Swanson

AS RADICAL THOUGHT spread in the representatives keen to avoid the mistake


aftermath of the Easter Rising, tensions of the Dublin-centric approach that had
between local inhabitants and the colonial engendered failure in the recent past.
administration intensified. The popular
TENSIONS BROKE into outright war
syndicalism and national consciousness of
almost immediately upon the convening
the Irish Citizen’s Army (ICA) and Irish
of the new parliament. Previous ICA
Transport General Workers Union
cadres, now pledged to other
(ITGWU) paved the way for the electoral
organisations, began coordinating a
mandate of January 1919 for Sinn Féin.
regimented movement in solidarity with
The subsequent opening of Dáil Éireann
the Provisional Government; ITGWU
and the formation of its Provisional
members simultaneously refused to
Government stood as a direct challenge to
transport colonial troops and supplies on
empire through the radical economic
public railways. The response within
promises contained within its Democratic
Limerick to the outbreak of war was a
Programme. The eradication of IPP
dramatic example of this coordinated
influence over nationalist objectives
national campaign in action: when
combined with a newfound sense of
prominent trade unionist Robert Byrne
industrial consciousness brought with it a
and the locals surrounding him were
more direct opposition to all aspects of
arrested by Royal Irish Constabulary
colonial enforcement, with the
(RIC) officials for a breach of the peace,
interlinking of local campaigns led by
workers throughout the city
trade unionists and political

132 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


LIMERICK SOVIET

spontaneously withdrew their labour those without state-issued passes were


while the imprisoned engaged in a barred from entering or leaving the city
campaign of organised disobedience amidst an upswing in trade union
which involved both hunger strikes and recruitment. Communication between
the call for a new political status. various volunteer detachments was
increasingly hindered as a result.
AS THE NATIONAL defence of Dáil
Éireann continued to produce credible WITH THE CONFLICT between the
victories against the colonial forces, local colonial state and the urban population
forces in Limerick were increasingly reaching a fever pitch within Limerick’s
emboldened in their ongoing attempt to jurisdiction, the Limerick United Trades
seize control of the city. The militant and Labour Council responded to the
example of industrial syndicalism SMA legislation by calling for a general
continued to hold out against colonial strike across all sectors of the city.
punitive-legislative measures such as the Whereas the withdrawal of labour and
Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) that picketing had largely been a spontaneous
jailed prominent republican leaders decision up to this point, the need for
without trial. By early April, local discipline now became an essential
leadership was confident enough to plan a component of the opposition to the
rescue of Robert Byrne from prison. The imperial forces, with James Connolly’s
attempt, under the cover of darkness on vision of a working class taking charge of
the sixth of April, became a pivotal its own destiny finding fruition among
turning point in the city’s local campaign Limerick’s industrial base. An elected
against occupation: when RIC officers strike committee, propped up by a
ambushed the rescuers, Byrne himself democratic mandate from trade union
was caught in the crossfire and fatally branches across the city, began to
wounded. As news of his death spread organise a mass exodus from workplaces
through the city amidst administrative in a struggle for collective dignity and
attempts to use DORA legislation as a control of the city. Production of all
means of (unsuccessfully) preventing a essentials became regulated by the
funeral with full military honours, committee in order to maintain the strike;
tensions within the city intensified the distribution of foodstuffs and basic
further. As mass civil disobedience supplies was centrally planned to prevent
escalated despite the judicial inquiry individual hoarding. The official
surrounding the circumstances of Byrne’s newspaper of the strike committee, The
death, local colonial authorities Worker’s Bulletin, was published and
responded by declaring Limerick a distributed throughout the city to combat
Special Military Area (SMA) on the the propaganda of the reactionary press
thirteenth of April. The city effectively and clergy. A local currency was issued to
locked down under their command, and facilitate the regulation of prices and

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 133


David Swanson

production. As news began to spread While the pressure of careerist deviations


across the island of Limerick’s (the same that would eventually go on to
achievements, national support grew and prop up reactionary parliamentary
was welcomed by the Limerick Soviet. structures in post-war Ireland) brought
ITGWU workers consistently refused to the Soviet’s efforts to a skidding halt, its
transport the products of scab labour example was replicated across the island
while the GAA organised four high profile throughout the War of Independence.
matches across football and hurling to This forgotten revolution, buried by
raise money for the strike committee’s contemporary education programs and
fund. clerical propaganda, serves to remind us
that socialism is not a ‘foreign import’
alien to Irish shores, but intrinsically
woven into the fabric of our ongoing
For over a campaign for national liberation. A
militant union strategy backed by strong
fortnight, Limerick political leadership and underlain by
syndicalist objectives can ensure social
became a shining and economic dignity for Irish citizens
and presents a legitimate means of
example of resistance against the ongoing carnival of

community reaction wrought by global capitalism.


Despite the brevity of its existence, the
resistance against example of the Limerick Soviet is one that
deserves reflection, both on its status as a
the anarchic whims symbol of the heroism of the Irish
working class and a reminder that the
of a colonial Irish and indeed, workers of all nations,
can never be truly free until the working
occupation hell- class owns everything from the plough to
the stars.
bent upon
dominating Irish
political and Be sure to check out more from
economic affairs for David on the always-superb
Radical Reflections podcast, at
imperial gain. @RadReflections on Twitter and
online at radicalreflections.co.uk

134 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


ART BY GUCCI MINH

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 135


THE MEANING

OF
V
IO
LE
N
CE

by
JARROD GRAMMEL
THE MEANING OF VIOLENCE

Understanding
Counterrevolution and
Violence in the French Terror

I n defense of the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, Robespierre declared


that “[t]error is nothing but prompt, severe, inflexible justice; it is therefore an
emanation of virtue.”1 This, at first, may seem an impossible pairing; virtue and
terror appear fundamentally counterposed. Rather than go on the defensive,
Robespierre linked virtue with terror, by claiming that terror is inflexible justice, and thus
virtuous. But why? This seems to go against our instincts that terror is bad, and therefore not
virtuous.

The key to understanding why Robespierre trying to interpret the French Revolution.
made this connection can be found in how The reason for this is simple: events of the
he, and other revolutionaries, past and 20th Century have caused historians to
present, understood the role between backtrack and view the French Revolution
revolution and counterrevolution. primarily in connection with that next great
Robespierre understood the goal of the revolution of human history. The success of
French Revolution as overthrowing the the Bolshevik Revolution has increased
Old Regime and instituting a republic what is at stake in understanding the
based on equality and overthrowing French Revolution and its accompanying
tyranny. To him, any attempt to counter reign of terror. As Francois Furet notes in
these efforts was despotism and a return to introducing his view, “[t]he historian of the
tyranny. That is why terror, that inflexible French Revolution … must show his
justice, in response to attempts to colours. He must state from the outset
overthrow the new republic, is so where he comes from, what he thinks and
interconnected with virtue. what he is looking for; what he writes about
the French Revolution is assigned a
However, the historian must exercise
meaning and label even before he starts
extreme care in understanding such a
working … As soon as the historian states
violent and messy affair, and no doubt
that opinion, the matter is settled; he is
historiography has shifted a few times in

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 137


Jarrod Grammel

labelled a royalist, a liberal, or a Jacobin.”2 is often missing or downplayed is the role of


One reason for this is that subsequent violence within the standard functioning of
events have shaped the way historians have societies. The spectacle of the guillotine
looked back on the past. It is in the context and the passionate speeches of the
of the Cold War that many of these revolutionaries rightfully capture our
historians have attempted to understand attention. In understanding revolutionary
the role of terror and violence within the violence and terror, it must be put into the
French Revolution. In attempts to wrestle context of the violence and terror that
with the deeply complex Russian existed in the society the revolutionaries
Revolution, historians have often drawn opposed. While this may at first glance
connections between the French and seem like an obvious task, arguments about
Russian Revolutions. The conservative the Reign of Terror consistently neglect
historians see the Gulags and purges of the this point. The violence of revolutions is
Russian Revolution as further proof that merely a different, more visible type of
terror, repression and violence are violence.
inseparable from the ideas of revolution Rather than introducing new primary
itself. sources for analysis, this paper engages
intensively with historiographical
scholarship on the French Reign of Terror,
The French as well as political philosophy in relation to
violence and terror. To show my colors, as
Revolution is also Furet would say, the argument presented
important because here is a variation on the circumstance
thesis. However, the critical intervention
of the reactions it this paper makes is a focus on the meaning
of violence, and its relationship to
engendered. The revolution and counterrevolution. A
narrow view of what constitutes “violence”
emergence of has led scholars to moralize about the
conservatism and terror. In turn, arguments about the terror
have tended to avoid critical theorizing
reactionary politics about what it means to wage revolution,
and the role violence plays in revolutions
can be traced and human society.

directly back to the


French Revolution.3
And as the Furet quote above illustrates, a
scholar’s political thought determines what
they make of the French Revolution and the
terror. These historians focus on the
violence and terror of revolutions, but what

138 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE MEANING OF VIOLENCE

To put it rather bluntly, even if one is to The opposing view sees the actions of the
concede to the conservative view that the revolutionaries and the Terror as responses
terror was an essential and necessary part of to those who aimed to overthrow and stop
the revolution, a judgement must still be the revolution. This argument is often
made whether the relatively small number called the “circumstance” thesis. “[Leftist
of executions was worth the cost when historians] see the terror not as an integral
compared with the hundreds of years of part of the revolution but as a tactical
structural violence in the Old Regime. defense of the republic against its enemies
when it was threatened with total defeat …
Terror had been forced on to the politicians
by counter-revolution and war and once
that pressure was relieved, it vanished.”6
Although Gough seemingly mistakes
political liberals as on the left, he identifies
these historians as well as republican
democrats who founded the Third
THE TERROR IN Republic and Marxists as defenders of the
circumstance thesis.7
HISTORY Italian Marxist philosopher Domenico
Losurdo offers something like the
circumstance thesis, and sees efforts to
condemn the French Revolution as part of a
In the historiography of the French larger effort on the part of historical
Revolution, there are essentially two revisionists “[t]o explain the ravages of the
interpretations with their own variations. revolutionary disease in the twentieth
The conservative view sees revolution as century” by linking the Bolshevik
inherently violent, with terror built into it. Revolution with that of the French.8 He
Gough sums up this view by drawing on the claims that “[t]he main theme of this
work of numerous historians. The book comprehensive reinterpretation of the
Citizens by Simon Schama “condemned the contemporary world [by historical
revolution as an act of mass violence with revisionists] thus becomes even clearer: it
terror at its core … The revolution, for involves the liquidation of the
Schama, was flawed from the outset by revolutionary tradition from 1789 to the
physical violence which developed into present.”9
mass terror and set a model for 20th- However, he goes even further than the
century dictatorships.”4 This view has its circumstance thesis by arguing that those
roots in Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the who condemn the French Revolution as
Revolution in France. Though a later section specifically violent or repressive,
will further explore Burke in relation to completely ignore the violence and
conservative political philosophy, here it is repression of other “good” revolutions,
enough to point out that this view opposes specifically pointing to the elimination of
revolution not out of the tactics that colonialism in these historians’ works. In
revolutionaries employ, but rather out of a his analysis,
desire to preserve existing structures.5

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 139


Jarrod Grammel

To demonstrate that Terror and terror, but suffice to say, it still fits in with
dictatorship are an exclusively French the circumstance thesis.
creation, and the immanent result of a
All this is to point out that historians have
determinate ideology, historical hardly come to agreement over how to
revisionism – here in full agreement understand the terror. “Clearly historians
with the neo-liberal vulgate – proceeds
have disagreed over why the terror
to a double or triple arbitrary happened. Conservatives see it as an
abstraction. The first erases integral part of the revolution, revisionists
circumstances; the second isolates a as a flaw in an otherwise positive
single stage (the most relatively development, circumstance historians as a
painless) of the British and American response to counter-revolution, and post-
revolutionary cycles, triumphantly circumstance historians as a development
contrasting it with the French within revolutionary politics closely linked
Revolutionary cycle as a whole. At the
to conspiracy theory.”12
same time, isolation of this single stage
(the Glorious Revolution and the War of
Independence) involves abstracting the
experience of the truly civilized
community from the experience of the
barbarians and savages (Irish and
Scottish in the one case, blacks and
CONSERVATIVISM AND
Native Americans in the other).10 COUNTER-
In essence, Losurdo uses the circumstance REVOLUTION
thesis while also showing how historians
have obscured the actual history of
revolutions by employing a selective and Almost as soon as the revolution broke out,
narrow focus only on those things that Edmund Burke wrote his critique of the
support their ideological views. revolution, Reflections on the French
Revolution in 1790, even before the terror.
One interesting interpretation of the terror
Countless scholars have pointed to Burke
comes from French historian Sophie
as the very beginning of what has become
Wahnich. Her book is somewhat
conservative politics.13 “Any discussion of
misleadingly titled In Defence of the Terror,
conservatism in relation to counter
since the only strong defense comes from
revolution in the two great revolutions of
Slavoj Zizek’s forward. However, she does
modern times must, of course, begin with
seem to suggest that the terror arose as a
Edmund Burke. An Anglo-Irishman, not a
response to chaotic mob violence. In her
Frenchman, he formulated the first major
words, “[e]stablishing the Terror had the
aim of preventing emotion from giving rise statement of conservative principles of the
epoch of the French Revolution.”14 In his
to dissolution or massacre, symbolizing
work on the history of conservative
what had not been done in September 1792
thought, Corey Robin puts the matter
and thus reintroducing a regulatory
bluntly: “It is hardly provocative to say that
function for the Assembly.”11 This view
conservatism arose in reaction to the
goes a little bit further than the previous left
French Revolution.”15
historians in defending the institutional

140 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE MEANING OF VIOLENCE

From the point of view of conservatives, the necessity.’ It is another central postulate
Reign of Terror was built into the ideas and of this study that revolution and
practices of the revolutionaries. However, counterrevolution ask to be conceived
the conservative view of the terror has and examined in terms of each other. The
fallen out of favor in more recent inveterate governing and ruling classes
historiography. One reason for this is that it of France and Russia could hardly have
largely leaves out the actions of those who been expected to freely abandon their
opposed revolutions. The circumstance vested interests and prerogatives,
thesis has been the counter to this view. As especially since these were tied into a
Karl Marx famously remarked “[m]en religious, cultural, and mental universe
make their own history, but they do not which was being sharply challenged.18
make it as they please; they do not make it
under circumstances chosen by
themselves” (emphasis added). 16
The
question that all revolutionaries must face Intuitively, this
is how to defend the revolution from those
who oppose it. seems relatively
In his book The Furies, Arno Mayer straightforward.
attempts to explain and defend the violence
and terror of both the French and Russian Those who stand to
Revolutions. “The Furies of revolution are
fueled above all by the resistance and the
benefit from the
forces and ideas opposed to it. This existing order are
confrontation turns singularly fierce once it
becomes clear that revolution entails and most likely to want
promises – or threatens – a thoroughly new
beginning or foundation of polity and to defend it. The
society … Revolution provokes enormous
resistance in part because it entails far-
French
reaching changes not only in politics but revolutionaries’
also in society and culture.”17 Mayer fits his
argument well within the standard demand for
circumstance thesis, namely that it is not
possible to separate revolution from the equality, then,
counterrevolution that it stokes. Drawing
on numerous other scholars, he sums up
meant a drastic
this point well: change in the feudal
For certain, ‘it takes two to make a
revolution,’ and counterrevolution is
order.
revolution’s other half. Revolution and
counterrevolution are bound to each
other ‘as reaction is bound to action,’ “What the conservative sees and dislikes in
making for a ‘historical motion, which … equality, in other words, is not a threat to
is at once dialectical and driven by freedom but its extension. For in that

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 141


Jarrod Grammel

extension, he sees a loss of his own revolutionaries tend to imagine more


freedom.”19 enemies and make these enemies out to be
What is also important in this context is the more powerful than they actually were.
extent to which the revolutionaries feared Thus,
counterrevolution, and the very words and Although counterrevolution is the other
goals of the counterrevolutionaries. half of revolution, it tends not to be
Tackett makes it clear that on the eve of war recognized and theorized as such …
with other European powers, tensions and
This disregard recently was reinforced
fears became heightened. “For well over a
by the argument that counterrevolution
year [the deputies] had spoken endlessly,
was a myth or phantasm with little, if
had been haunted by the menace of a ‘grand any, basis in reality. In this reading, the
conspiracy.’ It now seemed patently clear
revolutionaries of 1789 and 1917
that the external and internal assaults were eventually reified counterrevolution in
all of a piece, all working together to destroy
an invented polymorphous
the Revolution.”20 Despite the real fears
‘aristocratic’ (1789) or ‘capitalist’ (1917)
that the revolutionaries had of conspiracy. The idea of this plot
counterrevolution, much like Tackett presumably was implanted or emerged
documents, counterrevolution is typically as the organizing principle of the
glossed over throughout the history of Manichaean ideology and rhetoric with
revolutions in general. which Jacobins and Bolsheviks justified
This rebalancing is one of the main tasks the use of rampant violence and terror
that Mayer hopes to accomplish with his against their real and imagined
700-page book. He points out the disparity enemies.22
of entries in research libraries between the It might be instructive to understand this
terms “revolution” and “conservatism.” idea of imagining or exaggerating the
His investigation of the online catalogue of counterrevolutionary enemies as a version
the Firestone Library at Princeton of the conservative view of the terror. In
University in 1990 revealed thousands of this way, terror was built into the
entries for “revolution” but only a tiny revolution, and the violence of the
fraction of that number under the heading revolution was justified, either after the fact
of “conservatism” and “reaction.”21 One or during, by fabricating excuses and
reason for this may reside in how enemies.
subsequent revolutions shaped political
discourse. A lot of historiography about the All of this is simply to point out that
French Revolution was written during the counterrevolution had a major impact on
Cold War, and as such is not immune to the course of the revolution. Whether real,
near unanimous condemnation of the imagined, or exaggerated,
Soviet Union from the West. Particularly, counterrevolution forced the
common perceptions label Stalin as a revolutionaries to act, and constrained
paranoid power-hungry dictator who their options. Especially in the French
turned on all the so-called Old-Bolsheviks, Revolution, but also to an extent in the
and constantly invented new enemies to Bolshevik Revolution, there was no
send to the Gulags. While this is probably precedent from which they could draw on
exaggerated, the basic sentiment is that from history to help guide their responses.

142 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE MEANING OF VIOLENCE

This point is important to keep in mind shudders are all for the “horrors” of the
when judging what could be considered minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so
“excesses” in their responses to to speak; whereas, what is the horror of
counterrevolutionary threats. swift death by the axe, compared with
lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult,
cruelty, and heart-break? What is swift
death by lightning compared with death
by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery
could contain the coffins filled by that
brief Terror which we have all been so
diligently taught to shiver at and mourn
over; but all France could hardly contain
MORALIZING the coffins filled by that older and real
VIOLENCE

Even if scholars attempt to understand how


and why revolutionaries resort to violence
and terror, this does not necessarily entail a
justification or even endorsement. One of
the shortcomings in the existing literature,
from philosophy to history, is a lack of
critical analysis of violence in general. The
beheadings and gunfights that erupted over
the revolution provide easily
documentable and spectacular focal points
to examine. Only a few have tried to put the
violence and terror of the revolution into a
broader context. The conservatives are
right to see revolutions as violent, but they
ignore the violence already existent within
the societies that revolutionaries aim to
abolish. Consider this lengthy quote from
Mark Twain:
There were two “Reigns of Terror,” if we
would but remember it and consider it;
the one wrought murder in hot passion,
the other in heartless cold blood; the one
lasted mere months, the other had lasted
a thousand years; the one inflicted death
upon ten thousand persons, the other
upon a hundred millions; but our

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD


Jarrod Grammel

Terror—that unspeakably bitter and The guillotine, for him, is a type of


awful Terror which none of us has been “subjective” violence that captures our
taught to see in its vastness or pity as it attention much more easily because the
deserves. 23 actors involved are more easily identified.
What is so crucial about this insight from However, stepping back from these
Twain is that he questions why it is that preconceived ideas,
history is so concerned with a brief and enables us to identify a violence that
relatively small outburst of violence while sustains our very efforts to fight violence
the violence of feudal society that spawned and to promote tolerance: the ‘objective’
the revolution is largely ignored or violence inscribed into the smooth
downplayed. functioning of our economic and
political systems. The catch is that
Why is it that scholars have so studiously
subjective and objective violence cannot
avoided situating the violence of the
be perceived from the same standpoint:
revolution with what Twain called “that
subjective violence is experienced as
older and real Terror?” The revolution
such against the background of a non-
abolished slavery, and aimed to end this
violent zero-level of ‘civility’ …
“older and real Terror.” Yet, scholars focus
However, objective violence is precisely
on the 1,376 executions from the two
the violence inherent in this ‘normal’
month period of the Year II between 22
state of things. Objective violence is
Prairial and 9 Thermidor.24 One of the
invisible since it sustains the very zero-
major strengths of Mayer’s work is that he
level standard against which we perceive
takes this question seriously. “Since
something as being subjective
violence has played such an enormous role
violence.26
in human affairs throughout the ages, and
exceptionally so in the twentieth century, it The objective violence is the real terror that
is surprising that contemporary political Twain identifies, and the reason it is
theorists have rarely ‘singled it out for overlooked is because we tend to view it
special consideration.’ This avoidance can from the wrong perspective.
be attributed, in part, to the ethical and Adding to this critique of the dominant
epistemic difficulty of conceptualizing and view that distorts the meaning of violence,
theorizing violence without justifying, Maurice Merleau-Ponty provides a similar
absolving, or condemning it.”25 Thus, it explanation. Although he wrote his book
seems that scholars may avoid such critical
Humanism and Terror: An Essay on the
theorizing out of fear of either becoming an Communist Problem in the context of a
apologist for the executions of the defense of the Soviet Union, it has a lot of
guillotine, or the misery that slaves and value to political theory in general, and in
members of the Third Estate lived under
conceptualizing violence and terror. His
throughout the Old Regime.
work has provided a theoretical framework
For Zizek, a major barrier for people in that countless scholars have used and
understanding the complexities of violence applied to the French Terror. “To respect
is precisely this distinction between the one who does not respect others is
visibility of the guillotine and the ultimately to despise them; to abstain from
invisibility of the “older and real Terror.” violence toward the violent is to become

144 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE MEANING OF VIOLENCE

their accomplice. We do not have a choice feudal Old Regime France, is premised on a
between purity and violence but between continual cycle of violence, does tolerating
different kinds of violence.”27 Much like this violence make one an accomplice to
Zizek, he understands that violence is more violence, perhaps like Merleau-Ponty
than beheadings or street fights. might argue?
Although they both aim to demystify Consider the recent report that implicates
violence, Merleau-Ponty perhaps puts it the Torey government’s austerity measure
more strongly when he writes that, “[h]e in the premature deaths of 120,000
who condemns all violence puts himself people.29 This is just another example of the
outside the domain to which justice and objective violence that Zizek wants us to
injustice belong. He puts a curse upon the understand. It’s largely invisible, slow, and
world and humanity – a hypocritical curse, unspectacular, in contrast to the public
since he who utters it has already accepted executions that left the streets of France
the rules of the game from the moment that stained and reeking of the nauseating
he has begun to live.”28 The “rules of the stench of blood.30 This is the world order
game” for Merleau-Ponty can be directly the counterrevolutionary wishes to use
connected to the “zero-level standard” violence in order to defend, a world filled
Zizek describes. If one accepts these rules with objective violence that so many fail to
of the game, then the zero-level standard is perceive because it is viewed against the
set. Thus, according to Merleau-Ponty, standard imposed by the ruling class.
accepting these rules of the game means Scholars in their effort to understand the
choosing to recognize one type of violence Reign of Terror, have largely, and
(objective) over the other (subjective). presumably, unconsciously agreed to what
Merleau-Ponty labeled as the rules of the
game. In so doing, they’ve missed or glossed
over what Twain called “that older and real
Terror.”
This narrow focus on the subjective
violence of the Reign of Terror serves a
useful purpose to the ruling class that
CONCLUSION wishes to prevent revolution. In this view,
the everyday oppression, slavery and
suffering in Old Regime France or the
120,000 deaths from austerity measures in
the U.K., does not count as violence. It is
Making sense of the Reign of Terror is not only when these victims rise up to
only difficult but necessary, precisely overthrow the perpetrators of the objective
because of the immense implications it has violence that it becomes real violence.
for subsequent historical events and the Certainly revolutions are violent, but so is
possibilities of the future. This paper has the “normal” functioning of society, and
chosen to analyze two distinct but counterrevolution. Thus, one must choose,
interlocked elements of the Terror: as Merleau-Ponty argues, not “between
counterrevolution and violence. If the purity and violence but between different
normal functioning of the state, in this case kinds of violence.”31

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 145


Jarrod Grammel

17. Mayer, The Furies, p. 23.


18. Ibid., p. 6. Here, Mayer quotes from
ENDNOTES Chalmers Johnson, Revolution and the Social
System, and Hannah Arendt, On Revolution
1. Maximilien Robespierre, “On the 19. Robin, The Reactionary Mind, p. 8.
Principles of Political Morality that Should 20. Timothy Tackett, The Coming of the
Guide the National Convention in the Terror in the French Revolution (Harvard
Domestic Administration of the Republic” in University Press, 2015), p. 276-277.
Virtue and Terror (New York: Verso, 2017), 21. Mayer, The Furies, p. 45.
p. 115. 22. Mayer, The Furies, p. 45. Here, Mayer
2. Francois Furet, Interpreting the French cites two sources by Furet in French.
Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 23. Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in
1977), p. 1. King Arthur’s Court (Project Gutenberg,
3. Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: 2006 [1889]), Chapter XIII. This is an ebook
Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah with no page numbers.
Palin (Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 4 24. Wahnich, In Defence, p. 98. Wahnich calls
and p. 42-43, though this theme runs this the “classic response” to the price of the
throughout the entire book. It should also be Terror.
noted that this point is hardly controversial. 25. Mayer, The Furies, p. 73. In this quote, he
4. Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French also references Arendt’s On Violence.
Revolution (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 26. Slavoj Zizek in Wahnich, In Defence, p.
2010), p. 5-6. XV.
5. Robin, The Reactionary Mind. Robin argues 27. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Humanism and
in this book that a main goal of conservatism Terror: An Essay on the Communist Problem
is this preservation of the old. A later section (Boston: Beacon Press, 1969 [1947]), p. 109.
will further investigate this claim and the 28. Ibid., p. 110.
relation of tactics, means, and ends. 29. Alex Matthews-King Health
6. Gough, The Terror, p. 6-7. Correspondent, "A Landmark Study Has
7. Ibid. Linked Tory Austerity to 120,000 Deaths,"
8. Domenico Losurdo, War and Revolution: The Independent, Nov. 16, 2017.
Rethinking the Twentieth Century (New York: 30. Gough, The Terror, p. 65. Gough details
Verso, 2015), p. 4. the gruesome sights of the public executions
9. Losurdo, War and Revolution, p. 5. here.
10. Ibid., p. 65. 31. Merleau-Ponty, Humanism and Terror, p.
11. Sophie Wahnich, In Defence of the Terror: 109.
Liberty or Death in the French Revolution
(Verso, 2012), p. 64.
12. Gough, The Terror, p. 11.
13. Robin’s The Reactionary Mind argues this BIBLIOGRAPHY
point specifically, but it has hardly become a
controversial statement. Furet, Francois. Interpreting the French
14. Arno J. Mayer, The Furies: Violence and Revolution. Cambridge University Press,
Terror in the French and Russian Revolutions 1977.
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, Gough, Hugh. The Terror in the French
2000), p. 53.
Revolution. New York: Palgrave
15. Robin, The Reactionary Mind, p. 43.
16. Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of
Macmillan, 2010.
Louis Bonaparte (New York: International Losurdo, Domenico. War and Revolution:
Publishers, 1991 [1852]) p. 15.

146 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE MEANING OF VIOLENCE

Rethinking the Twentieth Century. New


York: Verso, 2015.
Marx, Karl. The Eighteenth Brumaire of
Louis Bonaparte. New York: International
Publishers, 1991 [1852].
Matthews-King, Alex. "A Landmark
Study Has Linked Tory Austerity to
120,000 Deaths," The Independent, Nov.
16, 2017.
Mayer, Arno, J. The Furies: Violence and
Terror in the French and Russian
Revolutions. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 2000.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Humanism and
Terror: An Essay on the Communist
Problem. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969
[1947].
Robespierre, Maximilien. Virtue and
Terror. New York: Verso, 2017.
Robin, Corey. The Reactionary Mind:
Conservatism from Edmund Burke to
Sarah Palin. Oxford University Press,
2011.
Tackett, Timothy. The Coming of the
Terror in the French Revolution. Harvard
University Press, 2015.
Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur’s Court. Project Gutenberg,
2006 [1889].
Wahnich, Sophie. In Defence of the Terror:
Liberty or Death in the French Revolution.
Verso, 2012.

147
THE POVERTY
OF LIC
BO

THE
RI O
TA

FT
RY
ME

BY BEN

STAH
NKE
THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

How does metabolic rift analysis measure


up when applied to both contemporary and
historical problems of the built environ-
ment; specifically the phenomenon of mili-
tarized, imperial borders and border walls?

INTRODUCTION
border wall is the fragmentation

A —a socioecological divide by de-


sign—of a once-continuous
space; it is a partition, a disrup-
tion, and a geographical limit im-
posed upon a landscape by either economic or
political pressures. A wall is also a powerful
symbol of division, often cropping up where ir-
reparable rifts in the metabolic interactions of
polity, nature, and economy occur. While often
thought to act in a purely defensive capacity,
the prevailing impetus of border wall construc- flows of goods and people from a poorer state.”3
tion is, in fact, tied tightly to economy.1 The not- Further, political scientists Ron Hassner and
ed border wall researchers and political scien- Jason Wittenberg also argued that:
tists David Carter and Paul Poast observed "Contrary to conventional wisdom, states that
that, “[t]erritorial disputes are not consistently construct such barriers do not tend to suffer
found to be a factor pushing states to build disproportionately from terrorism, nor do they
walls.”2 As incredibly expensive undertakings, tend to be involved in a significant number of
border walls are constructed primarily to pro- territorial disputes. The primary motivation
tect the economic interests of wealthy states for constructing fortified barriers is not territo-
against those of poor states—“a strategy pri- ry or security but economics."4
marily for wealthier states to prevent illicit

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 149


Ben Stahnke

Border walls—never a product of nature, but a former. And in an increasingly unstable and re-
human artificiality imposed upon it—are a source-deficient world, the border walls of af-
product of, and a response to, human economic fluent and powerful nations act, increasingly, as
interests; and thus, by default, political inter- concrete manifestations of Garrett Hardin’s
ests. lifeboat ethics8—where, to ensure their survival
Where large-scale resource depletions5 and under circumstances of resource scarcity, the
economic instabilities are de rigueur for both rich and the powerful act, in self-interest, to
capitalist production and a rapidly-increasing shore themselves up against the poor in an ef-
global environmental change, there could the fort to protect not only their resources but their
future economic and security interests of afflu- sociopolitical homogeneities and hegemonies
ent states only take on increasingly protection- as well.
ist characteristics. And if border walls respond
primarily to economic pressures, then the eco-
nomic instabilities caused by global environ-
mental change could only increase the preva- As capitalist production con-
lence, frequency, scale, and scope of border for- tinues to drive wealth dispari-
tifications. When a state engages in both the
militarization and the large-scale fortification
ties and resource depletions,
of its national borders—that is when a state en- climatological and environ-
gages in the construction of a national border
wall—this means something for the state.
mental changes will only ex-
What this means, however, has never quite acerbate such disparities and
been certain.
depletions—swelling the
In a climatologically, geopolitically, and epi-
demiologically unstable world, border walls— ranks of the poor with the
asymmetrical fortifications built-up along the newly-dispossessed and the
national borders of states—are being con-
structed at an ever-accelerating rate.6 Between
landless.
the years 1800 and 2014, for example, there
have been at least sixty-two unique instances of
border wall constructions—with a full twenty-
While the predictions regarding exactly how
eight having been constructed since the year
many people will be displaced by global envi-
2000 alone.7 The proliferation of border fortifi-
ronmental change are “fraught with numerous
cations follows closely along the trajectory of
methodological problems and caveats,”9 agen-
environmental instability; an increase in the
cies such as the Environmental Justice Founda-
latter seems to correlate with an increase in the

150 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

tion (EJF) have calculated that approximately interwoven with the ways in which human soci-
150 million environmental refugees could be- eties organize their methods of production, re-
come displaced by the year 2050, with 26 mil- production, distribution, and consumption.
lion people “already [having] been displaced as Further, the demographical, economical, so-
a direct result of climate change.” According
10
ciopolitical, and technological dimensions13 of
to the EJF, 12 million people presently live in a humanity dominated by capitalist production
poverty due to climate change, 250 million are are not only interwoven with such rampant
presently affected by desertification, 508 mil- earth-level upheavals and changes; they cat-
lion presently live in water-stressed or water- alyze them. In other words, and more simply
scarce areas, and 2.8 billion people “live in areas put, when, under capitalism, human societies
of the world prone to more than one of the phys- build, produce, and reproduce their material
ical manifestations of climate change: floods, existence, they change the earth in ways that be-
storms, droughts, [and] sea level rise.”11 In light come destructive to the earth system itself. As
of these growing dispossessed and displaced capitalist production now progresses world-
populations, the response of the wealthy capi- historically, unfettered and essentially unchal-
talist states—such as the United States—will lenged by any oppositional economies, the
not be to welcome the growing numbers of cli- earth finds itself increasingly under attack for
mate refugees with open arms; the response of the sake of profit, power, and domination.
capitalist nations will not be internationalist, The changes and upheavals wrought upon the
humanitarian, and communistic in nature. world by capitalist production will, according
Rather, it will be protectionist and Malthusian to the IPCC, “persist for centuries to millennia
—characterized by a “fundamental mean- and will continue to cause further long-term
ness” of strategy and fascistic protectionism.
12
changes in the climate system.”14 If we, from a
scientific lens of Marxism-Leninism, are to
struggle for—and win—a truly equitable and
THE NECESSITY OF sustainable future, then we must, under the
METABOLIC RIFT THEORY economic regulation of a state apparatus guid-
ed by the people, curtail and strongly regulate
FOR BUILT-ENVIRONMENT
both the means and the methods of our eco-
ANALYSES nomic production; we must change the ways by

As previously noted, climate scientists, earth which the dominant, now-global socioeconom-

scientists, and organizations such as the Inter- ic order monopolizes the production and re-

governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) production of the material existence of the hu-

have consistently—and alarmingly—demon- man species. To do so, and to continue to ad-

strated, the climatological and environmental dress the profound landlessness, exclusionary

upheavals currently underway are intricately border militarizations, and the forced dispos-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 151


Ben Stahnke

sessions now underway, we must deeply under- standing, but the in situ characteristics of the
stand the mechanisms by which capitalist pro- rift between human social life and the physical
duction has profoundly “disturb[ed] the earth as it occurs under capitalist production.
metabolic interaction between man and Here, Marx urged us to investigate the specific
earth” ; where capitalist socioeconomy, in an
15
metabolic rift endemic to the social metabolism
act of fundamental self-destruction, “produces of capitalism—the relationship of wage labor,
conditions that provoke an irreparable rift in capital, and the earth—as compared to other
the interdependent process of social metabolic forms, and tied tightly to not only the
metabolism, a metabolism prescribed by the production of and reproduction of economic
natural laws of life itself.”16 However, as Marx and social conditions, but to ecological condi-
himself noted in the Grundrisse: tions as well. Simply put, the rift of capitalist
"It is not the unity of living and active humanity social metabolism is not only between physical
with the natural, inorganic conditions of their beings and the physical earth, exemplified by
metabolic exchange with nature, and hence the built environment and hateful divisions,
their appropriation of nature, which require ex- but between active human social life and the
planation or is the result of a historical process, physical earth as well; a rift which is at once ma-
but rather the separation between these inor- terial and ideological—producing an alien-
ganic conditions of human existence and this ation of ecological, economical, and social im-
active existence, a separation which is com- port.
pletely posited only in the relation of wage labor Yet focusing on the rift alone—devoid of an
and capital."17
historico-ecological understanding—will not
In other words, it is not the human social provide for us a complete picture where the rift-
metabolism itself which is in need of under- ed separation of humanity and land is con-
cerned. To do so, we need to conceptualize rift
as a specific moment in the dialectic of humani-
ty and land, historically-situated and endemic
to the unique methods and means of produc-
tion through which a group, a polity, or a state
enacts its material existence; its mode of pro-
duction through which it both produces and re-
produces itself. It is my contention that what
has come to be known as Metabolic Rift Theory
—as currently developed through the work of
John Bellamy Foster, Kohei Saito, Ian Angus,
and others—is, at present, an inadequate theo-
retical framework through which political eco-

152 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

logical analyses or critiques may take place, pre- late the necessity and political ecological appli-
cisely due to the fact that it is, as presently en- cability of Metabolic Rift Theory as a theoreti-
acted and isolated from the larger body of ex- cal framework in its own right.
tant Marxist-Leninist theory, both an ahistori-
cal and an undialectical framework.
In the pages that follow, I focus on the problem SOCIAL METABOLISM
that, where the built environment is concerned, The concept of social metabolism, in both the
Metabolic Rift Theory is inadequately applied socio-ecological and the historical materialist
to historical social metabolism in such a way that sense, is an implicitly material process, and one
it ignores not only the dialectic of world-histor- which is enacted by all species-beings in their
ical economical fluctuation, but climatological autopoietic and self-productive activity. The
fluctuation as well. In short, Metabolic Rift philosopher Kohei Saito captured the defini-
Theory is, as a fruitful political ecological appli- tion of social metabolism well, by noting that:
caton of Marx's work, not yet fully articulated. “All living creatures must go through constant
My humble efforts in this article are, primarily, interaction with their environment if they are
to lend my own voice towards a fuller articula- to live upon this planet. The totality of these in-
tion of Metabolic Rift Theory (MRT) in an at- cessant processes creates not a static but an
tempt to further develop the explanatory, de- open-ended dynamic process of nature.”18 The
scriptive, and normative potentials of MRT for political scientist John Bellamy Foster—one of
the Marxist-Leninist spheres of political ecolo- the leading contemporary contributors to
gy: for practical communistic applications of Metabolic Rift Theory in the modern era—also
environmental political science and environ- noted that:
mental political theory.
"Marx therefore employed the concept [of
Through a lens of both dialectical and historical metabolism] both to refer to the actual
materialism, I aim to focus, specifically, on the metabolic interaction between nature and soci-
conceptual relationship between MRT, social ety through human labor […] and in a wider
metabolism, and the economical theories of sense (particularly in the Grundrisse) to de-
centralization and decentralization—of em- scribe the complex, dynamic, interdependent
pire and feudalism—as well as the specific ways set of needs and relations brought into being
in which such a relationship manifests itself not and constantly reproduced in alienated form
only in history, but on the landscape in terms of under capitalism, and the question of human
the built environment. I will also consider the freedom it raised—all of which could be seen as
dialectical theory at the heart of MRT in an ef- being connected to the way in which the human
fort to more fully explain the dialectical and metabolism with nature was expressed through
world-historical (Weltgeschichtlich) character the concrete organization of human labor. The
of MRT itself. Thus, I hope to more fully articu- concept of metabolism thus took on both a spe-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 153


Ben Stahnke

cific ecological meaning and a wider social and reproduction. For our purposes, the chang-
meaning." 19
ing, or the transformation of matter, is implied
For Marx himself, however, metabolism was by the concept of metabolism. For an organism
defined as: to maintain an existential longevity qua
species, a delicate and dynamic balance be-
"a process between man and nature, a process
tween itself and the environment—between
by which man, through his own actions, medi-
life and the earth, biota and abiota, species and
ates, regulates, and controls the metabolism be-
world—must be struck; the biosphere in toto
tween himself and nature […] Through this
being one complex and delicate dance of bal-
movement he acts upon external nature and
ance between life and the inorganic earth, a true
changes it, and in this way he simultaneously
dialectic of opposites and contradictions sub-
changes his own nature."20
sumed as a unity.
From the materialist position, for physical life
Social metabolism—the circulation of matter
to exist at all, there must a metabolic interaction
and material for the production and reproduc-
occur: a species-being, or a species, must break
tion of human species-existence—was, for
down physical matter, nourish and build itself
Marx, not an idea in abstracto a priori; it was not
up, and produce waste.21 Humanity, like all
an idea first crafted and then laid upon humani-
species, subsists and persists by way of a
ty, thus forcing humanity to fit the mold of an
metabolism with the earth. Metabolism is, for
ungrounded idea-structure. Rather, it was one
our purposes and in the socio-ecological sense,
which was abstracted directly from the social
the breaking down and the building up of physi-
and economic perceptions of the environmen-
cal matter for the sustenance of physical life.
tal interactions of humanity itself; one which
From the Ancient Greek, the word
was grounded upon a material recognition of
“metabolism” itself derives from metabállō,
the dialectical and ecological identity between
which translates simply as “change,” or “to
organism and environment. “The German
change.” The word may further be broken
word ‘Stoffwechsel,’” John Bellamy Foster not-
down to meta, meaning “beyond” or “above,”
ed, “directly sets out in its elements the notion
and bállō, meaning “throw”—thus in its origi-
of ‘material exchange’ that underlies the notion
nal sense, denoting a “change by throwing,” im-
of structured processes of biological growth
pacted by an outside force, or a force beyond
and decay captured in the term
simply autonomy.
‘metabolism.’” 22
Such a conception was also,
In its fullest sense, we might conceptualize for Marx, implicitly dialectical: a “unity and
metabolism as the implicit transformative struggle of opposites.”23 The striving towards a
quality of matter itself; a material, autopoietic healthy dialectical and sustainable metabolism
process in which all living things are engaged between the human species and the earth was
continually for the sake of their own existence thus, for Marx, a central focus of communism

154 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

—a theory which “differs from all previous only dispossess great swaths
movements in that it overturns the basis of all
earlier relations of production … [and which] of humanity through resource
turns existing conditions into conditions of uni- depletion and climate change,
ty.”24
but also to make inhospitable
the world for life itself.
METABOLIC RIFT
As Ashley Dawson noted in Extinction: A Radi-
cal History, capitalist production, as a complex
system of productive, distributive, and social The rift of capitalist metabolism followed, for
relationships, “depends on continuous com- Marx, along two primary lines:
modification of [the] environment to sustain its 1. it had “concentrated the historical motive
growth,” and, in the process, consumes “en-
25
power of society”27 away from the manors to the
tire ecosystems.”26 towns, thus creating the sociopolitical condi-
tions for a new hierarchical stratification, with
the emergent bourgeoisies on top; and
2. it “disturb[ed] the metabolic interaction be-
For Marx, such a system tween man and earth, i.e. it prevent[ed] the re-
could only be predicated upon turn to the soil of its constituent elements con-
sumed by man in the form of food and cloth-
a broken, rifted metabolism; a ing.”28
metabolism where resources Where the rise of capitalist production had, for

were—and are—consumed Marx, driven the disparity between town and


country—where early Enclosure and Com-
faster than they are replen- mons legislations had purposefully rifted a
ished; a system which has, once-feudal humanity from the land itself,
moving populations from the country into
through the outcomes of its towns by way of enclosures, clearings, and eco-
metabolic practices, rifted hu- nomic incentivizations—here we might find
the strongest historical evidence for the ways in
manity from a sustainable in- which capitalist production not only relies up-
teractionism with the earth; on the forced relocation and division of subal-
tern and indigenous populations, but that capi-
and a system which, left
talist production itself also relies upon purpose-
unchecked, promised to not ful social rifts.

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Ben Stahnke

On the one hand, as Marx noted in the Grun- "an archetypal organic economy, where the
drisse, capitalism tore down the feudal “barri- farmers fetched whatever they needed from the
ers which hem[med] in the development of land: food, fodder for the animals—some
forces of production, the expansion of needs, sheared, some slaughtered, some employed as
the all-sided development of production, and beasts of burden—furniture, building materi-
the exploitation and exchange of natural and als, originally even fuel for the fires: everything
mental forces.” Such a tearing-down, as Paul
29
came from the fields and the forests. […] A
Burkett noted in Marx and Nature, explained growing [bourgeoisie] sector could continue to
“how capital opens up possibilities for less re- grow only if it seized a larger slice of the pie from
stricted forms of human development.”30 How- another. Within the tight energy budget of the
ever, on the other hand, as Marx further noted organic economy, where all activities jostled for
in the Grundrisse, capitalist production de- access to the same finite area of photosynthetic
prived the feudal subject of “nature worship, productivity, the process of growth could not
[…] complacent, encrusted, satisfactions of possibly become universal or self-sustaining:
present needs, and reproductions of [the] old sooner rather than later, it would peter out."32
ways of life.”31 Andreas Malm, in Fossil Capital: Where the upswing of capitalism entailed a
The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global tearing-down of the previous structures of
Warming, noted that, for example, prior to cap- land, ownership, and society—as well as the re-
italist industrialization England was: moval of prior feudal boundaries—there also
did the ossification and eventual downswing of
capitalism eventually rebuild a new increasing-
ly decentralized and (re)feudal structures.
Here, the return to a decentralized mode of or-
ganization and production—an economic phe-
nomenon known as feudalization—refers not
to a replication of feudalism, but a resemblance:
the decentralization of heretofore centralized
economic modes, and the splitting up of what
was once amalgamated, congealed, and homo-
geneous.
Prior to capitalist industrialization, the
metabolism of humanity and the earth system
was in a state of better ecological health; the di-
alectic of humanity and land itself was, for a
time, not as destructive as it is today. However,
the dialectical conception does not imply a stat-

156 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

ic interaction; it is a dynamic of interactionism istence as parts unto themselves


and change relying upon multiple inputs and 5. A whole may be more than the sum of its
outputs. Thus, following the logic of a system parts; conversely, the properties of parts are ac-
driven by profit and accumulation at all cost, quired by their relationship to the whole; how-
the world as-it-is lay dormant within that late ever, through a lens of alienation, the intrinsic
feudal/early capitalist epoch. properties of parts confer themselves to a con-
ceptualization of the whole

RIFT AND THE ECOLOGI- 6. Parts and wholes sublate; i.e., there exists in
situ an interpenetration of parts and wholes
CAL IDENTITY which ultimately reflect the ontological inter-
For Marx, the theory of the irreparable rift of penetration of the categories of subject and ob-
capitalist production rested upon a nuanced ject. In other words, a being, an organism, an
conceptualization of the tensioned ecological ecological community, etc. is both a subject and
unity of humanity and land—of species and en- an object of nature, where their evolution is
vironment—and the entangled, dialectical in- concerned. An organism is a creator-creature34
teractionism thereof. Such a conceptualization of its world, and organisms qua species take
was both world-historical and dialectical in na- both an active and a passive role in their evolu-
ture, in that it rested upon the following six tion over time; i.e., biological and biospheric
premises of historical materialism: feedback works in a two-way—dialectical—
1. The dynamic world entails contradiction fashion. The radical historian Thomas Martin
observed that, ultimately, “change occurs be-
2. Increasing evolutionary complexity
cause of the dialectical tension between oppos-
emerges from intrinsic ecological contradic-
ing processes. This ‘law of the interpenetration
tion, and is itself, as complexity, an emergent
of opposites’ is rather like the Taoist concept of
characteristic entailed by the sublation of sim-
dynamic equilibrium.”35
plicities
In essence, for Marx, the theories of both social
3. Where complexity emerges, quantity thus
metabolism and metabolic rift were ecological-
transforms itself into quality, and vice versa. As
ontological at heart; they provide for us—as
Friedrich Engels noted, “For our purpose, we
Marxists-Leninists—a conceptualization of
could express this by saying that in nature, in a
the complex and nuanced interactions between
manner exactly fixed for each individual case,
species and environment; a conceptualization
qualitative changes can only occur by the quan-
which is at once radical and revolutionary, di-
titative addition or subtraction of matter or mo-
alectical and historical. In Karl Marx’s Ecoso-
tion (so-called energy)”33
cialism: Capital, Nature, and the Unfinished Cri-
4. Any perceived whole is in reality a relation of tique of Political Economy, Kohei Saito observed
heterogeneous parts with no prior, separate ex-
that:

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Ben Stahnke

"Only a systematic analysis of Marx’s theory of tuations of climatological and environmental


metabolism as an integral part of his critique of impacts as well. Without an explicit recogni-
political economy can convincingly demon- tion of the dialectical, material nature of
strate, against the critics of his ecology, how the metabolic rift theory, any rift analysis of the
capitalist mode of production brings about var- built environment becomes an idealized, or an
ious types of ecological problems due to its insa- abstracted, notion—a notion which easily falls
tiable desire for capital accumulation. And why prey to the utopian imagination.
radical social change on a global scale, one that
consciously constructs a cooperative, non-cap-
THE DIALECTIC OF NATURE
italist economic structure, is indispensable if
AND RIFT
humanity is to achieve a sustainable regulation
of natural and social metabolism."36 Marx’s conception of metabolism acknowl-
edged a dialectical interconnectedness of hu-
While MRT has been variously applied to the
manity and the earth system—an intercon-
fields of ecology, political theory, geography,
nectedness which provides, from a socio-eco-
and sociology, its theoretical situation inside of
logical lens, an explanatory recognition of what
the larger theory of social metabolism has yet to
Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin called
be either explored or more fully articulated.
“the interpenetration of parts and wholes.”37 If
This is due to the fact that, in part, metabolic rift
radical political ecologists—who seek to de-
theorists have yet to fully incorporate the foun-
vote their efforts to the applied Marxism of ex-
dational dialectical framework upon which
tant Marxist-Leninist states—are to utilize
metabolic rift and social metabolism ultimately
metabolism and metabolic rift theory as an ana-
rest. And, similarly, that the theory itself re-
lytical framework in the descriptive, evalua-
tains a quasi-utopian character which ultimate-
tive, and normative sense, we must first recover
ly disavows an actual political application by
and briefly recapitulate metabolic rift theory’s
Marxist-Leninist states today. Like much aca-
unique philosophical foundation: what the
demic Marxism, it believes in a Marxism yet to
Marxist political philosopher—and my late
come, and ignores the spaces of the world in
mentor—Scott Warren called, in general, di-
which serious political and ecological applica-
alectical theory. Warren noted that:
tions of Marxism are presently underway.
Metabolic Rift Theory must be geared towards, "Marx’s dialectical philosophy calls for reality

and made relevant to, extant forms of socialism, to be viewed as the reflective and actively redi-

if it is to be useful at all. rective existence of human beings in relation to


a continually changing and relational world.
In the light of a robust dialectical materialist
Man as fundamentally ‘social man’ is viewed di-
framework, Metabolic Rift Theory itself be-
alectically ‘as a totality of social relationships,
comes historical in nature and includes not only
changing through history—and, in the last
theories of economical cyclicality, but the fluc-

158 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

analysis, a being as yet undiscovered and eman- In The Dialectical Biologist, Richard Levins and
cipated.’ Man is the focal subject-object of his- Richard Lewontin noted three pertinent di-
tory and reality: as subject he participates in the alectical premises which both underly and de-
creation of the world; as object he is created by fine the dialectical notion:
the world. He is the creator-creature of the 1. That, “a whole is a relation of heterogeneous
world." 38
parts that have no prior independent existence
Metabolic Rift Theory rests upon a dialectical as parts”42
conception of humanity and the earth: humani- 2. That, “in general, the properties of parts
ty as “creator-creature” and “species being.”40 have no prior alienated existence but are ac-
In Ecology and Historical Materialism, the polit- quired by being parts of a particular whole. In
ical philosopher Jonathan Hughes summed up the alienated world the intrinsic properties of
the dialectical notion well, with the observation the alienated parts confer properties on the
that: whole, which may in addition take on new prop-
erties that are not characteristic of the parts: the
whole may not be more than the sum of its
parts”43
“the relation between human 3. And that, “the interpenetration of parts and
beings and non-human na- wholes is a consequence of the interchangeabil-
ity of subject and object, of cause and effect. […]
ture is a two-way affair. Hu- Organisms are both the subjects and the objects
of evolution. They both make and are made by
mans are affected by non-hu- the environment and are thus actors in their
man nature and in turn affect own evolutionary theory”44
In essence, the dialectical notion rests upon a
it. Indeed, the two elements notion of sublated interdependence, i.e. the unity
of this relation, and their in- and struggle of opposites; that parts comprise a
whole, that a whole is comprised of parts, and
terplay, are essential to our that, for a sound dialectical theoretical frame-
work to exist at all, such a framework must rest
understanding of environ-
upon a totalized notion. The totalizing dialecti-
mental problems.” 41 cal analysis is also, at heart, an analysis of
change, in that opposing duals such as humanity
and environment do not sit in static opposition
to each other, but in dynamic, transformative-
interactional, and kinetic identity-opposition;

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Ben Stahnke

where each side both posits and informs the


other over time. The dialectical notion is thus
not only, at heart, an ontological assertion, but
an epistemological-evaluative framework
which has profound implications for any analy-
ses which might occur on the intersection of hu-
manity and the environment.
To fully conceptualize MRT as an extension of
dialectical theory, however, we must of course
return, on some level, to the philosopher Georg
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who, in moving for-
ward Immanuel Kant’s notion of the dyadic an- ist nor reductive-materialist in nature, but be-
tagonism of opposites,45 sought to ground such gins from—and moves forward—the complex
an antagonism—to sublate such an antagonism and nuanced presentation of reality itself: the
—within an overarching unitive notion. In Phe- dialectical interaction—the two-way causa-
nomenology of Spirit, Hegel argued that the in- tion—of part and whole, species and environ-
terconnection between opposites comprised a ment, human and world. Philosopher Borna
movement, or a motion, albeit a philosophical Radnik, in his essay “Hegel on the Double
one, where: Movement of Aufhebung,” explained that:

"The movement is the two-fold process and the "The treatment of causation in The Science of
genesis of the whole, in such-wise that each side Logic is not a simple movement where one term
simultaneously posits the other, and each encounters its antithesis and sublates itself. On
therefore has both perspectives within itself; the contrary, causality engenders a reciprocal
together they thus constitute the whole by dis- action, and is what Hegel calls a double transi-
solving themselves, and by making themselves tion or a double movement (gedopplete Bewe-
into its [the whole’s] moments.46 gung), where the cause determines the effect,
and the effect determines the cause."48
And in Elements of the Philosophy of Right, Hegel
also noted that, “The two sides [i.e. subjectivity However, in The German Ideology, Marx and
and objectivity] must be distinguished—each Engels proclaimed that, “In direct contrast to
as independent [für sich]—and posited as iden- German philosophy [a soft reference to Hegel]
tical.”47 The dialectical notion itself—the nu- which descends from heaven to earth, here we
anced, progressive, and dynamic sublation of ascend from earth to heaven.”49 For Marx, the
opposites—is thus one which at once acknowl- dialectic could only ever be a dialectic ground-
edges both the part and the whole; avoiding the ed upon materialism; but not reduced to materi-
problematic reduction of one into the other. alism. Thus, the dialectic is not simply a reduc-
And in this regard, it is neither reductive-ideal- tive materialist analysis which posits a one-way

160 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

material causation, but a two-way, interaction- toward A and -A”54


al-causative analytical framework; one which is 5. “In any concrete continuum, whether tem-
superior to either a reductive positivism/mate- poral or non-temporal, there is a middle ground
rialism or a reductive constructivism/idealism between two contiguous opposite properties A
in that it both straddles and sublates both posi- and -A, i.e., a stretch of the continuum where it
tions into a grander, and more nuanced, theo- is not true that everything is either A or -A”55
retical framework.
6. “In any concrete continuum, there is a
In their 1948 article “The Unity of Opposites: stretch where something is both A and -A”56
The Dialectical Principle,” V.J. McGill and
In so many words, Metabolic Rift Theory and
W.T. Parry added historiographical and philo-
the dialectical notion at its heart sit outside of
sophical nuance to the dialectical notion by not-
—and transcend, even—the postulates of for-
ing that, “The unity of opposites, which Lenin
mal and symbolic logic. They require a dialecti-
described as the most important of the dialecti-
cal logic which, although obscured by history,
cal principles, states that a thing is determined
flourished in the writings of such Soviet
by its internal opposites,” and that:
thinkers as Evald Ilyenkov, who, in his Dialec-
"The principle was first put forward by the tial Logic, observed that: “in order for dialectics
Milesian philosophers of the sixth century B.C., to be an equal collaborator in concrete scientific
and by their contemporary, Heraclitus of Eph- knowledge, it must first develop the system of
esus. It held its own through centuries of philo- its own specific philosophical concepts, from
sophical thought, though it took various forms the angle of which it could display the strength
which were seldom clearly distinguished."50 of critical distinction in relation to actually giv-
McGill and Parry further noted six important en thought and consciously practised meth-
postulates of the dialectical principle—equally ods.”57 A fuller articulation of MRT must thus
important as corollary postulates to MRT as include a rehabilitation of and a return to the
well: dialectic if it is to withstand any level of scruti-
1. (a) “The conception (or perception) of any- ny.
thing involves the conception (or perception) of
its opposite,” and (b) “The existence of a thing
FEUDALISM AND THE ECO-
involves the existence of an opposite”51
2. “Polar opposites are identical”52
LOGICAL-ECONOMICAL
3. “A concrete thing or process is a unity of op- CYCLES OF METABOLISM
posite determinations"53 Metabolic rift, if it is to be a thing which is both
4. “A concrete system or process is simultane- analyzable and solvable by Marxist-Leninist
ously determined by oppositely directed political ecology, must be historical. That is, it
forces, movements, tendencies, i.e., directed must be an historical phenomenon to which we

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Ben Stahnke

can point; not an abstract idea with no ground- Land, Law, and Lordship in Anglo-Norman Eng-
ing in the great marches of time. But where and land, legal historian John Hudson noted that,
when does rift occur? And when we look to ana- “Lordship was a key element in land-holding in
lyze border fortifications, and their implica- the Anglo-Norman period. Tenure—the rela-
tions for not only the built environment but for tionship of lord, tenant, and land—and its se-
the imperial state as well, how might we begin curity have been areas of considerable interest
to understand the interconnection of walls, for historians both of law and politics.”58 Hud-
rifts, and historical social metabolisms qua son went on to note that, “Control of land was a
modes of production? It is my contention here crucial aspect of power in Anglo-Norman Eng-
that metabolic rift is, both conceptually and his- land, and land-holding has been central to legal
torically, a moment in the political-metabolic historians’ consideration of the same period.”59
dialectic of imperialization and (re)feudaliza- The manorial system, as the obscure but im-
tion; a moment specific to the transitionary pe- pactful Marxist economist John Trout Rader
riod between modes of production, where the observed: “surrounded by small farms, formed
political-economic characteristics of emergent the economic core around which the social
feudalisms and imperialisms progress of-and- regime of feudalism was established. Evidently,
from each other, dialectically, over time. It is the strictest form of the system predominated
thus a recurring phenomenon and not one sim- in France and West Germany. The system was
ply endemic to capitalist production alone. As unique in Europe and indeed in the world.”60
an historical phenomenon, metabolic rift must According to Rader, the major distinguishing
by necessity both follow and prefigure history. features of an economic manorial feudalism
Where empire and feudalism progress were as follows:
throughout history—central and decentral pe-
1. “a relatively self-sufficient regional econo-
riods negating each other in a series of move-
my, whose boundaries were limited by trans-
ments over time—there, too, might we witness
portation costs and the nature of the market.
the moment of metabolic rift as symbolic such a
negation: as a moment in the dialectic of impe- 2. extensive economic obligation to the lords
rial and feudal economy, and as a herald of who served as the judicial and administrative

things to come. government,

Feudalism itself, in the European sense, as both 3. otherwise, a system of free individual agri-
an historical economic epoch and a sociopoliti- culture, except that some labor was bound to

cal quality (qua feudalization), emerged around the land,

the economy of manorialism: where the socioe- 4. a level of technique which was above that of
conomic dialectic of fiefdom and vassalage— the latifundia system which the manor re-
complicated biopower relationships of proper- placed.”61
ty, legality, and responsibility—prevailed. In Further, Rader claimed, “The manorial system

162 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

[could only] be sustained only under a relatively imperial metabolism which


egalitarian regime. Otherwise, one must orga-
nize elaborate institutions for the exploitation itself prefigures a progressive
of labor.”62 Where the economics of feudalism return to both collapse and
were built around hierarchical reciprocity—le-
gal and social responsibilities between lords
refeudalization.
and vassals—what then is to explain the move-
ment of such a quasi-egalitarian model to the
oppressive, repressive, and ecologically de-
structive metabolism of capitalist production FEUDALIZATION AND IMPE-
—its rifted and separated practices? Here we
RIALIZATION
must return to the dialectical notion, but a di-
alectic of empire and fief, of refeudalization and In The Economics of Feudalism, Rader summed
imperialization. up his conception of the cyclical-dialectical po-
litical movement between empire and feudal-
ization well, by stating that:
"An explanation of the empire cycle now ap-
Simply put, the momentum pears. As the empire and the barbarian meet,
the barbarian gradually learns the civilized
of feudalism represents a
methods of war making. Only steady technical
building-up from decentral- progress in military affairs can keep the empire
ization to centralization; vio- a step ahead of the barbarian. On the other
hand, as the barbarian learns to defend himself
lent consolidation paving the against imperial slave expeditions, the slave in-
way for an emergent imperi- flow falls, causing slave-incomes at home to rise
in order to preserve population equilibrium.
alization which represents […] Eventually, the barbarian is knowledgeable
the pinnacle of centraliza- enough to use this superior strength. Small
armies of barbarians are able to conquer areas of
tion, where, to feed ever- relatively large population. The empire passes
growing economic appetites, over to plunder and perhaps some barbarian
leaders set themselves up as rulers. The outside
resources and environments
culture is imposed; the cities which were con-
are quickly outstripped— structed on tribute disappear, and a ‘dark’ ages
reigns."63
thus leading to a rift in the
Further, Rader noted that:

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Ben Stahnke

"Only the advent of a technical improvement rope, where the monastic orders and the emer-
can give one region an advantage over another. gent ideas of progress lent themselves to a social
When this finally occurs, that region spreads its equilibrium which persisted more or less in-
domination, likely as not enslaves those who tact for the duration of the feudal period.
are conquered, and constructs a new capital Where such methods were employed in the
city. There are available cities with substantial maintenance of imperialization, there have
resources, which can be the basis of real eco- been in actu no imperial polities which have es-
nomic surplus beyond a totally decentralized caped their own demise, deconstruction, and
economy. The empire is reborn under new resultant feudalization of heretofore imperial
masters and the cycle begins again."64 territories, economies, and populations. Such
There were, and are, according to Rader, three failings, however, have not been due to a col-
methods by which an end to the imperial cycle lapse of feudalism by way of a rifted socioeco-
of rift and refeudalization may occur. Such at- nomic metabolism—metabolic rift belonging
tempts represent only the historical ways in squarely to the waning phase of imperializa-
which imperial polities have acted to maintain tion, itself predicated upon an outstripping of
political, social, and economic equilibriums. both resource and environment—but by vio-
lent overthrow and the building up of an alter-
1. “First, an empire may dispose of barbarian
native system: a system which lay dormant in
problems, whether by conquering the barbar-
the feudal mercantile, manufacturing, and
ians, by minimizing contact with them, or by
banking structures; waiting only for an histori-
having such a rapid increase in technology so as
cal actualization. “Although there was a Marxi-
to be always a step ahead of them,”65
an assumption that political power is the in-
2. “Second, under a feudal regime, there may strument of the upper class and that feudalism
be a uniform distribution of technical progress contained the seed of its own destruction,”
so that changes in the balance of power are min- Rader observed, “it is not the decline of the po-
imized. Due to the discreteness of technical sition of the upper classes under feudalism but
progress, this appears possible only if there is rather the greater opportunity under an alter-
either very rapid or no technical progress,”66 native system which motivated dismantling
3. “Third, there may be developed new institu- the system.” 68
tions to cope with the needs of population equi- Over time, attempts at imperialization have
librium and a high standard of living. In effect, emerged, faltered, and refeudalized. In the
through the development of social science, great historical movement of feudalism, the
technology can be turned to the very problem Merovingian and Carolingian69 dynasties
of the empire cycle.” 67
which themselves fed post-Conquest (1066)
The last two methods, Rader noted, were em- feudalism, can be seen as such attempts. “The
ployed by the feudalisms of northwestern Eu- Merovingian (466-475) and Carolingian

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THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

(751-987) dynasties,” Rader noted, “might be man lands with an absence of Roman authority,
thought to represent attempts to restore some- legality, and political structure. Those who
thing of the old [Roman] order. However, ac- lived during those times, according to Bloch,
counts of its economic and political organiza- “felt themselves to be living in a hateful atmo-
tion make it clear that at their strongest, these sphere of disorder and violence. Feudalism was
were the familiar folk-nations, and at their born in the midst of an infinitely troubled
weakest, they were loose confederations lead epoch, and in some measure it was a child of
by the chief bandit turned conqueror.” 70
The those troubles themselves.”73 The decline of the
great decline of European feudalism proper— hegemony of the Roman jurisdiction in Europe
an era which we can circumscribe by the period —the final years of the Pax Romana—signi-
between 1100 and 1500—could not have oc- fied, for the Western world, an end to the slave
curred but through the mechanisms built into mode of production and an initiation toward
feudalism itself: within the mercantile, manu- the movement into a feudal mode of produc-
facturing, and banking apparatuses of feudal tion; it represented a shift in how former-Ro-
society. man subjects expressed their lives; a change in
Indeed, the term feudalism itself only arose in what and how they produced the materials re-
the later eighteenth century71 as a retrospective quired to produce and reproduce their physical
designator for the post-Carolingian, pre-capi- lives.
talist period of Europe’s history. Feudalism it-
self is a term applied with a broad brush to a set
of quasi-disparate geographical and historical
phenomena clustered between the years 1000
and 1600 in Europe. Thus, when discussing
feudalism as a whole, care must be take not to
overgeneralize nor to apply unique geographi-
cal and cultural phenomena of one time and re-
gion to all others. Marc Bloch noted that, “It
would […] be a grave mistake to treat ‘feudal
civilization’ as being all of one piece chronologi-
cally.”72
Following the collapse of the Roman Empire,
the withdrawal of the Roman legions from their
previous seats of jurisdictional power left Eu-
rope in a tumultuous upheaval. Between the
fourth and sixth centuries CE, Rome’s Euro-
pean hegemony faltered—leaving once-Ro-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 165


Ben Stahnke

However, where once stood the safety of the advancements flourished as well. “In the late
Roman Peace by way of legal, political, and mil- Middle Ages, there was a gradual shift from the
itaristic structures which ensured the hegemo- manorial system to tenant farming. This event
ny of Roman life, European former-Roman opened up the possibility of a greater capital-
subjects now found themselves without protec- ization of agriculture. […] The movement from
tion in the face of increasing invasions—from payment in kind (including labor) to sharecrop-
Hungarian, from Norse, and from Islamic ping and/or rents ultimately undermined feu-
raiders. Bloch noted that: dal society.”76
"Forged several centuries earlier in the fiery
crucible of the Germanic invasions, the new
[feudal] civilization of the West, in its turn,
seemed like besieged citadel […] It was at-
There occurred, in the move-
tacked from three sides at once: in the south by
ment from feudalism to capi-
the devotees of Islam, Arabs or their Arabized
talism, no metabolic rift of
subjects; in the east by Hungarians; and in the
feudal production; rather,
north by Scandinavians."74
feudal production evolved, in-
With no central legislative and protective au- creasingly centralized in the
thority, and with no ability for the disparate hands of manufacturing
polities to band together to defend themselves guilds and influential mer-
against outside raids, the peoples of pre-feu- chant families. The modern
dal/post-Roman Europe found themselves in era thus became characterized
several centuries of precarity and uncertainty. by a shift of power from the no-
Over time, and as the power of the burghs and bility to the spheres of manu-
the burghers grew, the noble aristocracy found facturing and trade,
themselves increasingly indebted to them. “All “whence,” Rader noted, “it
through the later Middle Ages, great princes lost its feudal character on po-
and petty lords alike were in arrears to mer- litical as well as economic
chants, manufacturers, and bankers,” Rader grounds.”
observed. “As the debt grew, the lords could
[either] repudiate it by force and thereby lose
the opportunity of borrowing again, or they
could surrender their lands and grant monopo-
lies in payment.”75 As economic—and thus po- Where, in the transition from feudalism to

litical—power became centralized in the capitalism—a transition which, as Claudio J.

hands of the burghers—the emergent bour- Katz noted, “can be referred back to the ques-

geoisies—technological, legal, and economic tion of the conditions which gave rise to the ac-

166 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

cumulation of capital and facilitated it”77— showed fear, respect, but no love for the great
class relationships played as much a part as the lords of the manors. In France, and in England,
forces of production, we find, simply, relation- they supported the Reformation and the
ships between humans themselves; nuanced, of Crown; in the low countries and Switzerland,
course, by the economic and material realities they whittled away the lords’ power."79
by which humanity must sustain and reproduce Eventually, the strategic coordination of tech-
its existence. These relationships presuppose nology, power consolidation, and industry
an interest in economic advantage. Such an in- caused the structure of feudalism to be at odds
terest in advantage could only have driven the with the new, emergent economic reality80;
movement of feudalism to capitalism, where, as and, “In West Europe, this was the case during
Rader noted: “The economic advantages of the the 15th century [where it] set the stage for a
demise of the manorial system would seem to class war between the landed aristocracy and
be two: urban bourgeoisie,”81 which, indeed, did come
1. Labor markets would be more highly orga- to pass during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and
nized, and eighteenth centuries.
2. the capitalization of agriculture would pro- Marxism-Leninism, as political and economic
ceed with greater speed.”78 policy, must mediate these great historical
With increasingly organized labor markets, an movements; it must manage and mitigate,
increasing capitalization of agriculture, and the through a sublated unity, decentralization by
resultant consolidation of class power by the way of centralization. Communism is neither
bourgeoisies, the social metabolism of Euro- feudal nor imperial, but something entirely new
pean feudalism—in whose bosom lay the seeds —entirely different. Communism must be, as
of empire; that dark and colonial impetus— Marx argued, a transcendence—a centralized
turned increasingly imperial; a social coordina- decentralization that takes into account not only
tion of noble and bourgeois spheres of feudal the economic tendency towards historical con-
society. Rader noted that: tradiction and dialectical movement, but a peo-
ple’s management of this as well.
"the bourgeoisie and their recurrent disposses-
sion by the robber-knights and overbearing
lords, a powerful and dangerous class harbored CONCLUSION: BORDER
resentment of the great injustice. Tradesmen,
manufacturers, and merchants together with
WALLS, METABOLISM,
the peasants and more progressive lords, were AND MARXISM-LENINISM
worse off than they would have been if the other
Interestingly, and as previously noted in this es-
lords with their lands and horses were wiped off
say, Marx wrote that capitalism tore down the
the face of the earth. Consequently, they
feudal “barriers which hem[med] in the devel-

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 167


Ben Stahnke

opment of forces of production, the expansion of the ways in which political economy enacts
of needs, the all-sided development of produc- itself in an historical fashion. And it is here that
tion, and the exploitation and exchange of nat- Marxist-Leninist political ecology must turn if
ural and mental forces.” This tearing-down,
82
it is to utilize MRT as a framework by which to
also explained how capital historically opened guide policy and ecological action. Marxism-
up the possibilities for less restricted forms of Leninism must, and will, avoid the amalgama-
human development, production, and move- tive or rifted tendencies of the previous eco-
ment. Thus it seems that where the metabolic
83
nomic and productive epochs in the sense that
rift of imperialist production—prior to refeu- the Marxist-Leninist state is not representative
dalization—reifies itself not only through cli- of a ruling minority élite, but a ruling majority.
matological and geopolitical upset, but through Where previously social stratifications have
a significant increase in border fortifications moved history forward as a progressive series
and border security, that there also can the con- of class struggles in which production has been
verse be said to be true for metabolic rift’s oppo- endlessly centralized and then decentralized,
site—what we will call, for now, metabolic here will the Marxist-Leninist state avoid such
amalgamation—prior to imperialization, and a pitfall through a deliberate transcendence; a
at the end of feudalization. centralized decentralism enacted for the pur-
It is important to note that: border walls and poses of sustainable longevity for both the earth
structures—both physical and metaphorical— and humanity—a true application of dialecti-
are torn down to make way for a burgeoning im- cal theory on an historical scale.
perialism, just as they are erected to sustain a fail- Consider: where, under a feudalized economy,
ing imperialism. Metabolic amalgamation is there exists a decentralization of productive
thus a moment in the dialectic similar to forces (a decentralization of both the relations
metabolic rift, but its opposite; a tearing-down and the means of production), there we find in
as opposed to a building-up of walls; resting up- the deconstruction of such a decentralization—
on the transitionary period between modes of as signified by a movement away from decen-
production; upon the cusp of a movement away tralization and towards centralization—an
from decentralization. It is here that metabolic amalgamation and a homogenization of the
rift, and a fuller articulation of Metabolic Rift forces of production; a great gathering up of
Theory take shape—in becoming historical, production, a homogeny and a similitude, and
rift is thus seen as a moment in the enactment of an increasing centralization under an imperial
a specific imperial centralization of produc- and simplistic aegis. Simply put, what begins to
tion. Currently emerging under the dominion break apart and must be forcefully contained
of capital, it is not unique to capitalist produc- during the transition from imperialization to
tion. MRT is thus an analytical framework, but refeudalization must be similarly built up,
exists within a much larger conceptualization gathered together, and unified during the tran-

168 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

sition from (re)feudalization to imperializa- In the previous pages of this article, I have at-
tion. Such tearings-down can, prima facie and in tempted to situate MRT world-historically: in
recent history, be represented by the Enclosure the dialectical movement of political
and Commons Acts, the Highland Clearings, economies from imperial to feudal, centralized
and other similar forced property restructur- to decentralized. Metabolic rift, accordingly,
ings; where the walls and the boundaries of the thus prefigures a collapse, while feudalization
old world were torn down to make way for the and metabolic amalgamation prefigures an ev-
fires of industry—the amalgamation of pro- er-increasing imperialization. Historically, no
ductive forces—entailed by the new. Not on-
84
empire has persisted with an infinite longevity.
ly is the Marxist-Leninist state well-poised to Empires and imperial polities, fiefdoms, and
avoid these pitfalls, it solves a major problem of the like—like organisms—have lifespans. Fur-
human history by transcending the contradic- ther, there has existed no state—be it imperial
tion of centralization and decentralization alto- or feudal—which has existed in a vacuum; ev-
gether. It is, most simply, a centralized decen- ery state in actuality existing in a cosmopolitan
tralization. Under such a formation, where the state of trade with neighboring polities, and so
failings of the imperial rift are once and for all on. Yet the Marxist-Leninist state is no empire
solved, of what use are the forceful separations nor feudal kingdom; its dominion is not imperi-
of populations? Where resources are equitably al but egalitarian.
managed and distributed, of what use are bor- The historical movement of decentralized and
der walls? feudal polities, as was the case in Western Eu-
rope following the fall of Rome, has only ever
been anabolic—where at first quasi-egalitarian
sociopolitical organizations strive to build
themselves up, thus giving way to increasing
consolidation, which then paves the way for im-
perialization and empire. The historical move-
ment of centralized and imperial polities, on
the other hand, has only ever been catabolic—
where the separation between town and coun-
try which first takes place during the feudal pe-
riod then gives way to an increase in city-center
population density; thus stoking the fires of a
great and insuperable hunger for resources.
The modes of production are thus metabolic;
but where metabolism is both recognized and
factored into ecological and economic policy,

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 169


Ben Stahnke

there might its pitfalls and its natural tenden- collapse of the sphere of imperialization and a pro-
cies—driven by the great history of class strug- gressive movement towards—and at the same
gle—be avoided by the state who has solved time backwards—to refeudalization; the future
class struggle. thus presenting itself as history.85
Such an analysis, however, is never concrete:
political economic life and the inter-political
class struggle for equilibrium—a maligned and
A collapse of capitalism, pred- Sisyphean quest for class society itself—en-
icated upon the outstripping gages in the creation of its own history. “In the
end,” Göran Therborn noted in What Does the
of resources, is the logical Ruling Class Do When It Rules?, “the history of
next-step. However, prior to the future cannot be written. It has to be
made.”86 MRT, to be effective, must adapt to
collapse, where the metabolic Marxist-Leninist theory; it is a practical appli-
rift of waning imperialization cation of communist theory, not a utopian ab-
straction aimed at a future which will never
becomes patent, imperial
come.
polities such as the US will For us, now, the stakes of the metabolic rift of
continue to engage in mitiga- capitalism are much higher than for those of the
Roman world. For us, the stakes are global in
tive strategies and feedback nature, whereas the collapse of the Roman state
loops aimed at the reestablish- was simply regional. Where the metabolic rift
of capitalism now threatens all biota, along with
ment of equilibrium. Border
many delicate biospheric processes, attempts
walls are one such fascistic must be made by a coordinated organization of
working class, indigenous, and subaltern
strategy.
groups to socialize and communize the sphere
of political and environmental interdepen-
dence. These efforts must be led by, and sup-

Such mitigations, however, are only ever pallia- ported from the Marxist-Leninist states.

tive in nature; as naught but a purposeful with- Where, as the IPCC predicted, “[a]ny increase

drawal from imperialization—an impossible in global warming is projected to affect human

task for the imperial polity—would heal such a health, with primarily negative consequences,”

rift. Herein lies the crux of the true framework concrete action must be taken to bulwark and

of MRT, which is at once explanatory and pre- protect the present-day underclasses of the

dictive in nature: metabolic rift prefigures both a world who will in every regard disproportion-

170 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


THE POVERTY OF METABOLIC RIFT THEORY

ately suffer the impacts of such a warming, and ENDNOTES


—as unlivable wet-bulb temperatures contin- 1 Carter and Poast 246
ue to pervade the global south—will be walled 2 Ibid. 259
3 Ibid. 256
off from the livable areas of the world. The glob- 4 Hassner and Wittenberg 158
al proletariat will continue to suffer, under the 5 “Indeed,” Ashley Dawson noted in Extinction: A Radical
History, “there is no clearer example of the tendency of capital
effects of a rifted and disastrous capitalism,
accumulation to destroy its own conditions of reproduction
“heat-related morbidity and mortality […], than the sixth extinction” (14).
6 Hassner and Wittenberg 157
ozone-related mortality […], heatwaves in
7 Carter and Poast 240
cities […], Risks from some vector-borne dis- 8 Hardin 1974, 2015
eases, such as malaria and dengue fever,”87 and 9 Biermann and Boas 61
10 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/
more. documents/droi/dv/401_ejfoundation_/
401_ejfoundation_en.pdf
The present capitalist order will, someday, de-
11 Ibid. 2
grade and collapse, and a type of reemergent 12 Marx, qtd. in Foster, Ecology Against Capitalism 150
13 Watson 375
feudalism will, unassailed, blossom in the ruins
14 Summary for Policymakers 7
of a deceased and ruined US capitalism. Marx- 15 Capital: Volume I 637
ism-Leninism, and its applied political practice 16 Capital: Volume III 949
17 Karl Marx, Grundrisse 1973, 489, emphasis added
in the states in which it flourishes, must not only 18 Saito 63
understand this, but continue to work for its 19 Marx’s Ecology 158
20 Capital Volume 1 283
mitigation. The metabolic rift of capitalist pro- 21 Angus 2018
duction—a logic of profit above all—not only 22 Marx’s Ecology 157
prefigures its own demise but reveals what has 23 Bitsakis 276
24 The German Ideology: Parts I and III 70.
always been: that it was always-already an 25 Dawson 14
evolved and a perfected hierarchical oppres- 26 Ibid. 14
27 Capital Volume 1 637
sion, waiting for an historical opportunity to 28 Ibid. 637
flourish, where the masses of society are mobi- 29 Grundrisse 410
30 Burkett 159
lized in a labor economy dedicated to the pro-
31 Grundrisse 410
duction of wealth for but a few; an insidious and 32 Malm 21
33 https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1883/don/
debased servitude. Climate change thus unveils
ch02.htm
the telos and the true nature of the great and 34 Warren 69
global project of imperialized capitalism—un- 35 Martin 263
36 Saito 99
precedented in its scale—where the purported 37 Levins and Lewontin 274
ethos of democracy—of liberty, egality, and 38 Warren 69
39 Ibid. 69
fraternity—dissipate as smoke upon the wind,
40 “Alienated Labour” 126
and where the long march of history—the con- 41 Hughes 86
solidation of power in the hands of the most 42 Levins and Lewontin 273
43 Ibid. 273
ruthless and near-sighted—now reaches its cli- 44 Ibid. 274
max.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 171


Ben Stahnke

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and the Crisis of the Earth System. NYU Press, 2016.
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Biermann, Frank, and Ingrid Boas. "Preparing for a
47 Elements of the Philosophy of Right 138
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50 McGill and Parry 418 system to protect climate refugees." Global Environmen-
51 Ibid. 421
tal Politics, vol. 10, no.1, 2010, pp. 60-88.
52 Ibid. 422
53 Ibid. 422 Bitsakis, Eftichios. “Complementarity: Dialectics or
54 Ibid. 422
55 Ibid. 422 Formal Logic.” Nature, Society, and Thought: A Journal
56 Ibid. 422
of Dialectical and Historical Materialism, Minneapolis:
57 Ilyenkov 121
58 Hudson 15 University of Minneapolis, 2002, pp. 276.
59 Ibid. 1
60 Rader 69 Bloch, Marc. Feudal Society. Routledge, 2014.
61 Ibid. 69
62 Ibid. 70 Burkett, Paul. Marx and Nature: A Red and Green Per-
63 Ibid. 56-57
spective. Springer, 1999.
64 Ibid. 57
65 Ibid. 57
Carter, David B., and Paul Poast. "Why Do States Build
66 Ibid. 57
67 Ibid. 57 Walls? Political Economy, Security, and Border Stabili-
68 Ibid. 128
ty." Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 61, no. 2, 2017,
69 The hereditary system endemic to feudal socioeconomy
takes its origins in antiquity; predating the Carolingian and pp. 239-270.
Merovingian dynasties. “One element of the manorial system
suggests an origin more ancient than the Carolingians. The Dawson, Ashley. Extinction: A Radical History. Or
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Books, 2016.
[...] There was in Northwest Europe no monarch of peasant
descent” (Rader 71-72).
Foster, John Bellamy. Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and
70 Ibid. 71
71 Stephenson 1 Nature. NYU Press, 2000.
72 Bloch 60
73 Ibid. 3 ———. Ecology Against Capitalism. NYU Press, 2002.
74 Bloch 3
75 Ibid. 129 Hardin, Garrett. “Lifeboat Ethics.” Garrett Hardin So-
76 Ibid. 75 ciety, https://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/
77 Katz 85
78 Rader 131 art_lifeboat_ethics_case_against_helping_poor.html,
79 Ibid. 98-99
Accessed 18 Aug. 2018.
80 Ibid. 129
81 Ibid. 129 Hassner, Ron E. & Wittenberg, Jason. "Barriers to En-
82 Grundrisse 410
83 Burkett 159 try: Who Builds Fortified Boundaries and Why?" Inter-
84 Grundrisse 410; Burkett 159
national Security, vol. 40 no. 1, 2015, pp. 157-190.
85 Therborn 272
86 Ibid. 283 Hegel, G.W.F. Elements of the Philosophy of Right. Cam-
87 Summary for Policymakers 11
bridge, 1991.

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———. Phenomenology of Spirit. Oxford, 1977. ———. Grundrisse. Penguin, 1993.

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Hudson, John. Land, Law, and Lordship in Anglo-Nor- tional Publishers, 1964.

man England. Oxford University Press, 1994. Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The German Ideology:

Hughes, Jonathan. Ecology and Historical Materialism. Parts I and III. Martino Publishing, 2011.

Cambridge University Press, 2000. McGill, V.J, and W.T. Parry. “The Unity of Opposites: A

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Global Dialectical Principle.” Science and Society, vol. 12, no. 4,

Warming of 1.5 C°: Summary for Policymakers. IPCC, 1948, pp. 418-444.

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Ilyenkov, Evald. Dialectical Logic. Marx-Engels-Lenin don & Breach Science Pub, 1971.

Institute, 2014. Radnik, Borna. “Hegel on the Double Movement of

Katz, Claudio J. From Feudalism to Capitalism: Marxian Aufhebung.” Continental Thought and Theory: A Journal

Theories of Class Struggle and Social Change. Praeger, of Intellectual Freedom, vol. 1, no. 1, 2016, pp. 194-206.

1992. Saito, Kohei. Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism: Capital, Nature,

and the Unfinished Critique of Political Economy. Monthly


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Malm, Andreas. Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power
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and the Roots of Global Warming. Verso Books, 2016.
Therborn, Goran. What Does the Ruling Class Do When
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it Rules? Verso Books, 2016.
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Marx, Karl. “Alienated Labour.” Early Writings. Mc-
Thomas Lovejoy and Lee Hannah, 2005, pp. 375-386.
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Warren, Scott. The Emergence of Dialectical Theory: Phi-
———. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Volume
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I. Translated by Ben Fowkes, Penguin Classics, 1990.
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———. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Volume

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1991.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 173


by SAM PARRY
WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

To be Welsh is to be born with a duality inside your


heart: to be proud of your rich, folkloric traditions
while simultaneously being angered at the constant in-
cantation of a story whose day has passed. To be dis-
heartened at the economic position of Wales's work-
ing class yet filled with hope that this grievance can be
rectified. One of our most famous sons, RS Thomas,
embodies this duality in his poetry.

o be angered by the unrelent- We were a people, and are so yet.


ing fetishisation of our past:
When we have finished quarrelling for
There is no present in Wales, crumbs
And no future; Under the table, or gnawing the bones
There is only the past, Of a dead culture, we will arise
Brittle with relics, And greet each other in a new dawn.
Wind-bitten towers and castles
This duality is a microcosm of Wales’s
With sham ghosts; history and its national narrative. Our
Mouldering quarries and mines; history - as with the history of all nations -
is filled with contradictions. Using Wales’s
And an impotent people, role in the Industrial Revolution as an
Sick with inbreeding, example, this pattern emerges clearly.
John Davies, in his A History of Wales
Worrying the carcase of an old song.
(2007), states that “there was no place
outside of Russia where the Revolution [of
Yet believing we can improve our lot: 1917] has caused greater joy than in
We were a people wasting ourselves Merthyr Tydfil.” Yet, Gwyn Alf Williams
(1991), in his contradictorily named
In fruitless battles for our masters, chapter “An Imperial Democracy”
In lands to which we had no claim, describes Wales between 1915-1921 as
thus:
With men for whom we felt no hatred.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 175


Sam Parry

"BUT THIS WAS NOT simply a matter of coal export, huge though that was, of John
Cory’s bunkers straddling the world and south Wales coal keeping the greatest navy
in the world afloat, staggering though these were. The capital, the technology, the
enterprise, the skill and the labour of south Wales fertilised large and distant tracts
of the world, from Montana and Pennsylvania to Chile, Argentina and Russia.

They helped to deflect the economic development of Spain, wrenching the centre of
its heavy industry from its natural base in the Asturias to the region of Bilbao, where
Dowlais planted a subsidiary to snatch the high-grade ores and an even higher-grade
people, to scatter Spaniards around its own town and out to Abercraf. South Wales
firms bought up shipping companies and port capital in Rouen, Le Havre, Brest,
Hamburg, Marseille, Naples; for years Italy’s economic rhythms were those of its
Welsh coal imports; the little town of Bardi near Parma, with a few friends,
specialised in colonising Wales with their popular restaurants, cafes and chip-shops,
supplying some of Wales’s most striking dynasties and finding an immortality in
Gwyn Thomas’s novels. For years, the real economic capital of Chile was Swansea,
luxuriating in its nitrate clippers and Cape Horners, though it was North Wales
which rivalled the Jacks to provide some of their most ruthless oligarchs to both
Chile and Colombia."

Wales, therefore, can be and politicians have described the Celtic Fringe
seen as proletarian, yet decided to concentrate on as “Internal Colonies” of
imperialist, proudly Welsh one side of Wales’ Janus- England, with his work
yet a vital cog in the British faced past. On one hand, placing Wales’ ills solely at
Empire; a nation whose Adam Price, leader of the door of the British
view of itself is contorted Plaid Cymru, named his state and England. On the
due to straddling these two book Wales - The First and other hand, in Wales - A
worlds. It seems eerily Final Colony which, in Question for History
fitting that it was a London essence, paints the support (1999), labour historian
Welshman, John Dee, that for the Empire and Dai Smith fails to truly
coined the term “British imperialism abroad as a take into account the
Empire” in 1577.1 form of false interplay between the
consciousness. In his economy, geography and
Yet this duality and its role
words, “English culture in shaping
in explaining Wales’s
imperialism can perhaps differences between
relative economic position
be described as Wales's England and Wales.
today is overlooked. Either
greatest and most terrible Understanding that the
for simplicity or political
export.” Michael Hechter, primary contradictions of
traction, many historians
an American sociologist, society stem from the

176 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

economic base is different be inhabited by citizens of action against the poets and
from the class the metropolis or by their to wipe out whatever trace of
reductionism which has progeny, or its population a Welsh state remained.
blighted some Marxist may, in its preponderant With the fall of Llywelyn ap
Welsh historians and number, belong to another Gruffydd an epoch ended,
politicians. race. But in any case, the the Wales of the Princes.
government of the colony
There is a reason that a The Welsh passed under the
duality exists in Wales; by must in one way or another nakedly colonial rule of an
recognize its subordination
looking, defining, and even more arrogant, and
to the metropolis.2
understanding the self-consciously alien,
relations between the Colonialism, therefore, is imperialism.
contradictions in Welsh not a new phenomena; we Without attempting to
society and history, we are may describe the ancient belittle the struggles many
more likely to be able to societies of Greece and in Wales would have faced
understand Wales’s Rome, of the Persian during this period, it is
relative economic position. Empire, even the Normans clear that placing too
Wales is poor relative to and Danes in Britain as strong an emphasis on this
England, but rich relative colonial. We can, by this epoch and of transposing
to most of the rest of the definition, map a specific current notions of
world. It is by looking period in time whereby the imperialism and
dialectically at this relationship between colonialism backwards is
relationship that we will be Wales and England could not helpful in explaining
better able to navigate the be called ‘colonial’ that Wales’s economic position
contours of Welsh society runs from roughly 1283 - nor its relation to other
both today and in the past. 1536, after the death of countries. Firstly, is it even
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd possible to speak of a
(popularised as Llywelyn ‘Wales’ in this period if,
the Great, or Llywelyn the
Wales: Last). As Williams (1991)
indeed “a nation is not
merely a historical
A Colony? explains: category but a historical
In 1283 Llywelyn was killed category belonging to a
Let us begin by defining a
after a battle in south definite epoch, the epoch
colony. According to Paul
Wales; his head duly of rising capitalism. The
Reinsh:
adorned the Tower [of process of elimination of
A colony is a possession of London]. Independent feudalism and
some national state situated Gwynedd was obliterated development of capitalism
at a certain distance from it, and Edward took pains to is at the same time a
which is ruled by a secure all insignia and any process of the constitution
government subordinated to other symbols which might of people into nations."3 It
the metropolis. A colony may service a revival, to take may be possible to think of

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 177


Sam Parry

the Welsh as ‘a people’ but comparison: “Greater Rome would inevitably lead to
not as ‘a nation’ in this and Greater Britain.” inequalities between
period. This material fact Wales and England (as we
Comparing the colonialism
clearly affects our will see later) but, during
Wales endured in this
understanding of the period of modern
period, to colonialism
colonialism. Following colonial expansion, Wales
under capitalism, is to
from this point, one must was much more a
fundamentally overlook
understand that material beneficiary and active
the importance of the
conditions and the participant than a subject
productive forces in
economic base differ in of that colonialism.
society, to not see that “the
one epoch to another, and
mode of production of The technological
that from that economic
material values… is the developments that helped
base social conditions
chief force in the complex the rise of mercantilism
develop. In essence, one
conditions of material life also led to the period of
cannot compare the
of society which modern European
colonialism of feudal
determines the colonialism. The effects of
societies nor slave societies
physiognomy of society, those thrusts into the
(such as ancient Greece
the character of the social Americas, Asia and Africa
and Rome) to the
system, [and] the are still felt today. As
colonialism found under
development of society Acemoglu, Johnson and
capitalism. In the words of
from one system to Robinson (2002) describe:
Lenin in Imperialism: The another."4
Highest Stage of Capitalism Among the areas colonized
(2010): At the advent of the by European powers during
mercantilist system - the the past 500 years, those
Colonial policy and first, primitive, form of that were relatively rich in
imperialism existed before capitalism in the mid- 1500 are now relatively
the latest stage of capitalism, sixteenth century - Wales poor. Given the crude
and even before capitalism. could no longer be called a nature of the proxies for
Rome, founded on slavery, colony. The 1536 and prosperity 500 years ago,
pursued a colonial policy 1542 Acts of Union some degree of caution is
and practised imperialism. between England and required, but the broad
But “general” disquisitions Wales annexed Wales into patterns in the data seem
on imperialism, which England, thus granting uncontroversial.
ignore, or put into the Welsh people the same Civilizations in Meso-
background, the political and economic America, the Andes, India,
fundamental difference rights as their neighbours, and Southeast Asia were
between socio-economic while understanding that richer than those located in
formations, inevitably turn the Welsh didn’t have the North America, Australia,
into the most vapid banality same cultural rights. This New Zealand, or the
or bragging, like the unequal relationship southern cone of Latin

178 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

America. The intervention races, cultures, or How do we define the


of Europe reversed this civilizations, whose genesis intractable
pattern. This is a first-order and evolution occurred “distinctiveness” of Wales
fact, both for understanding without any mutual contact compared to England?
economic and political up to one specific moment .... Furthermore, there has
development over the past The colonial structure and been no colonial structure
500 years, and for internal colonialism are that is “distinguished from
evaluating various theories distinguished from the class the class structure” for
of long-run development. structure since colonialism is almost 500 years. By
not only a relation of Casanova’s definition, the
exploitation of the workers most textbook cases of
by the owners of raw internal colonialism would
Internal materials or of production include Amerindians in the
Colonialism and their collaborators, but Americas, especially on
also a relation of reservations; non-white
If Wales cannot be domination and exploitation people in apartheid South
considered a traditional of a total population (with Africa; Palestinians in
colony in its current, its distinct classes, occupied Palestine;
everyday sense in the proprietors, workers) by African Americans before
modern period, can it be another population which the end of ‘legal’
described as an “internal also has distinct classes discrimination enshrined
colony” as argued by, (proprietors and workers).5 by Plessy v. Ferguson and
amongst others, Michael indigenous Siberians in
By this definition, it is
Hechter (1975)? Firstly, Tsarist Russia. This is not
clear that Wales cannot be
we must define the an exhaustive list, though
considered an internal
characteristics of an it paints a clear picture of
colony. Firstly, how do we
internal colony. One of the the types of scenarios that
gauge when Welsh people
earliest, most rigorous and can be considered thus. It
and English people firstly
most concise definitions of should also show that to
came into contact if
internal colonialism was include Wales within this
defining when Wales and
given by Pablo Gonzalez- definition is to make
England became nations is
Casanova: situations of real colonial
itself an almost impossible
Internal colonialism suffering seem more banal
task? Llywelyn ap
corresponds to a structure of and reduces the theory to
Gruffydd, for example,
social relations based on popularised as the last an all-inclusive
domination and exploitation catchphrase.
Prince of Wales was in fact
among culturally only the ruler of David Walls (1978)
heterogeneous, distinct independent Gwynedd - a describes succinctly how
groups ... .It is the result of region of Wales - and not the definition of internal
an encounter between two of Wales in its entirety. colonialism has been

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 179


Sam Parry

stretched so far that it has


lost its political salience:
Michael economic differences
between core and periphery
Through conceptual Hechter and are causally linked to their
cultural differences.
confusion or carelessness,
internal colonialism has
the ‘Celtic In this description national
been used to designate Fringe’ development has less to do
situations of stratification with automatic social
by class, race, ethnicity, or The notion that Wales, structural or economic
geography, alone or in (Scotland and Ireland) are processes, and more with the
various combinations. It is internal colonies of exercise of control over
also used to describe England was popularised government policies
absentee industrial by Michael Hechter in his concerning the allocation of
ownership, although this is a book Internal Colonialism: resources. Since increased
characteristic feature of The Celtic Fringe in contact between core and
uneven and polarized British National periphery does not tend to
capitalist development. Development (1975). narrow the economic gap
Included among such Leaving aside the semantic between the groups, national
internal colonies have been issues implicit in development will best be
the U.S. South, northern describing Wales as an served by strengthening the
New England, the northern internal colony, it is worth political power of the
Great Lakes region, the briefly discussing some of peripheral group so that it
Southwest, the "Celtic the theoretical deficiencies may change the distribution
periphery" of England, of this approach. To quote of resources to its greater
southern Italy and so on. a passage at some length advantage. … The obstacle
One explanation may be (emphasis added): to national development
that the vocabulary of Economic dependence is suggested by the internal
colonization IS more reinforced through colonial model analogy,
comfortable than that of juridical, political, and therefore, related not to a
class conflict, and regional military measures. There failure of peripheral
or ethnic chauvinism is is a relative lack of services, integration with the core but
more acceptable than talk of lower standard of living and to a malintegration
socialism. higher level of frustration, established on terms
measured by such indicators increasingly regarded as
as alcoholism, among unjust and illegitimate.6
members of the peripheral From this passage alone,
group. There is national some theoretical issues
discrimination on the begin to emerge. Firstly,
basis of language, religion there is an assumption that
or other cultural forms. the relative economic
Thus the aggregate underdevelopment of

180 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

Wales is due to conscious sacrificed at the altar. (1978) argues that


political decisions However, this same story “unequal exchange is
stemming from the emerges for all post- incompatible with the
metropole to intentionally industrial communities in homogeneity of labour and
underdevelop Wales. The the United Kingdom. commodity markets.” In
political decisions that These policies were not essence, due to collective
were undertaken did followed to intentionally bargaining at a UK-level on
indeed lead to a higher underdevelop Wales, the one hand, and almost
level of relative rather they were followed identical prices for goods
underdevelopment in to underdevelop on the other, there is no
Wales, but this is due to traditional working class space for unequal
the wedding of the state to areas regardless of exchange. The average
neoliberalism and nationality. wage in Wales is 91% of
capitalist orthodoxy. In Secondly, the model the UK average7;
other words, the messianic presupposes unequal comparatively
acclaim in which British exchange between the core underdeveloped, but not
governments of all parties and the periphery “since colonial. For unequal
hold the ‘logic’ of the exchange to truly exist, the
increased contact...does
market meant that Wales - not tend to narrow the relationship between
and areas like it - with a Wales and England would
economic gap between the
propensity towards heavy have to be more similar to
groups.” Yet, John
industry would be Casanova’s definition
Levering and Lovering

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 181


Sam Parry

above; there would have to The general usefulness, affairs of the capitalist
be “a relation of however, of such receipts class”. The passage above
domination and is questionable, as Cooke strongly suggests that
exploitation of a total (1982) argues: Wales should concentrate
population (with its on endogenous growth as
However, Wales' debt
distinct classes, currently the core of
funding is peculiarly
proprietors, workers) by Britain benefits from
distributed in that a greater
another population which Wales’s relative
proportion goes towards the
also has distinct classes underdevelopment.
maintenance of her reserves
(proprietors and workers)” Higher state transfers in
of labour than elsewhere,
which does not exist. the form of unemployment
while considerably less is
spent in the sector which has benefits are seen as a
traditionally been thought of necessary ‘trade-off’ to
Thirdly, the as the key regulator of bind Wales closer to the
British State. There is no
theory of internal unemployment under
reason to believe that this
demand-management
colonialism economic policy, the is due to an innate hatred
assumes that the construction sector. of Welshness, yet it is a
clear example of a tool the
relationship One deduction to be made state can use to entrench
from theory here, is that this
between core and budgetary distortion is
differences and
inequalities. The state in
periphery is incurred in the course of capitalist society needs a
extractive and maintaining surplus labour working class to be
power which has become exploited: a rising tide
oppressive, with a 'marginalized' from the does not lift all boats. In
clear movement productive workforce, but this sense, the experience
represents a potential
of resources from source of labour supply
of the north-east of
England is relatively
periphery to core. ready to be re-attached to analogous, with higher
Yet, in absolute the labour force as and state transfers in the case
when inward investment, as of unemployment benefits
terms, Wales is a distinct from self-centred but a severe lack of state
net beneficiary of accumulation occurs. transfers in the form of
infrastructure investment.
redistributive This is an exploitative
The planned high-speed
relationship, but that is to
measures from be expected from the state railway, HS2, for example,
the state. in capitalist society. In the designed to help create an
words of James Connolly, economic ‘Northern
“governments in capitalist Powerhouse’, is only
society are but committees designed to go as far as
of the rich to manage the Leeds and will not be

182 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

completed until 2040. almost 300 years was the colonisation itself? A
Newcastle, Middlesbrough ‘Sunday Closing (Wales) colony will of course have a
and Sunderland - some of Act’ of 1881, which comprador class which
the most deprived areas of required the closure of all exploits its own people at
the UK - are all roughly pubs in Wales on Sundays. the behest of a foreign
100 miles further north. This was supported by government (Nkrumah,
Furthermore, Hechter nonconformist Protestants 2004). Yet it is clear that
discusses “national - the major religion in more than a comprador
discrimination on the basis Wales - as well as vast class existed in Wales.
of language, religion or swathes of the working Wales was also part of
other cultural forms”. class.9 With regards to the “The West” Fanon
Welsh language, Margaret describes in The Wretched
Firstly, this further blurs
the lines of what Thatcher, no less, under of the Earth (1968):
pressure from Welsh-
constitutes a nation. In The West saw itself as a
Hechter’s work, Page language campaigners, spiritual adventure. It is in
(1978) finds there is “an created a Welsh-language
the name of the spirit, in the
implicit assumption that TV channel, and today it name of the spirit of Europe,
some form of national self- could be argued that that Europe has made her
consciousness existed from Welsh speakers are encroachments, that she has
the sixteenth century. This overrepresented in high- justified her crimes and
is dubious since scholars paying public-sector10 legitimized the slavery in
vocations in Wales. This is
would date the birth of which she holds four-fifths of
not to say that the British
nationalism much later and humanity.
state has been benevolent,
also in view of the fact that
nor positive towards Once again, Wales’s Janus-
at least in the Scottish case
Welsh language and face came to the fore:
no such “ethnic
culture. Its position could In the early twentieth
identification” can be said
to have existed until very be best described as century Welsh newspapers
neglectful, disinterested and magazines, some of
much later”. Secondly, this
and, on occasion, them edited by members of
obfuscates the relationship
disdainful. Yet, this clearly parliament, celebrated the
between the British state
differs from “national role of the Welsh in the
and Welsh culture. As far
discrimination”. A lack of Empire, with titles like ‘The
back as the reign of
policies in favour of the Place of Wales in the
Elizabeth I, the Bible was
translated into Welsh, Welsh language differs Empire’ and ‘The Welsh: A
from policies antagonistic Neglected Imperial Asset’. It
allowing cultural and
to the Welsh language. has been demonstrated that
linguistic differences
between England and The final point worth in this period, the Welsh
Wales.8 Further, the first considering is the British were anxious about the
legislation passed Empire. How can a colony potential for
pertaining specifically to - or an internal colony - marginalisation. By
Wales in Westminster for take part in the process of stressing their significance

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 183


Sam Parry

in the British Empire they, economic (and by extension Wallerstein (2011) helped
at one and the same time, demographic and ecological) popularise the notion of a
positioned themselves within history and further that our world system, described as
the central endeavour of the understanding of their [A] social system, one that
British state while also prospects might be enhanced
has boundaries, structures,
stressing their separate by their placing
member groups, rules of
cultural and ethnic identity. (conceptually) in a ‘world legitimation, and coherence.
Moreover, involvement in system’. Its life is made up of the
the empire and the This is the cornerstone of conflicting forces which hold
reciprocal influences on the the malaise in which Welsh it together by tension and
Welsh churches, press and economic life finds itself. tear it apart as each group
publications were supposed Through our obsession seeks eternally to remold it
to help in the with defining ourselves as to its advantage. It has the
transformation of the being either different to or characteristics of an
Welsh into a literate and part of the UK, we miss organism, in that it has a
educated society.11 that Wales - and places like life-span over which its
Wales - play an important characteristics change in
function in the world some respects and remain
Towards a capitalist economy or stable in others. One can
world system, and instead define its structures as being
New concentrate solely on the at different times strong or
Theoretical relationship between Wales weak in terms of the
and England. Immanuel internal logic of its
Framework Wallerstein (2011) argues functioning.
that “neither the
Considering the Since the sixteenth century
development nor
deficiencies in the the world system has been
underdevelopment of any
approaches above, do we based on the capitalist
specific territorial unit can
therefore need to create a mode of production, which
be analysed or interpreted
new framework and “as an economic model is
without fitting it into the
theoretical toolkit? As based on the fact that the
cyclical rhythms and
argued by Jones (2015), economic factors operate
secular trends of the world
within an arena larger than
There is a need for us to economy as a whole”. Yet that which any political
revise the toolkit of regional this is the exact juncture in entity can totally control.
analysis, but we do not need which mainstream Welsh
This gives capitalists a
to invent a wholly new set of economic analysis finds freedom of maneuver that
tools. We simply need to first itself in; we must change is structurally based. It has
understand that the our analysis to include not made possible the constant
structure and functioning of only our relationship with
economic expansion of the
places cannot be understood England, but with Europe,
world-system, albeit a very
without recourse to their and the rest of the world. skewed distribution of its
very long term political and

184 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

rewards.”12 break is objectively My contention is that


Due to the “skewed” necessary there … In order peripheral areas in core
nature of the rewards of for the productive forces in states share many of the
capitalism, a global the periphery to develop the same characteristics of
division of labour of core, imperialist system must be semi-peripheral states
peripheral and semi- broken up, since the within the world system.
peripheral countries arises. contemporary imperialist
The core countries system is a system of
constitute the Anglophone centralization of the surplus
on the world scale...,
world, Japan and western
characterized by the
What are the
Europe; semi-peripheral
countries are the BRICS acceleration of characteristics of
countries, Mexico, Iran accumulation and by the a semi-peripheral
and Argentina - countries development of the
that have historically had productive forces in the state?
regional, rather than centre of the system, while in Wallerstein
the periphery these latter are
global, influence. The rest
held back and deformed. (2011) argues that
of humanity is made up of
peripheral countries. The My contention is that we “they are
strength of world-systems can use this theory to help collection points
theory is its ability to explain the position of
explain that peripheral and countries like Wales - that
of vital skills that
semi-peripheral countries within some core-states - are often
are not simply catching-up there exist regions that can poetically
with core countries. play the role of semi-
Instead, the very existence peripheral countries. Most unpopular” and
of core countries hinders of these areas still possess help to deflect
the growth of these strong cultural differences
countries due to from the core that are both political
capitalism’s uneven explained by the unequal pressures.
spread. As Samir Amin development of capitalism
(1979) explains: in the core-states as well as
concurrently being used as
In the imperialist period the
a justification for their Furthermore, it has been
door to the establishment of
relative argued that they ensure
new capitalist centres is
underdevelopment. that wages do not rise too
henceforth closed, while the
Examples of peripheral fast in the core, as they can
era of the stages of the
areas within core states be used for capital
socialist revolution is opened
… complete, autonomous may include the investment if highly-
Mezzogiorno (Italy), organised labour forces
capitalism is impossible in
Corsica (France) and demand wages which
the periphery. The socialist
Wales (United Kingdom).

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 185


Sam Parry

would be deemed ‘too to economic, military and there is a spatial, or


high’ by capitalist cultural hegemony. geographic, dimension.
interests.13 Described as an
Places such as Wales, the
Seers (1980) attempts to “incomplete egg”, with the
Mezzogiorno and Corsica
centre in western
map this notion of share many of these
dependency and semi- Germany, the “yolk” could
characteristics and
be defined as “Denmark,
peripherality specifically in experiences: the
western Germany, the
the European context: Anglicization of Wales, the
Benelux countries, Paris,
Francophication of Corsica
Does a country on the the Lyon area, Switzerland
and the ‘standardisation’ of
‘periphery’ gain from and Lombardy”. The core
Italian in the Mezzogiorno.
belonging to a system, the in its entirety, however,
They are all similarly
‘core’ of which consists of stretches as far as England
structurally dependent on
countries technically more (not including Cornwall)
the more highly developed
advanced? It may do so in and Edinburgh to the west;
regions of the core state.
the narrow sense that its the more heavily
income is likely to be higher Not only is the European populated areas of
than it would otherwise be, core more highly Norway, Sweden and
but at the cost of structural developed and is the Finland to the north;
dependence; proximity beneficiary of higher northern Italy to the south
brings dangers of subjection wages, Seers (1979) argues and Catalunya and the

186 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

Basque Country to the lower wages. has created a larger reserve


south-west. army of labour and
This analysis also asks
ensuring that wages do not
This spatial dimension is questions about the role of
rise too quickly in the core.
inherently of a crude international institutions,
nature, but it includes especially in this case, the
many interesting findings. EU. These areas offer a
Firstly, many of the large reserve army of Conclusion
regions outside the core labour for the core15 which
It is not possible to answer
are generally culturally in effect allows capitalists
all questions regarding the
distinct (to a greater or to dampen wages in the
economic dependency of
lesser extent) from the core while simultaneously
the European periphery in
parts of their states that moving more labour-
general, and Wales in
make up the core whether intensive jobs to the
particular, here. What is
that be Cornwall, Wales, periphery. Since the
possible, however, is to
the Mezzogiorno, Scotland creation of the euro in
attempt to shift the
outside of Edinburgh, 1999, many countries have
parameters we currently
Corsica or the areas of lost important policy
use in trying to explain
Scandinavia where the levers such as the ability to
their positions. The use of
Sami live. It also helps to devalue their currency.
dependency theories
explain the relatively Seers (1979) suggested
developed in Latin
different trajectory in that “the loss of these
America is not an attempt
Spain, whereby the spatial policy instruments is
to compare the struggles of
axis is more important potentially costly for
peripheral Europe to
than the cultural axis, countries with chronic
peripheral countries in
considering the differences payment problems. ... EEC
general. It is an acceptance
between Catalunya, the membership might lock a
that neoclassical
Basque Country and country into dependence
economics developed in
Andalucia. Many of these on exporting labour.
and for developed regions,
‘peripheral’ areas also Moreover, it would involve
which takes for granted
share many of the same increased reliance on
their structural
characteristics: a European Transnational
characteristics and interest
dependence on tourism, a Corporations, with the
in ‘free trade’, does not
concentration of associated problems” that
work for anyone outside of
agriculture and the come with that. This is
a very specific “yolk” of
production of primary almost prophetic of the
countries. It is clear that
resources, higher situation that peripheral
for the betterment of
unemployment, a larger European countries have
societies generally we can
reserve army of labour, found themselves in since
no longer play a part in a
migration (which, in the the financial crisis. The
system where the most
case of southern Italy, was expansion of the EU has in
powerful are the judge,
deemed a positive by the effect created a larger
jury and executioner.
OECD)14 and generally European periphery which

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 187


Sam Parry

Closer to home, it also has specific policy


implications for Wales, especially in the
Endnotes
wake of a growing independence 1. Bowen, 2011
movement. A movement that does not 2. Taken from: https://www.marxists.org/
understand that “[a] dominated country, archive/zinoviev/works/x01/x01.htm
or a previously dominated one that does
3. Stalin, 1954
not alter its situation in the international
capitalist division of labor, merely 4. Stalin, 2013
reproduces its unfavorable situation: the 5. Qtd. in Wolpe, The Theory of Internal
more it increases the production of the Colonisation: The South African Case. 1975
products that its “place” assigns it, the 6. Michael Hecther, ‘Internal Colonialism.’
more does it participate in the worsening 1975
of its own unfavorable situation”16 is
bound to fail because it will not succeed in 7. Taken from: https://gov.wales/annual-
survey-hours-and-earnings-2019
achieving its central task: improving the
lives of the people who live there. 8. Williams, 2005

In the words of Paul Baran (2010), one of 9. Davies, 2007


the fathers of development theory: 10. Taken from: https://wiserd.ac.uk/
advantage-welsh-speakers-some-parts-
The gap between the actual and the possible
labour-market
is glaring, and its implications are
catastrophic. There the difference is between 11. MacKenzie, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and
abysmal squalor and decent existence, English Worlds? A Four-Nation Approach to
the History of the British Empire. 2008
between the misery of hopelessness and the
exhilaration of progress, between life and 12. Wallerstein, 2011
death of hundreds of millions of people. The 13. Chirot and Hall, 1982
establishment of a socialist planned economy
14. Wade, 1979
is an essential, indeed indispensable,
condition for the attainment of economic and 15. Selwyn, 1979
social progress in underdeveloped countries. 16. Bettelheim, 1979

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PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 189


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Wolpe, Harold (1975) "The theory of internal colonization: the South African case."
Collected Seminar Papers. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 18 . pp. 105-120.

Websites
Zinoviev, Gregory. 2020. "What Is Imperialism?". Marxists.Org. https://
www.marxists.org/archive/zinoviev/works/x01/x01.htm.
"Annual Survey Of Hours And Earnings: 2019 | GOV.WALES". 2020. GOV.WALES.
https://gov.wales/annual-survey-hours-and-earnings-2019.
"Advantage For Welsh Speakers In Some Parts Of The Labour Market". 2020.
WISERD. https://wiserd.ac.uk/advantage-welsh-speakers-some-parts-labour-market.
"World Imperialism And Marxist Theory: On The International Line Of The
Communist Movement". 2020. Marxists.Org. https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/
ncm-5/tr-3-worlds.htm#fw02.

190 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


WALES, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND THE WORLD SYSTEM

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 191


by SUDDHABRATA DEB ROY

192 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


EARLY MARXIST EXPLORATIONS

Reflections on the Early by


Feminism of Friedrich SUDDHABRATA
Engels and August Bebel DEB ROY

"For there can be no liberation of mankind without social


independence and equality of the sexes."
—August Bebel, Women and Socialism

"The overthrow of the mother-right was the world historical defeat


of the female sex.
—Friedrich Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

nti-socialists have, time and mercilessly critiqued.


again, brought serious The early feminist movement revolved
allegations against Marxism, around the question of women’s rights
railing against its supposed while most of the recent literature on
inability to develop a holistic women’s movement are advocacies in
framework for understanding favour of women’s liberation (Goldstein,
different expressions of oppression. One 1982). While both terms might appear
of the most repeated allegations stemming similar at the superficial level, there are
from the liberal “left” claims that Marxism grave distinctions between the two. The
is insensitive to gender oppression; the narrative about women’s rights is mostly
truth, however, is that questions of gender circumscribed around the bourgeois
have been fervently discussed within the conception of rights which rarely
Marxist tradition from its beginnings.
transgresses to include working-class
From the early through to the women within its fold. The women’s
contemporary Marxists, many have, in liberation movement on the other hand,
their own way, attempted to address the advocates for a social movement in favour
question of gender. Some have been highly of a complete overhaul of the social system
influential like the Bolshevik Alexandra oppressing women, which may or may not
Kollontai, while still others have been be socialist or communist in nature.

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 193


Suddhabrata Deb Roy

Utopian Socialism was, in its own way, the argued that the realisation of socialism
initiator of the discussion on women’s was impossible without the upliftment of
rights and liberation within the broad women politically and socially in public
socialist tradition. The utopian socialist service.
Charles Fourier was one of the pioneers in
The present article offers a critical look at
highlighting the issues of women in
these two early Marxist thinkers and their
socialist discourse. Fourier advocated for
work on the question of gender
a form of socialism whereby progress is
oppression. The two principal works
determined by the progress made by which shall be discussed are Friedrich
women in that society (Marx, 1844). Engels’ The Origin of the Family, Private
Fourier was an ardent advocate of the Property and the State and August Bebel’s
dissolution of the institution of family Women and Socialism. These two works,
(Marx, 1963), a position retained by the published within a span of five years,
early socialist August Bebel during the served as the major source of theorisation
course of his analysis of the position of for the early, and even contemporary,
women within society. Taking his cue socialist movement on the question of
from the utopian socialism of Fourier, women’s labour. Engels and Bebel each
Marx (1846/2012) discussed how the used common resources to produce their
capitalist mode of production, realized theses on the oppression of women. One
through new technologies, techniques, such common point of reference is the
and methods of organizing labor,
work of the American anthropologist
prompted the employment of women and
Lewis Morgan. Morgan’s Ancient Society,
children. However, it was Engels
first published in 1877, theorised on the
(1884/1941) who exhibited how this
evolution of family, government, and
development laid a foundation for
property. Both Engels and Bebel studied
women’s liberation by forcing previously Morgan’s work while forming their
unorganised women workers dive into the respective theories on the evolution of
general structure of the organised human societies, attempting to analyse the
workers’ movements. And even prior to question of women’s labour through a
Engels, August Bebel openly voiced paradigm which formulates that the
support for the liberation of women when deplorable conditions in which women
he declared women to be labourers who found themselves was an aftereffect of
were bounded by slavery well before the
socio-economic changes during the
modern institution of slavery existed transition to capitalism. This paradigm
(Bebel, 1879/1910). Bebel, like Engels, has been continuously, and contentiously,
was a pioneer in the theorisation of debated by later Marxists and feminists
women’s oppression in socialist discourse.
alike.
Highly critical of the reduced capacity of
contemporary socialists to recognize that The present paper shall not critique the
the dependence of women on men controversies of economism, analyse the
developed along a similar line as the broader political theory of August Bebel,
dependence of workers on capital, Bebel or remark on the potential rivalry between

194 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


EARLY MARXIST EXPLORATIONS

Fredrich Engels and August Bebel. all forms of oppression and dependence
Instead, we shall consider their theories were rooted within the economic
about the oppression of women within foundation of society. Gender was critical
their own theoretical universes. While because of its role in the division of labour
true that neither Engels nor Bebel at a very early stage of human civilisation,
proposed a programmatic alternative for long before economic oppression per se
the women’s movement, they produced a actually came into existence. He clearly
lasting accomplishment: establishing a discarded the ahistorical conception that
materialist theoretical basis for the further considered modern social formations as
investigation of the “woman question.” appearing with humans at the moment of
creation and instead argued that it was
only through a gradual evolution of the
The Impact of the Woman social order that human civilization
proper came into existence. In doing so,
Question on the Socialism of Bebel, critiqued the role of both the
August Bebel church and the ruling class in establishing
August Bebel, born in 1840, was one of
the pioneers of the socialist movement in
Germany. He founded the Social
Democratic Workers’ Party of Germany
in 1869 which subsequently evolved into
the Social Democratic Party of Germany
in 1890. August Bebel was one of the first
socialists to openly discuss the position
and importance of women in the socialist
movement and society in general. In fact,
gender was a central element in August
Bebel’s analysis of class society. For Bebel,
social and sex relations were fundamental
to national development.1 Women, to
Bebel, were the first slaves in human
history.2 His conceptualisation of the
practical enslavement of women within
and beyond the household in ancient
societies led to the most revolutionary
aspect of August Bebel’s study: the
proclamation that women were the first
workers into servitude (Bebel,1910: 10).
Coming from a nascent socialist tradition
which had, at least partially, severed ties
with the utopian socialists, Bebel insisted

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 195


Suddhabrata Deb Roy

movement. This is not to say that Bebel


did not recognize that the oppression of
women did, to some extent, cut across
class divisions. Thus he opined that
women from different social classes could
potentially organize behind a common
movement against the broadest
expressions of patriarchy, but
nonetheless, such an alliance could only
subsist temporarily against the mounting
pressure of the intensified class
antagonisms characteristic of industrial
capitalism. It is significant that Bebel saw
in the working women’s movement a force
which was potentially more potent in its
revolutionary spirit than the working
men’s movement,4 primarily because the
women’s movement developed under the
influence of a social position more deeply
oppressed in comparison to working class
men. The basic aim of the socialist
approach towards women’s struggle and
a base upon which the modern oppression liberation was succinctly put forward by
of women could be construed as an Bebel,
accepted social fact in the Durkheimian “Our Goal then is, not only to achieve
sense. equality of men and women under the
Bebel’s Women and Socialism,3 first present social order, which constitutes the
published in German in 1879, is a pivotal sole aim of bourgeois woman’s movement,
source for understanding the early but to go far beyond this, and to remove
socialist approach towards the gender all barriers that make one human being
question. Bebel, in many ways, was ahead dependent upon another, which includes
of his time as far as the question of the dependence of one sex upon the
‘women’ was concerned. His theorisation other.” (Bebel, 1910: 7)
of gender as fundamentally intertwined Aspects of Bebel’s thought remain
with the labour question provided one of relevant to this day. His analysis of the
the first detailed materialist exploration variable rate of infanticide relative to
into the subject. Bebel explained that the social class provides a dramatic example of
question of gender oppression was a the effect of poverty on the family
reflection of the conflict between structure. His study of the
capitalists and workers, and the question interrelationship between prostitution,
of the women’s movement was employment status, the legality of
intertwined with the broader labour

196 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


EARLY MARXIST EXPLORATIONS

women’s labour, and the rentier economy served the patriarchal ruling class by
offers an explanation of how patriarchal facilitating the oppression, vilification,
capitalism operates across multiple levels.5 and control of women. The
It is popularly accepted that prostitution, conceptualisation of women as a potent
for the majority of women involved, and distinct revolutionary force had larger
derives from economic compulsion rather implications for how socialists would
than free choice, a notion which Bebel come to view and analyse other questions
advanced. Bebel argued that working class of identity related to race, caste, and other
women not only experienced precarious, categories. Bebel’s work continues to
dangerous, and exploitative labor provide Marxists with a theoretical
conditions under industrial capitalism, but foundation in which women’s oppression
that this general condition was further can be situated within a material-
exacerbated by substantial legal, cultural, economic base.
and social obstacles. Thus, under
significant socioeconomic pressure during
the rise of capitalism, women were The Woman Question in the
forcibly driven into prostituion and other
lumpen conditions. Such a claim appears Work of Friedrich Engels
to offer a direct counter to the class nature For most of his intellectual life, Friedrich
of the contemporary practice of ‘slut- Engels was overshadowed by the brilliance
shaming’,6 which mostly targets poor and of his collaborator and comrade, Karl
working class women. Further, Bebel Marx, in collaboration with whom he
critiqued the cultural orientation whereby created a massive assemblage of
polygamy is seen as a natural inclination socioeconomic and political literature
but polyandry an unthinkable sin, aimed at the international emancipation of
recognizing it as a reflection in the the working class. Born in 1820, Engels
economic subordination of women. He was a social scientist, journalist, and
established how the legal apparatus businessman, and no less brilliant than
ultimately sides with the dominant forces Marx regardless of his humility on the
of a given society, such as in the case of matter. Engels was the first Marxist per
criminalization of prostitution within 19th se, played a critical role in sustaining the
Century German society championed by Marx family through difficult times, and
landlords and other members of high after the death of Marx, played a key role
society.7 Here, there appears to be a in translating and publishing the work of
striking continuity with the denial of legal his closest comrade.
status and labor protections, and in turn,
Engels, himself was a prolific theorist on
social dignity, to sex workers today.
his own. Engels’ The Origin of the Family,
Bebel’s greatest contributions to the Private Property and the State8 published
socialist conception of women’s rights and in 1884, a year after the death of Karl
liberation stemmed from his detailed Marx, has been the basic theoretical
insights into the means through which vantage from which nearly all subsequent
social and political institutions ultimately

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 197


Suddhabrata Deb Roy

The Marxist conception of species-


essence (Gattungswesen), as laid out by
Marx (1844) in the Economic and
Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844,
portrays the species-beingness of
humankind as an inherent quality of
humanity which allows them to both care
and work for the development of society
in its totality, not simply for private,
personal benefit. Engels laid bare some of
the more basic concepts regarding how
the Marxist notion of species-essence can
be realised in actually-existing society:
two of the most fundamental criteria
being mutual toleration and freedom from
jealousy.9
Engels, through the application of these
two criteria, attempted to analyse two
prime aspects of Marx’s theory, which
would later emerge as fundamental in
contemporary labour struggles: namely
competition and struggle between the
classes. While doing so, Engels brought
forward how the first quality contributed
Marxists begin when delving into towards the stabilisation of the loose
questions on sexuality and family but
family structure in the stage of existence
nonetheless it contains numerous critical
of group marriage,10 which itself left little
insights on the historic processes that room for the factor of jealousy to
would give rise to contemporary problems intervene within loose familial structures.
ranging from ecological disaster to However, these quasi-promiscuous
economic crisis. The brilliance of Engels marital relationships were a foundation
was that, though his investigation upon which the first accepted form of
centered primarily on the historic
family was based: that is, the Consanguine
development of private property, he Family; or, more simply put, a familial
provided a theoretical basis for unearthing structure based upon restricted inter-
the intersectional causes of gender generational group marriage. This
oppression, and further, how the structure, with its subsequent evolution
emancipation of women is, in addition to into the Punaluan structure and then to
other factors, not only a fundamental the Pairing family structure, formed the
component of socialist revolution but also basis upon which the modern
a potential causal factor in its monogamous familial structure was
development. constructed. It was this phase of human

198 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


EARLY MARXIST EXPLORATIONS

development which saw the rise of “At first, according to mother-


conception of wealth and, also, to a certain right – so long, therefore, as
extent, budding privatisation. Through a
description of how the conception of
descent was reckoned only in the
wealth and private property came into female line – and according to
existence, Engels brought forward the the original custom of
relation between the evolution of wealth inheritance within the gens, the
and private property as a societal measure gentile relatives inherited from a
of the importance--and class--of human
beings and the domination of women by deceased fellow member of their
men, which was itself a central element in gens. His property had to remain
all marital arrangements. In other words, within the gens. His effects
even though wealth became the central being insignificant, they
social concern of human civilisation
probably always passed in
(Vogel,1996) it did not have an
independent ontological existence of its practice to his nearest gentile
own, but was, rather, part of a shared relations – that is, to his blood
ontological space which was based upon relations on the mother's side.
the oppression of women and the The children of the dead man,
appropriation of the fruits of women’s
labour by men within the family, and
however, did not belong to his
within society in general. gens, but to that of their mother;
Referring to the dynamic system of the
it was from her that they
division of labour within the family, inherited, at first conjointly with
Engels provided his readers with a her other blood relations, later
detailed historical and social perhaps with rights of priority;
understanding of the importance of means they could not inherit from their
of production in the development of the
society to its present form. The division of
father, because they did not
labour within the family was pretty belong to his gens, within which
straightforward during the days of the his property had to remain.
pairing family structure. Men were When the owner of the herds
entrusted with the responsibility of died, therefore, his herds would
producing food and the requisite
instruments of production, while women go first to his brothers and
were entrusted with household sisters and to his sister’s
responsibilities. Engels discussed the children, or to the issue of his
dominant system of inheritance at that mother’s sisters. But his own
time, by stating that: children were
disinherited.” (Engels, 1941: 57)

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 199


Suddhabrata Deb Roy

With the world-historical looming-in of that consolidated control over the means
cattle domestication, as well as the use of of production that were used in the
slaves in primitive forms of agriculture, production of material wealth. Engels, as
men subsequently became the owners of well as Bebel, argued that even after
the means of subsistence, which then private property had penetrated into
cleared the route for the male members of human society, some tribes still clung to
a family being the heads of those families. the mother-right system of inheritance.
The complete invisibilisation of women’s However, as the influence of religion and
household labour was, in part, a result of corresponding conceptions of morality
these changes in the division of labour developed, they would act as one of the
within the family, which then most critical triggers of the near-universal
subsequently impregnated the entirety of shift from mother-right to father-right.
human society. Engels, did not restrict his analysis of
Related to these alterations were changes gender to ‘only gender’ but rather used his
to the system of inheritance as well. The analysis of the woman question to bring
usage of the term mother-right forward aspects of socialist theory that
throughout The Origin of the Family, were related to more general
Private Property and the State reflected characteristics of society, both
Engels’ study of Bachofen.11 Engels, economically and socio-politically. The
however, in the later part of this work, transfer of the ‘mother-right’ to the
critiqued the usage of the word “right” ‘father-right,’ was, according to Engels,
within the historical context on which the itself a revolution.13 The historical shift in
book was based.12 The social power of the inheritance laws coupled with the
legal system, if not the conceptualisation emergent importance of cooperation and
of legality itself, was alien to early coordination between various tribes
civilization. Regardless, Engels recognized created a fertile ground for what Engels
the rudimentary development of what called, “...the world historical defeat of the
would become the legal apparatus, and the female sex.” (Engels, 1941:59)
relative influence it had on the course of
development. The continuous transfer of
power from women to men was an Conclusion:
historical event which occurred as men
increased their hold over the means of Engels and Bebel in
social life, i.e, production. Contemporary Light
Correspondingly, there developed a full- Both Bebel and Engels were highly critical
fledged competition regarding the identity of the social institutions which
of the heir of familial wealth, which under reproduced conditions of social
existing systems would go to the mother’s oppression. Bebel’s thesis that the legal
children and not the father’s. Ultimately, apparatus plays a critical role in the
this competition was, perhaps suppression of marginalized sections of
unsurprisingly, won by the same gender society is complemented by Engels’

200 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


EARLY MARXIST EXPLORATIONS

historic analysis of the development of 3. “Women and Socialism” was


legal power. Building on their work, subsequently translated by Daniel de Leon
contemporary Marxists have further and published by the Socialist Labor Party
developed an intersectional framework of of America in the United States of
social theory, maintaining the dynamic America under the title “Women under
centrality of class without falling into a Socialism.” Although largely the same, in
one-sided reductionism. Indeed, the “Women under Socialism”, De Leon
Marxist approach to gender-based distanced himself from Bebel’s attack on
oppression is unique because it does not marriage as an institution.
stem from a framework which accepts and 4. Bebel, Ibid., pp.6
attempts to reform the existing social
order; instead, it analyzes and attacks the 5. Bebel, Ibid., pp. 195
very foundation of capitalist society which 6. For a brief exploration into Slut-
gives rise not only to the exploitation of Shaming, one can visit https://
one class by another, but to a renewed www.huffpost.com/entry/slutshaming-
expression of patriarchy whereby the hurts-every-w_n_5529086 ,or https://
exploitation and oppression of women by inews.co.uk/essentials/someone-sent-
men is mediated through evermore photo-work-heading-slag-history-slut-
complex mechanisms. shaming-92523
As I have attempted to demonstrate, early 7. Bebel, Ibid., pp. 195
Marxists addressed the oppression of
women both urgently and seriously, in 8. “The Origin of the Family, Private
direct contradiction to the ahistorical Property and the State” by Friedrich
claims of its liberal opponents. Engels is considered to be the major
Nonetheless, it must be remembered that materialist account of the history and
Engels and Bebel, and even Marx himself, economics of the institution of family and
were bound by the conditions of their time its relation with the oppression of women.
and could only advance so far beyond the It was based heavily on the notes compiled
theoretical and ideological confines of by Karl Marx in his “Ethnological
their environment. It would take the Notebooks” on Lewis Morgan’s “Ancient
active experience of socialist revolution to Society”.
further clarify the conditions for women’s 9. See Engels (1941), The Origin of the
liberation. Family, Private Property and the State,
Published by Lawrence and Wishart
Limited, pp. 33
Endnotes 10. Engels, Ibid., pp. 34
1. See Bebel, August (1910), Women and 11. See Engels, ibid., pp. 41. The reference
Socialism. Published by Socialist is to the Swiss academic and
Literature Co., pp. 16 anthropologist Johann Jacob Bachofen,
2. Bebel, Ibid., pp.10 who is famous for his theorisation of the
history of matriarchy. Engels was

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 201


Suddhabrata Deb Roy

appreciative of his 1861 book titled Marx, K. (1963). Private Property and
“Mother-Right: An Investigation of the Communism. In T. Bottomore (Ed), Early
Religious and Juridical Character of Writings. London: Penguin
Matriarchy in the Ancient World”, which
Vogel, L. (1996). Engels’s Origin: Legacy,
he regularly referred to.
Burden and Vision. In C.J. Arthur (Ed.),
12. Engels, Ibid., pp. 41 Engels Today. London: Palgrave
13. Engels, Ibid., pp. 58 Macmillan

References
Bebel, A. (1879/1910). Women and
Socialism. New York: Socialist Literature
Co.
Engels, F. (1884/1941). The Origin of the
Family, Private Property and the State.
London : Lawrence and Wishart Limited.
Goldstein, L.F. (1982). Early Feminist
Themes in French Utopian Socialism: The
St.-Simonians and Fourier. Journal of the
History of Ideas, 43(1),pp.91-108
Lenin, V.I. (1917). Letter on Tactics.
Retrieved from https://
www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/
works/1917/apr/x01.htm#fwV24E019
Lewenhak, S. (1977). Women and Trade
Unions. London: Ernest Benn Limited
Marx,K. (1844). Economic and
Philosophical Manuscripts. Retrieved from
https://www.marxists.org/archive/
marx/works/1844/manuscripts/
preface.htm
Marx, K. (1844/2009). The Holy Family.
Kolkata: National Book Agency
Marx, K. (1846/2012). The German
Ideology. New Delhi: Peoples’ Publishing
House
Marx, K. (1867/2015). Capital Volume 1.
New Delhi: LeftWord Books

202 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


ART BYEXPLORATIONS
EARLY MARXIST GUCCI MINH

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 203


An Excerpt From

Re-
Asserting
Marxism
A Forthcoming Release
from the Center for
Communist Studies

Chris Costello
REASSERTING MARXISM

The following essay is an excerpt from a forthcoming


original book release from Iskra Books, the new and
exciting publishing concern of the Center for
Communist Studies.

We understand that consciousness


arises from modes and relations of
production. Now we must contend with
another problem: how does
consciousness change?

he desire for themselves and their by appealing to immediate


change is not, experiences regarding that lived experiences. Rather,

T or should not
be, an
invitation to a
purely
oppression. Those who
know most about
oppression are those fittest
to combat it.
they require a rigorous
social and theoretical
investigation that situates
these experiences within a
intellectual exercise. It is a broader social context.
But individual lived
call to action. A common This “twofold character,
experiences deviate
refrain is that we need to the simultaneous
strongly, and can thus
be attentive to people’s recognition and
never form a complete
divergent lived experience, transcendence of
picture of a situation. The
that those who live immediate experience, is
consciousness of the
oppression know best how precisely the dialectical
experience of oppression is
to organize around it. nexus,”1 which the
an important part of
There is a significant sense doctrine of lived
political action, but more
in which this is true, and experience rejects.
components need to be
indeed obvious. It is the addressed. Where does “Lived experience” is an
height of arrogance to this oppression come from epistemological doctrine
assert that oppressed
and whom does it serve? that argues that truth
individuals do not have an These are questions that comes not from
accurate picture of
cannot be fully answered experience, but from the

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 205


Chris Costello

act of recounting experience. This implies Personal experience doctrine is closely


that the experience is best represented “as bound up with broader theoretical ideas of
lived.” That is, we should explicitly not “privilege,” a common term today in
mediate experience with analysis.2 This activist circles. In many ways, the origin
idea is exactly the opposite of the dialectic and development of this term is
between theory and practice proposed by emblematic of the development of the left
Marxism. In postmodern discourse, there in general. Despite the fact that the
is no consideration of the fact that lived concept of privilege has now been taken
experiences might reflect something other up by universities and corporate training
than truth, or even an inversion of truth. seminars, the concept has roots in the
No outside forces mediate lived socialist movement. The theory of white
experiences; nothing conditions them. privilege in specific, (then called “white
Everyone is pure, having equal access to skin privilege”) was part of a strategy of
their own particular truth. Ultimately this anti-racism; it was an intervention in a
thinking supposes that reality (such as it historical debate on the left. In its origins,
can be said to exist) is constituted solely as the theory attempted to combat economic
a collection of individual experiences with reductionism. The goal of the theory was
no objective laws governing those to forge a link between class and race, to
experiences or their (often contradictory) impress upon activists involved in class
relations with one another. struggle the need to fight racism on its
own terms. That content has since been
discarded along with the working class.
Unlike the latter category, however, the
theory of white privilege has profound
Despite this egregious theoretical weaknesses that, over time,
error, lived experience allowed it to be co-opted by the new
utopians.
discourse has given rise to
vigorous debates about The privilege model of oppression came
from a small network of Maoist groups
oppression that have that operated in the Students for a
historically been ignored by Democratic Society (SDS) in 1968. The
term is widely thought to have been
prominent left-wing coined, in its original formulation, in a
political organizations. series of essays called “White Blindspot,”
written inside the SDS by Noel Ignatiev
Opening up discussions of and Theodore Allen. These documents
oppression, however, is not were intended as polemic against another
the same as having a group within SDS, the Progressive Labor
Party, which its detractors understood to
strategy for ending it. have a narrow view of class struggle. In
place of this reductionism, “White
Blindspot” offered a theory that “The US
ruling class has made a deal with the

206 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


REASSERTING MARXISM

misleaders of American labor and the


masses of white workers.”3 In exchange
for help in “conquering the world,” the
white working class would receive
“repayment” in the form of better
schooling, higher wages, and so on. The
essay argued that white workers and black
workers have competing material
interests. White workers’ interests aligned
more closely with capital than with black
labor. Whether we agree with this theory
or not is largely irrelevant, it is enough to
note that there is a distinct class content
present in it.
In the 1970s, after the neoliberal turn, the
concept began to drift, becoming ensnared
in individualism and disassociated from
class struggle. In the 1976 addition of
“White Blindspot,’ (published a decade
after its initial release) Ignatiev wrote a
disclaimer in the introduction: “the
repudiation of the ‘white skin privilege’ people of color in everyday life. This is an
does not mean that our major work should enormous achievement, and a vital step
consist of asking white workers, one by for building a united movement. It is
one, to give up their relatively good important to qualify this, however, by
noting the framework through which
neighborhoods, jobs, and schools in favor
McIntosh reaches and explores this
of Blacks and other Third World People.
conclusion.
The phrase in quotes refers to a policy of
struggle of which mass action is the She writes that, “I think whites are
decisive aspect.”4 Despite this carefully taught not to recognize white
impassioned call for a return to Marxism, privilege, as males are taught not to
Ignatiev was unable to halt the recognize male privilege, so I have begun,
individualist slide, which went on to in an untutored way, to ask what it is like
completely subsume the earlier theory. to have white privilege. I have come to see
white privilege as an invisible package of
Peggy McIntosh put forward the
unearned access that I can count on
dominant view of privilege in her 1989,
cashing in each day, but about which I was
essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the
Invisible Knapsack.” The piece is built, in meant to remain oblivious. White
privilege is like an invisible, weightless
many respects, on Laclau and Mouffe’s
knapsack of…tools.”5 McIntosh
theory of the autonomy of particular
acknowledges here the institutional power
struggles. It compels its white readers to
of racism, but the sole subject of the piece
reckon with the ways racism victimizes
is the individual, and the sole act that

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Chris Costello

subject can undertake is self-reflection. about privilege, the document argues, is


that “those who have privilege often do
This is markedly different from the points
of convergence between white labor and not realize they have it. In other words,
they don't see the access and opportunity
capital denoted by the communists who
coined the term. First of all, the benefits being a member of a dominant group
conferred to whites were portrayed as part affords them.”8 Given this, a key part of
privilege-checking practice is making the
of a “deal” that the white working class
privileged aware of their status. The
made consciously. This means that white
“action steps” called for by the document
privilege was a collective benefit of which
reflect an over-emphasis on self-
its holders were aware, not one that
education, on subjective action. Activists
“remained invisible.” Secondly, and
are encouraged to “acknowledge” their
perhaps more importantly, the
own privilege and “call out” those who
communists conceived of white privilege
refuse to do so. The document offers no
as “ironic and bitter, with the benefits
strategy for mobilizing people in the
from the crumbs of master’s tables being
struggle against oppression, other than to
pitiable and fully worth of rejection,”
“educate” others or “be an ally” to the
writes David Roediger.6 The interests of
oppressed. There is room for an internal
white workers are “counterfeit,” in
struggle, but not for tearing down the
Ignatiev’s words.7 Today, white privilege
systems that give rise to oppression. In the
is thought of as a set of “tools,”
document, there is perfunctory attention
“passports,” and “blank checks” that allow
paid to the “root systems that give
an individual greater access to an idealized
[someone] privilege,” but the system is
‘good life’ rather than situating a class of
not named or analyzed.
white workers ahead of another on a
spectrum of deprivation and want. The new utopians might maintain a formal
commitment to intersectionality, but they
McIntosh’s focus on the individual
do not see capitalism as a totality but as a
precludes class analysis, which further
collection of discrete, fragmented identity
prevents her from articulating a strategy
formations. Thus, their idea of
to combat racism. The essay does not
intersectionality has little to do with
connect its definition of racial inequality
qualitative differences in oppression. In
to any material relations. It does not
their view, certain groups are not
acknowledge the systemic roots of racism,
differently oppressed, but more oppressed
making it out to be a problem that makes
than others. We can “rank oppressions” to
itself known only in individual
figure out who should lead our
interactions.
movement.9 Privilege checking is the
McIntosh’s influence was evident during process by which this ranking occurs.
Occupy Wall Street. A document titled What emerges is a gradation of privilege
“Checking Your Privilege 101” achieved that everyone, from the Bangladeshi
popularity, defining privilege in much the seamstress making pennies a day to the
same way McIntosh does, as “an unearned CEO of a billion-dollar corporation, is on.
advantage that a dominant group has over Yet there is no reckoning here of one’s
marginalized groups.” An important point relationship to deeper power structures or

208 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


REASSERTING MARXISM

an analysis of how said relationship might or race].”10


form a basis for practical unity. But Wood underestimates the fact that
Some Marxists share the view that particular kinds of oppression are central
oppression is not inseparably linked to (or have become central) to the
capitalism. Unlike the postmodernists, functioning of capitalism. It is not simply
however, they still acknowledge that some that capital will exploit whatever social
connection exists. Ellen Wood, for oppressions exist to divide the working
example, has argued, “capitalism is class, but that these oppressions have a
uniquely indifferent to the identity of the material basis within the capitalist mode
people it exploits, in that capitalism is very of production. The working class is not
flexible in its ability to make use of or arbitrarily divided after its formation by
discard particular kinds of social the conspiring bourgeoisie; it comes into
oppression. It can co-opt whatever social being already divided.11
oppressions are available, but it can also Wood claims something different:
give them up or trade them in for others. “though capitalism can and does make
In principle, it can conduct its exploitation ideological and economic use of gender
without regard for [identities like gender

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Chris Costello

oppression, [it] has no privileged position irreconcilable.”13 Capitalist relations are


in the structure of capitalism.”12 Her point not just relations of exploitation, but also
here is that the cost of reproducing the oppression, dispossession, and
labor force, currently concentrated in the domination. Like exploitation, these are
private sphere and the family, could be features of all class societies, but capitalist
made public if it became politically production shapes their particular forms.
necessary. In the same way, providing a
minimal level of care has, as a result of
struggle, become a social cost.
The above statement is, given the context Oppression is not a
in which it appears, quite clearly a
correction of theories brought forth by byproduct of capitalism; it
postmodernists. It is, however, an is a tool in the hands of the
overcorrection. Wood has taken note of
postmodernism’s tendency to set aside
ruling class. Like a tool, it
class struggle and justifiably attempted to has a definite, material
recenter it in discussions of how best to function. Its function is to
move forward. But she has been
overzealous in this regard, choosing to divide the working class. It
subsume oppression under the umbrella of is vital that we stop this tool
class struggle rather than seeing it as a
piece that fits within a totality. The lesson
from being used against us,
to draw from this is that no one, not even a and that is only possible
writer who explicitly positions themselves when we treat oppression as
against it, is immune to the dominant
ideology. something to be struggled
That qualification does not mean that no against, alongside and in
one can attempt to lessen the influence tandem with exploitation.
that a dominant ideology has over them
(in some respects, the process of struggle
is precisely such an attempt). For
example, although Anderson agrees with
Capitalism was born out of oppression and
Wood that “capitalism is in principle
dispossession that preceded the
indifferent” to gender oppression, he is
exploitation of the working class. This was
alone in admitting that “any movement
a historical process in which colonialism
that incarnated values capable of realizing
played a critical role. Marx wrote, “this
a society without hierarchy of gender
discovery of gold and silver in America,
would be constitutively incapable of
the extirpation, enslavement, and
accepting one founded on [the] division of
entombment in mines of the Aboriginal
class. In this sense, the rule of capital and
population, the beginning of the conquest
the emancipation of women are—
and looting of the East Indies, the turning
historically and practically—
of Africa into a warren for the commercial

210 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


REASSERTING MARXISM

hunting of black skins, signalized the rosy political rights but were defined as less
dawn of the era of capitalist production. than human. The edifice of all men being
These idyllic proceedings are the chief created equal could only be sustained on
moments of primitive accumulation.”14 the condition that slaves––the unequal––
From the very outset, capitalism involved were not considered men. The best way to
a range of oppressive and domineering do this was to devise markers of division.
relationships, in addition to exploitation. The theft of people from Africa and their
enslavement in the United States was thus
Slavery, too, was indispensable to the
identified with the development of the
birth of capitalism. For Marx, “direct
very concept of race, which today cannot
slavery is just as much the pivot of
be easily overcome.
bourgeois industry as machinery, credits,
etc. Without slavery, you have no cotton, We must also contend with the
without cotton you have no modern reproduction of capitalism, an
industry. It is slavery that has given the indispensable part of the mode of
colonies their value, it is the colonies that production. Under capitalism,
have created world trade, and it is world reproduction takes place within the
trade that is the precondition of large- private sphere, including the family,
scale industry. Thus, slavery is an (though even this form is giving way to a
economic category of the greatest marketized service sector) with a
importance. The veiled slavery of the gendered division of labor in which
wage-earners in Europe needed for its women are oppressed. Domestic labor
pedestal, slavery pure and simple in the reproduces human labor power and
new world.”15 There was and is a mutually prepares workers to perform labor every
dependent relationship between day. In 1994, Canada estimated that the
exploitation and oppression. value of housework factored to $318
billion.16 All this work is necessary for the
Racial slavery is an excellent illustration of
reproduction of labor power and hence the
how the specific mode of production
production of commodities. The caregiver
shapes all other social relations. Slavery
is responsible for reproducing the labor
was a pre-capitalist mode of production,
power commodity. Engels called the
but in the development of capitalism, it
position of the proletarian housewife
took on an entirely different character.
“open or concealed domestic slavery.”17
Slavery was at once extensively utilized
The domestic laborer depends on the
and transformed by capital. In pre-
relationship between wage labor and
capitalist modes of production, slavery
capital to receive her share of the family
was based on political dispossession; the
wage, an indirect payment from the
situation was very different under
capitalist class for the maintenance and
capitalism. Capitalist ideology says that all
production of labor power.
humans are created equal, entering the
market at the same level. The only way to This is why Marx and Engels considered
square that with the institution of slavery the family to be the major economic unit
was to create a new type of slavery: racial in capitalist societies. At the start of
slavery. Slaves were not just deprived of industrialization, mechanization made it

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Chris Costello

easier to employ women and children, so others.20 To this we must add already
men were excised from their craft jobs. As formidable list the additional non-
a result, “four times as many workers’ indexable tasks such as providing support
lives are used up to gain a livelihood for to both the employed and non-worker(s)
one worker’s family.”18 The fact that the within the household. Anyone who has
family does not own property is all the had to soothe a child after a hard day at
more reason the family wage is needed. her workplace, or figure out care for an
The male worker is taught to identify with aging parent after a grueling shift knows
at least one element of bourgeois how important such ostensibly non-
consciousness, sexism. He does not own material tasks can be.
productive property, but he can imagine Contemporary women’s oppression is
that he controls the family funds. The primarily a result of the capitalist division
family-based division of labor also enables of labor. Lise Vogel writes, “women's
capitalism to keep down the social wage:
oppression flows from their role in the
public services like childcare, education, maintenance and inheritance of property
and healthcare. The needs not met at
[and] women's involvement in processes
home become the failure of the individual that renew direct producers, as well as
family, especially the wife, rather than their involvement in [the] production [of
capital. commodities].”21 Feudal reproduction was
Despite the shift away from privatization also privatized, but feudal production was
in the family to marketization proper in as well. The peasant family was not just a
the service sector, women still must give unit of consumption, as it is under
priority to home and child-care duties and capitalism, but a unit of production. The
are forced to accept part-time jobs and nature of the family under capitalism has
lower wages. (In the US, a quarter of all been transformed but not abolished. A
working women held part-time jobs in family is no longer a unit of production,
1986 compared with just 9 percent of but it is critical in the process of
men).19 The tradition of women working consumption and reproduction.
for free in the home while men earn an Any coherent politics requires lines of
income has changed. The tasks performed demarcation, the naming of a subject.
by women have changed, but the time Thus, to make the above divisions
spent on domestic labor has not. When apparent is to attack capital. Many
both male and female cohabiters have full- Marxists fail to realize this, but they
time jobs, women still do significantly remain committed to some kind of
more housework: 15 more hours per materialism. Their failure to recognize the
week, totaling an extra month of 24-hour material roots of oppression (and the
days each year.36 According to a 2012 effects of these material roots on the
survey, “U.S. women, put in 25.9 hours a particular forms thereof) means that
week of unpaid domestic labor in 2010, advocates of privilege checking as a
while men put in 16.8, a difference of strategy are fundamentally idealist. The
more than nine hours,” including tasks way to go forward in these formulations is
such as childcare, cooking, shopping, not to organize the people, but to take aim
housework, odd jobs, gardening, and

212 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


REASSERTING MARXISM

at ideas. Hegel similarly saw the “criticism incapable of resisting that to which it seeks
of false and mystifying ideas as the chief to adapt. Postmodern ideas about identity
tasks of radicals.”22 With the supposed do indeed reflect a reality of capitalism,
defeat of the working class marked by namely that we are alienated from one
neoliberalism, the left abandoned any another and forced to fend for ourselves.
unified project of struggle based on a But the political program of
materialist conception of the roots and postmodernism is an acceptance of this, a
forms of oppression. It fragmented itself reification of commodity fetishism.
into single-issue identity campaigns. Identity politics is correlated with calls for
Identity, and by extension the individual, diversity, little more than an extension of
is now the nexus of political change. lifestyle discourse. This brand of politics
Absent a belief in the possibility of focuses on representation and
something better; it is natural that one consumption; diversity is measured in the
would abandon a search for it. Radicals number of market choices someone from a
need to work with what they have, and particular identity group can make. It
what they have (at least in their own turns the struggle inward, distrusting any
conception) are themselves, their friends, collectivity or solidarity as “hegemonic.”
and their immediate experiences. Such a politics can offer an insightful
For all the sense identity politics makes as critique of the current hegemony but is
a response to neoliberalism, the project is blind to the fact that hegemony only

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Chris Costello

responds to an equally powerful opposing influenced by but also broke from Critical
hegemony. Power will not vanish just Legal Studies, the class-based framework
because it is named; it must be contested of the early 1960s. Critical Race Theory
with a power of our own. The left has might feel postmodern, focusing on
claimed the defeat represented by culture, discourse, and ideas. But,
neoliberalism as the victory of identity especially in the early work, a kind of
politics, but to win our actual demands, materialism remains. In it, we find a
we need a collective project. Not multiple critique of liberalism, “colorblindness,”
different campaigns but a single and reformism.
organization that is capable of responding One theorist, Derek Bell, even took
to various kinds of oppression and Brown v. Board of Education to task in
involving the entirety of the oppressed several articles. The liberal civil rights
and exploited. Such a project must be
lawyers saw desegregation as the main
centered on class struggle.
way to fight racism, but Bell said that the
This is not to say that we can learn nothing goal was not desegregation as some
from a political emphasis on identity. abstract principle, but educational equity.
Intersectionality, as posited by Kimberle Desegregation was a tool to bring about
Crenshaw and other Black Feminists, is a this material goal, not an end in itself. To
welcome addition to Marxism. make this point, Bell quotes from avowed
Intersectionality is a way of describing Marxist W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote in
how oppressions interact; it is “the 1935, “the negro needs neither segregated
concept of the simultaneity of nor mixed schools. What he needs is
oppression.”23 Marxism shares a education… All things being equal, the
materialist outlook with the conceptual mixed school is the broader, more natural
form of intersectionality, particularly with basis for the education of all youth [but]
Critical Race Theory, of which Crenshaw other things seldom are equal.”24 Neither
is a major figure. The founding conference Bell nor Du Bois is anti-desegregation;
of this theory was in 1989. It was they recognized that the goal was material
improvements in people’s lives, not
“better ideas.” Like Marxists, the early
adopters of Critical Race Theory
recognized the need for materialism.
Black feminism, out of which
intersectionality arose, has a long history
that stretches back to the days of chattel
slavery. Since that period, black women
have recognized that racism causes them
to suffer in a way that white women do
not; there are qualitative differences
between oppressions. Sojourner Truth
articulated this in her famous “Ain’t I a
Woman” speech, delivered in 1851. Truth

214 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


REASSERTING MARXISM

recognized the middle class, white nature supremacist.’ . . . It exposes the


of the existing suffragette movement. Due hypocritical alibi of the lynchers of Negro
to its class nature, she said, this movement manhood who have historically hidden
was incapable of addressing the concerns behind the skirts of white women when
of black women. Crenshaw echoes Truth they try to cover up their foul crimes with
in “Demarginalizing the Intersection of the 'chivalry' of ‘protecting white
Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique womanhood.”26
of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Davis expanded on this theme, linking
Theory, and Antiracist Politics.” She sexual assault to the racial and class
asserts, “many white women urged that character of the prison industrial complex.
she be silenced, fearing that she would Davis wrote in her seminal 1981 book
divert attention from women's suffrage to Women, Race, and Class that sexual
[the abolition of slavery] . . .. When assault “has had a toxic racial component
feminist theory and politics that claim to in the United States since the time of
reflect women's experiences and women's slavery as a key weapon in maintaining the
aspirations do not include or speak to system of white supremacy.” She astutely
Black women, Black women must ask, characterizes rape as “a weapon of
Ain't we women?”25 domination, a weapon of repression,
Black Feminism thus contains a strong whose covert goal was to extinguish slave
emphasis on class, particularly the fact women's will to resist and, in the process,
that class has been racialized in the to demoralize their men.”27 This weapon
American context. This is unsurprising arose during chattel slavery but, as with
once one notes the overlap between Black slavery itself, took on a new form with the
Feminism and the Communist Party USA development of capitalism. According to
in the 1920s and 30s, typified by Claudia Davis, “Group rape, perpetrated by the
Jones (who eventually broke with the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist
Party because of their refusal to address organizations of the post-Civil War
racial issues). Jones and her contemporary, period, became an un-camouflaged
Angela Davis, both developed an political weapon in the drive to thwart the
intersectional analysis of gender, race, and movement for Black equality.”28
class under capitalism. Jones, in particular, Addressing rape was, therefore, a
emphasizes the different ways black and necessary component of the racial
white women experience sexual assault. struggle, which was itself an aspect of the
class struggle. Gender, race, and class all
For the former, the issue is not merely
fit together in the totality of capitalist
gendered, but racialized. Jones writes,
production.
“none so dramatizes the oppressed status
of Negro womanhood as does the case of The struggle against neoliberalism was in
Rosa Lee Ingram, widowed mother of many cases spearheaded by Black
fourteen children––two of them dead–– Feminists, most notably the Combahee
who faces life imprisonment in a Georgia River Collective, a group of radical Black
jail for the ‘crime’ of defending herself Lesbian Feminists. In 1977, they wrote,
from the indecent advances of a ‘white “We are socialists because we believe that

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Chris Costello

work must be organized for the collective the area of validity of Marxist theory,” but
benefit of those who do the work and applying it rigorously to their conditions.31
create the products, and not for the profit Barbara Smith, a founding member of the
of the bosses. Material resources must be Collective, argued for unity not just in an
equally distributed among those who ideological sense, but also in a practical
create these resources. We are not one. In a 1984 interview, she said, “any
convinced, however, that a socialist kind of separatism is a dead end . . .. There
revolution that is not also a feminist and is no way that one oppressed group is
anti-racist revolution will guarantee our going to topple a system by itself. Forming
liberation...Although we are in essential principled coalitions around specific
agreement with Marx's theory as it issues is very important.”32 This is very far
applied to the very specific economic away from the “autonomization” thesis
relationships he analyzed, we know that promoted by Laclau and Mouffe.
his analysis must be [taken] further in
Intersectionality, despite its insights, has
order for us to understand our specific
blockages that a properly dialectical
economic situation as Black women.”29
theory can work around or move beyond.
The founding metaphor of
intersectionality (the “intersection” itself)
is primarily what limits it, on its own, to
Going beyond Marx’s being merely descriptive, rather than
revelatory. Davis, for example, does not
necessarily narrow use that special metaphor, which was
application of his method is nowhere clearer than in Crenshaw’s 2001
presentation to the World Conference
a core component of the Against Racism. To explain the theory,
Marxist project. Anderson she used the image of a person standing at
reminds us that historical the junction of multiple roads––a literal
intersection. The limiting spatiality of the
materialism can take stock metaphor has caused a proliferation of
of various related concepts similar terms. We encounter in the
literature “vectors, axes, and roads,” as
covering a “wide range of well as “intersections” proper. One
social forms and practices theorist has identified “fourteen lines of
that no alternative could difference,” only to be outdone by another
who articulated “sixteen vectors” of
begin to meet.”30 oppression.33
Patricia Hill-Collins has rejected this
limiting spatiality, referring to systems of
oppression as “interlocking.” She has
The Combahee River Collective elucidated a “matrix of domination” that
understood the scientific character of adds up to a “single historically-created
Marxism. Unlike Laclau and Mouffe, they system.” Another theorist has called
are not “scaling down the pretensions and

216 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


REASSERTING MARXISM

attention to the fact that certain systems oppressions do not come into external
of oppression “need one another” and are relations with one another but relate
constitutive of each other.34 These internally. The insistence on atomism
attempts at relationality aside, might have been born out of classical
intersectionality without Marxism finds liberal individualism (which many
itself treading water. The name suggests theorists, Collins among them, reject).
independent, autonomous, and pre- Those who do not treat oppression in a
formed identities, what David McNally space that is “a corollary of the abstracting
calls “ontological atomism.” These social space of commodified production
independent relations intersect with or governed by capitalist markets.”36
meet one another in myriad ways, but are Intersectionality as a theory is additive; it
not mutually constituted. One writer has is not an account of how organic systems
even claimed that speaking of mutual interact or interrelate. The critical insight
constitution is to “disrupt the saliency” of of modernity is that human beings, in their
various identity categories.35 concrete (if in some sense determined)
Relations of oppression and domination actions, make history. A prominent
are constitutive. This does not mean–– current within intersectionality says that
has never meant––subsuming all these oppressions exist regardless of human
relations under one conceptual umbrella. action, that they are forces colliding with
Dialectics requires us to think of these one another randomly. This tendency
categories as interactive, not static things towards individualism is perhaps
residing apart from one another. Various reflective of intersectionality’s origins in

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Chris Costello

legal theory. Ironically, the very thing that and oppression: the working class.
demands intersectionality contains a According to Badiou, Marx proposes the
materialist kernel also pulls it towards working class as an “identity beyond
idealism. This is because legal theory is identity” whose liberation is a necessary
designed to describe the experience of prerequisite for the liberation of humanity
individual legal subjects to the court. as a whole. The working-class movement
Intersections take place at the individual can only attain the status of “identity
level because that is the level at which the beyond identity” when it apprehends and
legal system subjectivizes its participants. fights against identity-based oppression.
There is nothing about a working-class or
Dialectical theory allows us to get beyond
Marxist political project that necessitates
this shortcoming. In the words of
abandoning identity-based struggles. It is
Canadian Marxist Himani Bannerji,
only within the context of working-class
dialectical theory challenges “the habit of
struggle that oppression can be effectively
fragmented or stratified thinking which
combatted and, similarly, only when it
ends up erasing the social from the
takes up questions of identity oppression
conception of ontology.”37 The task of
can the working classes emerge victorious.
dialectical materialism is to provide an
There are pluralities of resistance, but
account of living social processes and
there is no plural subject.
relations, the total process of life
reproducing itself. The task of the political
subject is to apply that understanding to a
Endnotes
revolutionary transformation.
1. Lukacs, History, p. 7.“Redstocking
Marxism places emphasis on the Manifesto,” 1969.
connection between exploitation and
2. Ignatiev, Noel and Ted Allen, “White
oppression, which much of
Blindspot,” 1973. Marxists Internet Archive.
intersectionality does not do. As Raymond
Williams points out, “there is not one 3. Ibid.
[issue is oppression] which, followed 4. McIntosh, Peggy. “White privilege:
through, fails to lead us into the central Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” (1988).
systems of the capitalist mode of
5. Roediger, David, Class, Race, and
production and among others into its Marxism, 2017.
systems of classes.”38 Hill-Collins hints at
this conception when she writes that 6. Ignatiev and Allen, “Blindspot.”
interlocking systems of oppression ought 7. Wood, Democracy, ch. 9
to be understood as part of a single 8. Moufawad-Paul, Joshua. Continuity and
historical system, but stops short of taking Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain.
the steps necessary to transform John Hunt Publishing, 2016.
intersectionality from a descriptive
9. Wood, Democracy, ch. 9.
concept to a revolutionary theory.
10. Anderson, Historical Materialism, p. 90.
Only Marxism identifies the social agent
that can put an end to both exploitation 11. Quoted in Frank, Andre Gunder.

218 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


REASSERTING MARXISM

Dependent Accumulation. Vol. 492. NYU the intersection of race and sex: A black
Press, 1979, p. 38. feminist critique of antidiscrimination
doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist
12. Ibid, p. 21.
politics.” U. Chi. Legal F. (1989): 139.
13. Bridgman, Benjamin, et al. “Accounting
25. Quoted in Smith, Sharon. Women and
for household production in the national
socialism: essays on women's liberation.
accounts, 1965–2010.” Survey of Current
Haymarket Books, 2005, p. 20.
Business 92.5 (2012): 23-36.
26. Quoted in Zinn, Maxine Baca, and Bonnie
14. Crittenden, Ann. The price of motherhood:
Thornton Dill, eds. Women of color in US
Why the most important job in the world is still
society. Temple University Press, 1993, p.
the least valued. Macmillan, 2002.
151.
15. “Off Our Backs,” 2004, p. 38.
27. Smith, p. 155.
16. Quoted in Peterson, Janice, and Margaret
28. Ibid, p. 157.
Lewis, eds. The Elgar companion to feminist
economics. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2001, p. 29. Anderson, Historical Materialism, p. 89.
36.
30. Wood, Retreat, ch. 9.
17. Marx, Karl. Karl Marx: selected writings.
31. Ibid, ch. 2-3.
Oxford University Press, USA, 2000, p. 292.
32. Collins, Patricia Hill, and Sirma Bilge.
18. Nelson, Barbara J., and Nājamā Caudhurī,
Intersectionality. John Wiley & Sons, 2016,
eds. Women and politics worldwide. Yale
passim.
University Press, 1994, p. 354.
33. Smith, Neil. “Nature as accumulation
19. Hartmann, Heidi I. “The family as the
strategy.” Socialist register 43.43 (2009).
locus of gender, class, and political struggle:
The example of housework.” Signs: Journal of 34. Gould, Carol C. “Marx's social
Women in Culture and Society 6.3 (1981): ontology.” (1980).
366-394. 35. “Radical Philosophy,” Issues 54-62, 1990.
20. Bridgman, Benjamin, et al. “Accounting p. 18.
for household production in the national 36. Davis, Angela Y. Women, race, & class.
accounts, 1965–2010.” Survey of Current Vintage, 2011, p. 68.
Business 92.5 (2012): 23-36.
37. Dean, Crowds, Ch. 5.
21. Quoted in Breckman, Warren. Marx, the
Young Hegelians, and the Origins of Radical 38. Collins, Intersectionality.
Social Theory: Dethroning the Self. Cambridge
University Press, 1999, p. 287.
22. Quoted in Ryan, Barbara, ed. Identity
politics in the women's movement. NYU Press,
2001, p. 152.
23. Horne, Gerald, and Mary Young, eds.
WEB Du Bois: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2001, p. 72.
24. Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Demarginalizing

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 219


TEACHING

TEACHING
REVOLUTION

REVOLUTION
COMMUNIST PEDAGOGY
by SHANE LAWRENCE PICK
Shane Lawrence Pick

Continuing the second installment of Shane Lawrence Pick's popular Juche


Lessons series. Juche Lesson #2: Independence, Creativity, and Consciousness.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il said,


“Independence, creativity and
consciousness are mankind’s social
qualities which take shape and develop

ike all organ- out direct comparison In fact, a number of exam-


isms, humans throughout the biological ples can be found contra-

L have evolved
characteristic
specialized or-
world.
Nonetheless, it is incorrect
to regard certain critical
dicting this notion, but the
starkest contradiction is
dramatically expressed in
gans that, in the human faculties, such as the existence of so-called
course of typical develop- feral children who have
independence, creativity,
ment, correlate with or social consciousness been monstrously neglect-
unique functions: the con- (that is, that which can be ed. The documented cases
figuration of the legs allows considered uniquely hu- of such children that have
for upright walking, that of man in the consciousness undergone development
the hand enables the deli- of Homo sapiens), as inborn largely in the absence of
cate manipulation of ob- or biological qualities. human influence demon-
jects, the tongue is particu- strate profoundly peculiar
Such a conclusion may
larly articulate in its ability behavior. These children
seem absurd: if the physi-
to produce the intricacies generally lack the ability to
cal structures that underlie
of language, and the cortex use language, are intellec-
human activity and being
of the brain, comparatively tually impaired, are re-
are directly rooted within
enlarged, correlates with a pelled by human food, and
the phylogenetic history of
high degree of conscious- in some cases even demon-
the human species, mustn't
ness. In relation to each strate quadrupedalism
all that we regard as indis-
other, the anatomical and rather than bipedalism.
pensable in defining the
physiological characteris- unique character of human While physical develop-
tics of the human species ment occurs along normal
activity also develop more
provides the foundation lines in these cases, psy-
or less directly from the bi-
for a uniquely human chological and cognitive
ological?
mode of activity, one with- development do not. This

222 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


JUCHE LESSON

tells us that many of the


most essential features of
human activity and social
being do not arise directly
from the biological founda-
tion but are actually
learned.
Animals perform instinc-
tive behaviors to adapt
themselves to the change
of the surrounding world
or use ready-made things
in nature, but human activ-
ity alone facilitates a pro-
foundly creative transfor-
mation of nature, that is,
labor, which is the material
basis of thought. With la-
bor, rudimentary con-
sciousness is given a cre-
ative outlet: consciousness
no longer simply reflects
the world but is put to ac-
tive use in changing it.
The first labor was instinc-
tive or even accidental, and
its rudimentary forms can
still be seen today, such as
when a primate uses a stick ART BY GUCCI MINH
to reach a distant fruit or
an otter uses a stone to We can assume that like non-instinctual knowledge
crack the shell of a mollusc. rudimentary labor, rudi- of the world, which was
It is only in the ancestors mentary sociality preceded shared and in turn in-
of humans, though, that la- the evolution of Homo creased the ability for hu-
bor took on the primary sapiens itself, and each of mans to meet the require-
role in directing evolution, these elements, in combi- ments of survival and re-
selecting for and modifying nation with the anatomical production.
those very anatomical structures that enabled It is here where a transi-
structures which made la- and were transformed by tion occurs: the anatomical
bor possible in the first them, were essential in the equipment is more or less
place. production of the first appropriate for the task,

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 223


Shane Lawrence Pick

and it is now the method, gether humans in interde- Let us look at each of these
technique, and organiza- pendent productive rela- attributes in turn, begin-
tion of labor itself that be- tions. While the first histo- ning with independence.
comes the primary source ry necessarily preceded the The content of human de-
and site of development. second in time, it was the sire for independence and
Social relations provided second history which its realization are not the
the objective conditions would have the primary same in every stage and pe-
that stimulated and accel- role in the further develop- riod of social development.
erated the transition from ment of human culture. Humanity desires to live
the origins of conscious- independently, first from
ness to language and social the convolutions of the
knowledge and from the Thus, humanity’s natural environment and
accidental “labor” of bio- later from social subjuga-
logical and instinctive independence, tion. Through a long peri-
forms to conscious and creativity, and od of struggle, humanity
purposeful labor. The has realized an ever higher
emergence of the human
consciousness are degree of independence,
from the animal Homo or not abstract but yet humanity nonetheless
its ancestral clades is the concrete at- continuously struggles for
product of the develop- the further realization of
ment of social labor, tributes formed independence as it con-
whereby coordinated cre- and developed so- forms with both concrete
ative activity produced socio-historical conditions
conditions more conducive
cially and histori- and development more
for the reproduction of the cally. Further, in- generally. For example,
human species than could dependence, cre- slaves in slaveholder soci-
be found in non-human na- ety demanded indepen-
ture. ativity, and con- dence from inhuman sub-
That is to say that humani- sciousness are jugation and bondage from
slave owners, while today
ty has two histories, or not immutable; the working class in capi-
more properly, two inter-
penetrating levels of its they experience talist society fights to abol-
ish the specifically capital-
history: the first is com- ceaseless change ist form of exploitation.
mon to all species, and is
termed the phylogenetic
and develop his- Each emancipatory move-
history that traces a torically through ment paves the way for the
progressive abolition of the
species over the course of the acquisitions bondage of humankind by
evolutionary time while
the other is social history, of social life and humankind in all its forms
but its demands are always
which is only made possi- practice. conditioned by the given
ble in the final instance, on
historic moment.
social labor which ties to-

224 No.2 / SUMMER 2020


JUCHE LESSON

Creativity, too, is a concrete social at- humans inherit biological instinct but not
tribute that develops socially and histori- social knowledge. It is through family,
cally. We have creative ability that is school, and social education as well as di-
formed and ceaselessly develops in social rectly through practical activity that we
practice to reshape nature and society. acquire independent ideological con-
The history of the development of produc- sciousness and creative ability peculiar to
tive forces is the development of humani- a human being. The knowledge of the ba-
ty’s practical ability to transform nature, sic facts of this process allows us to utilize
which in turn drives the history of the de- our attributes in the interest of their fur-
velopment of science and cognition broad- ther development.
ly. Since the Stone Age to the latest scien- The Juche philosophy, using the material
tific technical successes like information laws and truths elucidated by Marxism-
equipment and automatic machines in- Leninism as a premise, clarified that hu-
cluding computers and robots, biological manity is independent, creative, and con-
engineering and nanotechnology, the pro- scious through its social being, and thus
cess of the development of social organiza- put an end to circular philosophical pos-
tion of the productive forces, technology, turing which gives the primary role to the
and science are the historical development biological rather than the social, and gives
of human creative ability. the most accurate revolutionary philo-
Consciousness itself has different contents sophical clarification of humanity itself.
and levels according to the level of devel-
opment. Consciousness is a social at-
tribute that influences and is influenced by
the degree of human cognition and activi-
ty: as human activity develops along new
lines, so does our knowledge of the world,
bringing consciousness itself to a higher
degree of development and realizing new
forms of social organization. As people be-
come increasingly conscious of their inter-
ests in accordance with the development
of social life and practice, they act toward
the realization of their demands.
Independence, creativity, and consciousness
are not inherent but are inherited by new
generations through social practice and
education. A newly born baby knows to
cry when she is hungry and to sleep when
she is sleepy, and she does these things
without being taught. The same child does
not immediately communicate through
language, recognize the permanence of
objects, or act through social and cultural
customs. From this, we can deduce that

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 225


Shane Lawrence Pick

ART BY GUCCI MINH


226 No.2 / SUMMER 2020
JUCHE LESSON

"When we look at a thing, we must


examine its essence and treat its
appearance merely as an usher at
the threshold, and once we cross
the threshold, we must grasp the
essence of the thing; this is the
only reliable and scientific method
of analysis."

-Mao Zedong
“A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”
January 5, 1930

PEACE, LAND, AND BREAD 227

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