Hi, Thanks for the very interesting and informed note.
I did a bit of dig up as a consequence of the exchange. And found Marx and Engels repeatedly using "working classes". Of course they, in those days, acknowledged "national" divisions. Primarily. On The Jewish Question must have had to an extent transgressed that line. I guess. Rinita is of course raising a far more fundamental issue whether the (notional) working class can be taken as universal representing one and all. I don't imagine that was anywhere on the mental horizon of Marx or Engels. That makes the whole idea of "class struggle" rather funny. There was no "working class" then, there is no "working class" now. It was always "working classes". Even more applicable in case of the "capitalist class". Marx and Engels, apparently, had no illusion about. The clarion call - Workers of the World, Unite! - is a clear recognition of that fractious ate of being. And of course captures a keen pining for the "ideal". That was never attained. And understandably, unattainable. The closest approximation would come with the dissolution of "classes". I'd imagine. Sukla 2010/1/10 Rinita Mazumdar <[email protected]> Thanks Viswanath for forwarding the communication between Sayan and Sukla on > the difficult debate we were having some days ago about universalism and > post modernism. I have to re-read Marx on his theory that the "working > class" standing as the representator of ALL the oppressed (hence > revolutionary people). > > I think if I am recalling rightly, the interpretation (given by the > Bolsheviks, probably the Stalinist Bolsheviks) were that the Kulaks (richer > peasantry) were unmanageable in two senses first they will never represent > the interest of the poor peasants and secondly they opposed > collectivisation. So again the working class (proletariate) ought to > represent the interest of the peasantry... and we know the history, > widespread famine in the Soviet Union. So it is probably not only the > ethnicity, but also ANY other essentialism is problematic... > Further, can the working class represent domestic labor, informal > labor...etc considering there is probably no "working class" now globally, > as there are no "Capitalist" class.. and with Foucault we have to talk about > local resistance. > > > But then, how does the Subaltern speak if there is so much > fragmentation.... where even "feminist" like Madhu Kiswar is defending > "Hinduism" and we let it pass as her brand of "feminism" and "post > modernism" (okay I am a feminist, but also Hindu, also a spiritual believer, > and many are walking along this line now a days glorifying Durga as the > "female power" in Hinduism!!!!!!)..... negating the entire history of > women's repression by ALL religions....and specially when its is made in > abstraction as in Hinduism? What other way is there to counter unless we > start with some kind of foundational truth...like Marxism or Feminism... > > That is why now a days, I am thinking if Amartya Sen and Nussbaum's theory > of "Capabilities" can bridge this endless diatribe between essentialism and > fragmentation..... > > Rinita > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Rinita Mazumdar, Ph.D. > Lecturer, Philosophy and Women Studies, > University of New Mexico, > Albuquerque, NM. > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Rinita Mazumdar <[email protected]> > *To:* C.K. Vishwanath <[email protected]>; CK VISHWANATH < > [email protected]>; CK Vishwanath <[email protected]>; > Venugopalan K M <[email protected]>; [email protected] > *Sent:* Sat, January 9, 2010 4:08:00 PM > *Subject:* What Do you all think of this? > > Marxist puts God above party > - Former Kerala MP resigns from CPM over religion diktat JOHN MARY > Manoj. > (Samson P. Samuel) > > Thiruvananthapuram, Jan. 9: Brought up on Karl Marx’s gospel “religion is > the opium of the masses”, the CPM is realising that not all Marxists can be > forced to kick the habit. > > A rising star in Kerala and a former MP has resigned from the CPM on the > ground that the organisation denies him the right to affirm his faith in > God, rekindling the debate whether a member of a communist party can also be > a religious believer. > > “I’ve given up my membership of the party because of the conflict between > ideology and my religious belief,” said Dr Kurisinkal Sebastian Manoj, who > works as an anaesthetist at a private hospital in New Delhi. His wife, Susan > Abraham, also practises in the same hospital. > > Manoj, 44, faxed his resignation yesterday to the CPM’s local committee at > Thumboli in the southern Kerala district of Alappuzha. He represented > Alappuzha in the 14th Lok Sabha but lost the election in 2009. > > The CPM constitution is silent on whether its members necessarily have to > be non-believers, though the party frowns on religious activities in public. > But Manoj said the CPM’s recent rectification document barred any member > from practising one’s religion and affirming one’s belief in God. The > document, a code of conduct for members that was approved by the central > committee last year, says members and elected representatives “shall neither > organise religious functions nor observe religious rituals”. > > “This is quite serious. The party should rectify this first. It should stop > playing hide and seek on the question of religion and ponder why it stands > alienated from the vast community of believers. The party should clarify > whether members can go to Church and participate in religious rituals,” said > Manoj, a believer who even saw his Lok Sabha stint as “God’s calling”. > > Manoj is the second senior Kerala leader to quit the party on such grounds. > Former MP A.P. Abdulla Kutty resigned last year in protest against, among > other issues, the party’s “negative attitude to the religious freedom of its > members”. > > Reacting to Manoj’s resignation, Kutty said that when he quit, many thought > he had done so because he had no chance of getting nomination for a third > term in the Lok Sabha. “I was attacked for participating in Umrah and > attending Id prayers along with the rest of my community,” said Kutty. > > Manoj said his decision was purely personal. “I refrained from criticising > the party openly as long as I was a member. It’s against party discipline. > But I want the CPM to remain a corrective force in politics,” he said. > > The issue of whether a CPM member in India can be a religious believer had > been raised a few years ago by Subhas Chakraborty, the firebrand Bengal > leader who died last year. > > In September 2006, Chakraborty had kicked up a storm by performing a puja > at the Tarapith temple in Bengal’s Birbhum district. He had chanted “Jai > Tara (victory to goddess Tara)” and offered Rs 501, two red hibiscus flowers > and a sari to the deity. > > Chakraborty had been let off after a mild rap on the knuckles from mentor > Jyoti Basu, but the irrepressible leader later maintained in public there > was no bigger devotee of Tara — another name for Goddess Kali — than him. > > A few months before Chakraborty’s deed, in May 2006, two Kerala CPM > legislators, M.M. Monayi and Aisha Potti, had left the party red-faced by > taking oath in the Assembly in the name of God. > > Echoing Chakraborty, who stayed on in the CPM but often raised the issue of > party democracy, Manoj today made it clear it was not just religion that > forced his hand. > > The young doctor, who acquired the reputation of being a true “people’s” > representative during his stint as MP, said he was pained by the CPM’s > current attitude to the poor and underprivileged. > > “I was attracted by the party’s concern for the poor. But it’s now getting > distanced from them and is less interested in solving their problems,” said > Manoj, whose USP as MP was that he was always available to his constituents. > > “There’s no democracy within the party. Cadres hesitate to say anything > within party fora lest they be bracketed with one group or the other. > Groupism pervades the party and anyone who speaks out is singled out,” he > added. > > Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan had proposed Manoj as the party candidate > in Alappuzha for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The move was considered > shrewd since Manoj had the backing of the Catholic Church. He was closely > associated with the Church and was once chosen president of the Kerala > Catholic Youth Movement. > [image: > Top]<http://telegraphindia.com/1100110/jsp/frontpage/story_11965944.jsp#top> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Rinita Mazumdar, Ph.D. > Lecturer, Philosophy and Women Studies, > University of New Mexico, > Albuquerque, NM. > > -- Peace Is Doable -- Peace Is Doable--
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