> > Note here how Lenin uses a class-neutral term, ‘the fundamental requisites > of civilisation’, and how, precisely when emphasising Russia’s distance > from the Western European countries, he clearly refers to them as the > model. Communism is a European event ... . >
AFAIK, from the passage quoted, Zizek derives his critique (or perhaps endorsement--with Z. it's so difficult to tell) of the essential Europeanness of "communism" entirely from the use of the work "civilisation"--which, as far as one can tell from the slippery prose, necessarily entails eurocentricity. I'm not sure what word Lenin actually used, still less of that word's body of meanings in Lenin's Russian, but certainly in modern English the word "civilisation" as the Knights of England spell it does not denote European civilization (sorry chaps) by any means exclusively at present--and nor did it, I'm guessing, in Lenin's day. Egyptian "civilization" for example is not European. Nor is Mayan "civilization." Etc.etc. If you respond that this itself is eurocentric and patriarchal and therefore impermissible then here is your problem: The course of history as described by Marx and Engels AFAIK does flow through the history of Europe and its empires, genocides and all. If it is morally repugnant and deathworthy to assert this, what is left of Marxism? That is a perfectly serious question. As far as "market socialism" goes, IMO it's reasonably well established that Chinese capitalism is just old-fashioned capitalism with a Chinese face--a total capitulation to "the marketplace" in hopes of establishing a Chinese capitalist world-system to compete with the "Western" one. What has that got to do with the NEP? Furthermore, in some respects, modern capitalism seems to be fighting a rearguard action to establish the Law of the Entrepreneur over Irresponsible, Immature Socialism. Take space, for example, That asswipe Elon "Stinky" Musk and his fellow emetic Jeff Bezos want to reclaims space for The Entrepreneur after almost seventy years of sinful public expenditure by impractical follies like NASA. And of course, the "socialist" roots of the Intertubes and contemporary world-networked computing have absolutely GOT to be purged of their sinful beginnings in public expenditure lest the heavens fall. You could argue that capitalism and imperialism are fighting a rearguard action against the socialist implications of their own technology. If that is true, why not argue that China is in fact shoring up the last ditch defenses of capitalism and imperialism rather than digging their grave. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#9786): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/9786 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/84020280/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
