From revolutionary to apologist, not an unusual trajectory for some
members of the "left."
Louis Proyect wrote:
On March 5th, Red Emma, a radical bookstore in Baltimore, hosted a
symposium on Giovanni Arrighi’s new book “Adam Smith in Beijing”. The
panel consisted of Arrighi, David Harvey and Joel Andreas, a Sociology
professor at Johns Hopkins University, and specialist on class
relations in China from 1949 to the present.
You can watch the event here (linked on my blog).
When I first saw the title of Arrighi’s book, I jumped to the
conclusion that it was some kind of hard-hitting exposé of the
capitalist transformation of China. After all, what better symbol of
neoliberalism is there besides Adam Smith?
I shocked to discover that Arrighi views Adam Smith as a prophet of
markets, but not of capitalism. Not only that, what’s been happening
in China for the past 20 years ago is the development of markets
rather than capitalism. Boy, you learn something new every day.
Except for this part of Arrighi’s talk, the rest of it was not so
controversial albeit long-winded and hard-to-follow. I had to listen
to it twice in order to really figure out what he was trying to say.
Like some other big-time Marxists (I am using the term liberally) who
lecture extemporaneously and who are assured of their prominent place
in history, Arrighi seems to disdain the usual need for clarity and
economy of expression. The only other big-shot who I have heard in
person that is more opaque and boring is Etienne Balibar.
full:
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/giovanni-arrighis-vico-marxism/
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