Russell Jacoby writes: > WHAT IS one to make of this morass? Wright seems to know nothing > about the history of utopian thought, communities, or > cooperatives. He refers to exactly one book in the utopian > tradition, Martin Buber’s 1949 Paths in Utopia. ...
that's a strong criticism. There's a wide variety of different utopian visions, including within the socialist tradition (top down: Edward Bellamy; bottom up: William Morris, etc.) I don't think that Jacoby's ire toward Wright is just a matter of academic jealousy (though that likely plays a role). Wright's work has become increasingly formal, abstract, and static over the years. For example, he started with a simple but very useful diagram that described "class positions" within capitalism (from a somewhat Althusserian perspective) and moved to associating "class" with individual attributes (education, etc.) The latter is not only pretty close to the neoclassical economist's orthodoxy (except for the use of the word "class") but doesn't seem to add much. -- Jim Devine / "Living a life of quiet desperation -- but always with style!" _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
