Re: [Marxism] [UCE] Re: Who is Bertolt Brecht? and Why We Should Care in our Dark Times | Anthony Squiers | Culture Matters

[Rebecca Ruth Gould via Marxism]

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Thanks for this and to Kevin Lindemann for the original post. I tried to
find the source for the following quote, attributed to Brecht in the
linked-to article:  "Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer
with which to shape it." I have not been able to identify any published
source and some have described the quote as apocryphal. Others have
attributed it to Mayakovsky. If anyone knows more, please let me know.
Thanks!

On Fri, Jul 19, 2019 at 5:40 AM Ratbag Media via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> Anyone interested, should read this study:
> Peter Brooker, "Bertolt Brecht: Dialectics, Poetry, Politics"
> https://is.gd/aRYouz
>
> Truly the best I've read on Brecht in way of grasping the engineered
> relationship between cultural production and consciousness. In
> Brooker's sense -- not that he argued it -- Brecht's approach is
> closer to 'The Pedagogy of the Oppressed' (Paulo Freire) than simple
> didacticism.
>
> dave riley
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Rebecca Ruth Gould 

Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature

College of Arts & Law | University of Birmingham

Author, Writers and Rebels

(Yale
UP, 2016)

Director, "Global Literary Theory: Caucasus Literatures Compared

"

University Profile

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[Marxism] J.A. Hobson's Imperialism in the news

[Rebecca Ruth Gould via Marxism]

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I'm not sure if list members will have seen this controversy linked to
Corbyn and his foreword to Hobson's *Imperialism*, but since the book has
been mentioned on the list before perhaps it will be of interest.

one report (lots out there but this seems the most objective):
https://www.ft.com/content/ac5670ec-6c2f-11e9-80c7-60ee53e6681d

Corbyn's forward:
http://spokesmanbooks.blogspot.com/2015/11/jeremy-corbyn-internationalist-at-work.html?m=1

Exchange between Corbyn and the Board of Jewish Deputies:
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jeremy-corbyn-claims-i-endorsed-book-s-antisemitic-content-are-politically-motivated-1.483756

An interesting exchange of letters regarding Hobson from two historians:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/may/02/jeremy-corbyn-hobsons-imperialism-and-antisemitism

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/may/03/hobson-corbyn-and-antisemitic-tropes

-- 

Rebecca Ruth Gould 

Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature

College of Arts & Law | University of Birmingham

Author, Writers and Rebels

(Yale
UP, 2016)

Director, "Global Literary Theory: Caucasus Literatures Compared

"

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Re: [Marxism] request for signatures for letter to Code Pink

[Rebecca Ruth Gould via Marxism]

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As someone who has spent significant time in Iran over the past few years,
who has written  about my
research

there, and who maintains contact with many leftist colleagues in Iran, I
want to offer a different perspective to the one contained in this letter.
I don't dispute any factual claim made in the letter and have no wish to
trivialise those documented abuses. It is right that they should be
denounced and that we protest them. But, together with my Iranian
colleagues, I fully support 'legitimizising' the regime as much as
possible. I am struck by how welcome this letter would be to the current US
administration because it perfectly supports their agenda with regard to
Iran: violent regime overthrow, and starvation of the Iranian people until
that happens. This would inflict much greater harm on the Iranian people
than the normalisation of its current authoritarian system.

Iranians today are excluded from the global economy. They cannot access
basic technology. They cannot travel freely. Most importantly, their
currency has entered a free fall

due to US sanctions which dramatically increases their economic insecurity.
All of this is being done by the US, and often under the cover of the same
reasons given in this letter.

During my many trips to Iran (2012-6), what most impressed me was the
strong mobilisation among the youth for democratic change. The voter
turnout in the last Iranian Presidential elections was higher than in any
Western democracy. Women constantly violate and challenge the hijab
restrictions, and, yes, sometimes they are punished, but often they are
not. The latest Iranian elections were conducted more openly than the
recent US elections and the reformist candidate won by running on a
platform of decriminalising the refusal to wear hijab and promoting civil
liberties for all. Afghan migrants are brutally mistreated, but (in
contrast to US treatment of its migrants) they can also access free
university educations. There is a strong movement for reform within Iran
and many progressives are active in politics. That they are being silenced
and overpowered by hardliners due to US sanctions is the biggest tragedy of
all, and a threat to peace in the Middle East. I very much hope US leftists
and socialists will oppose the US agenda.

Finally, my understanding of the Haft Tapeh strike is that the workers are
seeking economic justice, as do workers everywhere. This is great, but
hardly a reason to refuse contact with the Iranian regime, or to support
its overthrow.

In geopolitical terms, the only alternatives are normalisation of the
Iranian regime or its violent overthrow by the US. We can speculate about
other long-term goals (such as a true democracy and a socialist government)
but there is no other geopolitical option at present. I therefore strongly
support normalisation, and hope others will do the same, whether through
campaigning against the US agenda, reading and watching work

by Iranians (in Iran) or travelling to Iran (with this delegation or
separately).

Best wishes,
Rebecca Gould

-- 

Rebecca Ruth Gould 

Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature

College of Arts & Law | University of Birmingham

Author, Writers and Rebels

(Yale
UP, 2016)

Director, "Global Literary Theory: Caucasus Literatures Compared

"

University Profile

Website  Twitter




On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 9:31 PM John Reimann via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> The following is an open letter to Code Pink, which is organizing a "peace
> delegation" to Iran. This delegation will be used to legitimize the Irania

[Marxism] Karl Marx's Theory of Free Speech

[Rebecca Ruth Gould via Marxism]

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http://humanityjournal.org/blog/karl-marxs-theory-of-free-speech-part-1/
http://humanityjournal.org/blog/karl-marxs-theory-of-free-speech-part-2/

-- 

Rebecca Ruth Gould 

Professor, Islamic World and Comparative Literature

School of Languages, Cultures, Art History & Music

University of Birmingham

Author, Writers and Rebels (Yale UP, 2016)


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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Radiohead in Tel Aviv: It's no worse than playing in the US

[Rebecca Ruth Gould via Marxism]

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This was just released, a letter on the topic from Palestinian students:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/17/radiohead-
should-not-perform-in-tel-aviv

On Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 9:31 PM, A.R. G via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> I don't get why this is so difficult to understand: playing in Israel is an
> endorsement of that government because there is an active boycott of the
> government. It is like asking if going into work is an endorsement of
> management. Of course not -- unless there is a strike, in which case it
> absolutely is.
>
> The comments about differentiating between the 1967 territories and "Israel
> Proper" are also bizarre. Even if you only oppose "the occupation," the
> fact is that the occupation isn't an independent country, it is a military
> policy carried out by the government of Israel, ergo playing in Israel is
> still an endorsement of the occupation -- and that is putting aside the
> fact that Palestinian refugees and others were expelled and sent to refugee
> camps (including the ones being bombed by Assad) from Israel Proper, not
> just the 1967 territories.
>
> - Amith
>
> On Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 3:22 PM, Jeff via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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> > *
> >
> > On 2017-07-17 19:13, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> From the contrarian Sam Charles Hamad.
> >>
> >
> > "The comparisons between the boycott movement vis-à-vis Palestine and the
> > boycott movement regarding South Africa don't stand up. This is largely
> > because the South African one was sanctioned and administered through the
> > UN."
> >
> > Oh, is that our criterion now? The opinion of the UN??
> >
> > "Let us wait to see if Ken Loach and others who want to speak for
> > oppressed Arabs call for a boycott of the football world cup in Russia,
> as
> > it enables and carries out genocide in Syria."
> >
> > Well, not a terribly bad idea actually. And there are a lot of other
> > legitimate boycott targets. I know I'm not going to have time to
> > participate in each. But why on earth would I (or this author) go about
> > trashing someone else's boycott campaign unless it was unfairly
> targeting a
> > benign entity? If you don't think some sort of action is particularly
> > valuable, then just don't participate, and perhaps think of something
> more
> > useful. But leave it at that.
> >
> > - Jeff
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2017/7/17/radiohea
> >> d-playing-tel-aviv-no-worse-than-playing-america
> >>
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-- 

Rebecca Ruth Gould
Reader in Comparative Literature and Translation Studies
School of Modern Languages
University of Bristol
https://bristol.academia.edu/RebeccaGould
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