‘it has often been observed that non-materialist currents – whether they be those of Platonism or of Maoism – are often more conducive to activism (when not indeed to outright voluntarism) than the various official materialisms have historically been.’
Fredric Jameson, ‘Marx’s Purloined Letter’ in Michael Sprinker (ed.)
Ghostly Demarcations (London and New York: Verso, 1999 / 2008), p.38
I’m deeply unclear about what Fredric Jameson means here. Certainly we can all recognise the voluntarism in Maoism, most notoriously embodied in the ideological function of ‘Mao Tse-Tung Thought”, but Platonism? Of course we could mention the fusion of Maoism and Platonism contained in Lardreu and Jambet’s
L’Ange (1974), although that work marked the beginning of a retreat from GP voluntarism at the same time as incarnating a hopeless voluntarism itself – although as the people
qua angel did not need the militant then quite what action could be taken remains unclear. Other than that, we might consider the accusations of Platonism directed at Althusser (for example by Sebastiano Timpanaro) and then how high Althusserianism all too rapidly tipped over into voluntarism in Althusser’s auto-critique. Still, if there are any Platonist voluntarists out there, how’s that working out for you?
‘When 5,000 workers marched through Sheffield to celebrate the victory of the French army at Valmy in November 1792, they carried an effigy of Burke riding on a pig.’
‘At least one Burke was burned in effigy (at Dronfield hear Sheffield in early 1793) and hung twenty feet up on a scaffold after being paraded through town with a sign reading ‘Edmund Burke the Irish Pensioner. I hate the Swinish Multitude.’
A report from Greece, via Socialism and / or Barbarism. In confirmation, via a friend of the Institute, its true that radicalisation is very much from the young, and very much outside all the usual channels - including 'radicals'. The other interesting facts was the immediacy and geographic spread of the protests, which emerged everywhere at once. This is also discussed here, where Nikos Raptis writes 'The uprising was carried out by the students and the teenagers, especially the teenagers!'. He also notes that the main weapons were seville oranges (more often used here for marmalade) and the main targets police stations - as well as the usual tactic of provocation and 'plants' (police / police agents masquerading as anarchists).
‘it has often been observed that non-materialist currents – whether they be those of Platonism or of Maoism – are often more conducive to activism (when not indeed to outright voluntarism) than the various official materialisms have historically been.’
Oakland in Flames