I can definitely see the connection of privilege theory to anti-oppression politics, call-out culture, and the activist millennia that generally emerged in the 90s. However, I dont see how privilege theory, identity politics and intersectionalism cannot be retooled to be a kind of liberation politics involving radical theory instead of liberal theory. If class reductionism and state reductionism are the only alternatives it doesnt interest me because Ive gone down both of those paths. Much of my interest in mutualism has lead me to a privilege theory that recognizes privilege manifested within the relations and institutions of individuals and groups with particular identities (statesmen, capitalists, white supremacists etc) that uphold absolute principles. As a result many organizations are absolved of solutions involving free association and voluntary cooperation of those involved and/or even excluded. This absolutism has progressively resulted in political authority, economic inequality, externalities and poverty etc which are characteristic of class societies. If we understand that privilege generally resides within the ruling class that depends on these absolute principles, then we can dissuade members of the working class that actively practice these principles which enable the ruling class. This means that working class members have to give up certain privileges, certain rights that are incremental to these principles, in return for rights that would be far more rewarding in the context of social and political equality. It involves the working class changing their behavior as it does pressuring the ruling class to change theirs since its a mutually inclusive and reinforcing process. At the same time that we find a call-out culture in this radical form of privilege theory, there is a much greater potential for what a friend of mine refers to as call-in culture, since we find a greater deal of commonality and collective identity among the working class because most privileges generally manifest within the ruling class, where the real inequality of rights begins to reveal itself, and the necessity for liberation becomes clear. How liberation is determined, in terms of strategy and tactics, is at all times a self-determined matter if we take liberty seriously, but the route of self-determination becomes increasingly clear as the collective identity (property) of that self (working class) becomes increasingly unified (federated). I can understand an urgency to develop an effective and pragmatic set of strategies and tactics, and leading the way in innovative ways is definitely encouraged, but theyre only going to be as effective and as pragmatic as the working class comes to spontaneously practice them in the face of structural problems and crises.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 18:59:14 +0000
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