Message from @nagarjuna
Discord ID: 489482880880476160
I would be interested to see if he defends his concept of class struggle
The second stepof that transition is then structuralism which goes around the dialectical process of history
Third step of the pretense of Marxism to actually combat dialectical materialism: the infamous Freudo-Marxists (e.g. Marcuse), the fusion of two dogmatic deviations, the repressive State and the father figure
Thus, the middle classes (those of capitalist State monopolization) can still only fight dialectical materialism *in the name of Marxism and knowledge*
Claiming to be repressed by the old bourgeoisie, these new classes give birth to "the market of desire"
It is now possible to liquidate Marxism and replace with bourgeois intellectual identitarian leftism, through the fourth step of this process: the appearance of the "new philosophers"
Now it is no longer its deviations but Marxism itself which is condemned
Liberalism has succeeded in equating Marxism and fascism
Now Baudrillard, the child of this intellectual evolution, comes into play
Baudrillard's scepticism is seen by Clouscard as a worldly practice without end
Behind the denunciation of seduction, there is simply profound assent
This philosophical renouncement expresses the victory of the new middle classes, in the new Zeitgeist of the cultural worldly "leftist"
A "bon chic bon genre" thought which leads to stagnation
I'm curious how this plays in the marxs idea that capitalism leads to communism. I mean negating capitalism is the same as completing the project of capitalism for Marx, no?
And then what is clouscard saying we should be doing, what does class struggle look like in these updated conditions? I'll read both those articles tho five sure
His ideas for action are explained at the end of the first link i sent you
The *praxis* must be adapted to the new modalities of capitalism (avoiding both Classical Marxist orthodoxy and the reformism adopted by the PCF in the late 20th c.)
Reformism being the transition into social democracy (and frankly, liberalism) the PCF engaged into, following the PS
Capitalism, ironically, by liberalizing, has become more totalitarian, it is therefore necessary for class consciousness to be augmented by consciousness of this neoliberal new form of capitalism
So I read the two articles, translated the one on Baudrillard. Found a way to translate PDFs also but not large ones, sad face. I guess I can split it into sections
I do agree with the section of the first piece where it is written that Clouscard thinks we need "collective destiny," I think this is a very good starting point
It's interesting how he thinks the national is now important to defend when it's being overcome by transnational capitalism. I can see that, I do agree that a good transnational movement will likely work its way through the various nations (although it working through other nations will be something that will be recognized within each national process)
Still, his positive program is not very clear, probably it is outlined in his book
i.e. his idea of class struggle is not clarified, it's clear he wants to update Marx in some ways and remain faithful in others, but it's not specific about which parts to leave and which to take
How did you translate?
Google translate
the book pdf is too big though, but I got the article about Baudrillard
I can also read the french wikipedia page on clouscard, it's longer than the one in english
Yikes
haha
One idea I do have is whether Clouscard would think it important to point out how intelligence agencies have dominated society. Baudrillard doesn't talk about stuff like that but I think it's very important. Although there's also the question of how exactly the civilian gov't, military (and intel), and corporations interact, that could be the kind of thing Clouscard means by understanding the front of class struggle today
Tabarnak d’osti
I mean
pretty much every historian despises Stéphane Courtois
and it's mutual
he claims to prefer memory over history