This small essay by Janine Brodie called "Power and Politics" has several other issues, but their most frustrating one is their outright DISMISSAL of Marxist class analysis for the stupidest reasons. Economic determinism? I guess if you yearned to softly dismiss marx by misrepresenting him.

God I fucking hate poli sci majors.

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I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but is it just me or does Doctor Brodie somehow make politics and power some sort of vague, unsolvable mystery? Like fr I don't want just an echochamber of nodding heads plz help am I in the wrong?

I need help putting words to my issues with it.

  • SuperNovaCouchGuy2 [any]
    ·
    2 months ago

    The starkly oppressive conditions of the emerging industrialization had been somewhat improved,

    THEY SAID THE LINE!!! michael-laugh

    broader historical contexts of racism, sexism, homophobia, and colonialism

    cope

    later thinkers expanded on Marx's original ideas to include intersectional critiques, read Settlers etc. etc.

    Prestige could involve things as intangible as tastes and patterns of consumption that are socially valued, such as driving a Mercedes or being a celebrated athlete, a hip-hop artist, or a movie star. This kind of social power, while not entirely unrelated to social class, is not reducible to economic relations alone.

    biaoqing-copium

    "Prestige could also involve things as intangible as... driving an expensive car or being a multimillionaire, things that can be seen as distinct enough from any economic relations such that I can use this as proof that gommunism stoopid."

    Cope-ine Brosciencedie is reaching new heights of mental gymnastics.

    • PKMKII [none/use name]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Yeah there’s a certain similarity there with creationists who argue “oh Darwin didn’t get this one bit right or didn’t account for some factor, ergo evolution is wrong.” Factoring social characteristics into class analysis doesn’t render the class elements irrelevant.

      • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
        ·
        2 months ago

        I can never remember the source of the quote but I once read something to the effect of: "It is a testament to the insidiousness of capitalism that it has convinced a majority of Americans that the American system of chattel slavery was historically a simple series of race relations that had absolutely nothing to do with the production of cotton and sugar."

        These things often are not mutually exclusive concepts in practice.

    • TreadOnMe [none/use name]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I always have to point out to them, when was the last time a celebrity made a systemic change that actually lived past their death? Can you think of a single one? How has pro athletes giving turkeys out to poor neighborhoods on Thanksgiving alleviated poverty? Remember what happened to Colin Kaepernick when he presented a very mild critique of the power structure? It's almost as if any amount of social status that is not organized within the working class is doomed to be an ephemeral moment in time, because it cannot be protected and safe guarded by labor.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      This kind of social power, while not entirely unrelated to social class, is not reducible to economic relations alone.

      Watch me, LIB