Re: AUT: cognitive mapping

["cwright" <cwright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Nate,

I'm just gonna say that insight into how capital works and aspects of policy
is still not the same as giving insight into the psychological processes of
revolutionaries in order to better manipulate them.  However, I really don't
have an opinion on this whole cognitive mapping idea in the first place.
How different is it, for example, from a kind of workers' inquiry project?
The intent of the workers' inquiry involved getting people active in
understanding their own oppression, but not under the assumption that they
were passive, but that the kind of knowledge generated was also an activity
which informed and assisted the workers interviewed and helped build links
between 'non-revolutionary workers' and revolutionaries.  At the sime time,
such a project could be all too useful for capital, but its a matter of what
the intent is, in the way that Freiere's pedagogy was about creating the
feeling among the peasants he worked with that their thoughts mattered and
that the fact that they thought mattered.  Of course, that might be more
consciousness mongering...

But when the term is put as a kind of 'cognitive mapping', I'm just not sure
what of make of it.  'Mapping' already seems to be a philosophically errant
process, such as mapping concepts to objects, which already puts the
concepts outside the objects and is laden with huge problems.  Maybe this is
cool with the Deleuzians (though a philosophy of immanence would seem to not
welcome this either, possibly), but for Hegelian Marxists this should
already smack of problems.  But its only a feeling, a hinting at something
which I cannot work through right now.  So now I have said more than I
wanted to because I don't know enough to say anything particularly helpful.
I simply think that Chris H.'s project is nothing like Capital, but might be
better understood and/or critiqued if thought of as something more like a
workers' inquiry.  I have been interested in the latter for years now and
have been very interested in the Kolinko folks' own work in this realm.

Now I shut up.
Cheers,
Chris
"In a world which really is topsy-turvy, the true is a moment of the
false." - Debord
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nate Holdren" <nateholdren@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 10:20 AM
Subject: Re: AUT: cognitive mapping


> Hi Chris (Wright)-
> I don't have it in front of me, but I'm pretty sure I remember _Reading
> Capital Politically_ talking somewhat about economists in service of
capital
> reading Marx and getting insights into capitalist policy making. I agree
> that Capital didn't give specific info on the functioning or recuperation
of
> revolutionaries, it did provide some insights for the stewards of capital.
> Personally I think it's easy to make too much of the fear of recuperation.
> There's a bit somewhere where Benjamin talks about creating work that is
of
> absolutely no use to fascists. I can understand the impulse but am
doubtful
> as to its possibility. I'm less concerned with being co-opted than I am
with
> understanding how to make my own (individual and collective) projects
> recreate as little as possible of the power structures in society and be
as
> effective in opposing capitalism as possible.
>
> Nate
>
> >From: cwright <cwright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >Reply-To: aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >To: aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >Subject: Re: AUT: cognitive mapping
> >Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:48:50 -0500
> >
> >Michael,
> >
> >Capital was a critique of political economy.  To the extent that
capital's
> >minions read it as an economics text, as most post-Marx Marxism has done,
> >they have gotten nothing out of it.  Capital the book didn't give
capital's
> >minions specific insights into the functioning and means of recuperating
> >revolt and revolutionaries.  Big difference from what is being talked
about
> >here, regardless of whether or not anyone agrees or disagrees with the
> >cognitive mapping project.
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Chris
> >"In a world which really is topsy-turvy, the true is a moment of the
> >false." - Debord
> >
> >Miachael wrote:
> >
> > > I'm finding a lot of these arguments against cognitive
> > > mapping, because it could help the ruling class, to be
> > > somewhat bizarre.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > By this logic, Marx shouldn't have written Capital,
> > > because Capital has been (generally speaking) more
> > > useful to the ruling class (up till now), than to the
> > > liberatory project.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
>
>
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