Re: Capitalism and Heterosexism: Judith Butler & Nancy Fraser

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

Malgosia writes:
>I would like to formulate a related, but perhaps slightly different question.
>What if we say: At this point, we simply don't know.  At this point, we don't
>understand what the relationship is between what is conceptualized as
>"culture"
>and what is conceptualized as "the material base"; between heterosexism
>and capitalism; between socialism and the elimination of heterosexism.
>And yet, we must develop a praxis; a praxis that does justice to this
>non-understanding without paralyzing itself; a praxis that leaves itself
>open to new future understandings.  The fact that this or that mode
>of thinking commits intellectual errors -- the error of quasi-Weberianism
>or of essentialism or of hidden idealism or of logical circularity -- does
>not
>have a very impressive bearing on the question "what is to be done?".  One
>frequently reaches correct conclusions through errorneous thinking, or
>incorrect conclusions through thinking that looks iron-clad.  It seems to me
>that an equally important question is, how should one _act_ in the face of
>this
>particular incomplete understanding?  What practical political strategies
>are appropriate to this state of insufficient understanding in which we find
>ourselves?  What praxis can we propose for ourselves that does not have to
>rest on a pretense that we know how to think correctly, that we know how to
>reach all the conclusions we need to reach?  And I mean to ask this _in the
>context of Marxism_.  What would be a _Marxist_, or Marxian, program for
>action in the face of this kind of uncertainty?

I agree with you on the importance of leaving 'praxis open to new future
understandings,' but that doesn't negate a need for collective production
of knowledge, through critiques of available knowledge as well as learning
from new experiences, new data, new voices, etc., don't you think?

There is much uncertainty with regard to the questions (re: the
relationship between capitalism and heterosexism) I posted, but _not_ as
much uncertainty as would allow us to say that 'we don't know' and leave it
at that.

Besides, there are quite a lot of people--on the left and the right--who
feel very _certain_ about their answers to the aforementioned questions,
and since many answers given by them, it seems to me, are obviously
inadequate and inadequate answers stem from and can in turn lead to
retrogressive praxis, I don't think it is a good idea for us to leave
theorizing to them.

Yoshie