Wood communication sent to M. Perelman (and posted to PEN-L)

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was invited by ATC to write a piece about Blaut's books. I told them I
thought it would be more fruitful to address the issues more widely, but I
agreed to say something about Blaut in the course of a more general
discussion. I should add that Blaut and I had a brief correspondence over
three years ago, in which we exchanged views about his ideas, and, among
other things, he gave me a preview of his last book, to which I replied. So
he had a pretty good idea of what I thought about his argument and its
inverted "Eurocentrism" long before that book was published, but he chose
not to address my objections.

ATC commissioned the piece from me in the hope of sparking a lively debate.
They intended to invite Blaut to reply, and I wrote my piece in the
expectation that he would.  After I had sent it in, the editors wrote back,
saying that they had just learned of his death. But, they said, although it
was unfortunate that he couldn't respond himself, they expected other
scholars to support his position and still hoped for a lively dialogue. I
expressed my misgivings about running the piece in such circumstances, when
he couldn't defend his own position. But on balance, it still seemed the
right thing to do. I'm very sorry about Jim's death, but, like all of us
who write books, he presumably hoped that his work, and debates about it,
would survive. I very much doubt that he would have appreciated attempts by
"friends" to stifle discussion of his ideas.

Anyone familiar with my own work will know that it's not my habit to shrink
from provoking debate or to protect myself from opposition. If anything,
I'm the proverbial fool who rushes in where angels fear to tread (not
least, by agreeing to enter this explosive Eurocentrism debate). I wrote
the piece in good faith, expecting to be challenged, and my arguments, like
Blaut's, will have to stand or fall on their merits.

In comradeship, Ellen Meiksins Wood


Louis Proyect
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