[PEN-L:3685] Re: Foucault, Butler and Lacan: "never talks about what you do"

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In this regard, socalled postmodernism is not much different than theories about long waves in economics. How does the theory of long waves, even of the "longue duree" , contribute to overthrowing capitalism ? What is its PRACTICE ?

WHAT IS TO BE DONE ?

Charles Brown

>>> Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx> 02/21/99 09:32AM >>>
Q: A number of gay and lesbian political thinkers have increasingly been
incorporating postmodern theory into their work and using the ideas of
thinkers like Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Jacques Lacan. Do you
find this useful?

A: I have not been drawn to this type of theory. One of the things that I
think it does not address -- and no one has been able to counter this
impression for me, and I have many friends who are academics who think
about and teach this -- is that it never talks about what you do about the
problem that you describe. So you can talk about gender as performance,
fine, but then what do we do about rape? If gender is performance, can I
walk around at 10 o'clock at night? Or is being armed for protection part
of my gender performance as well?

Full interview is at:

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/archive/1in10/99/02/BARBARA_SMITH.html

Louis Proyect
(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)