[PEN-L:4364] Re: Re: civil society

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Louis Proyect wrote:

>I think the problem is when "civil society" is used as a club against
>socialist revolution. That, of course, is exactly what Jorge Castenada
>intended when he wrot

As U.S. philanthropists and their pet intellectuals use the term, it's not
just directed against socialist revolution - it's directed against politics
of any kind. It's all about compromise and reasoned dialogue, not conflict.
In a hierarchical society, that boils down to knowing your place and not
kicking up a fuss.

I hear that the Pew Charitable Trust has an ad in the April issue of
Brill's Content (zzzzzzzzzzz) promoting their closely related pet project,
"civic journalism," which is, they say, about "avoiding extremes." It's
journalism as healing, which is the last damn thing we need.

Forgive me for quoting myself again, but some reactions to my civil society
piece made me think readers might have missed this paragraph:

"Some South African writers, inspired in part by Gramsci, have been talking
up the development of a working-class civil society - a real, democratic
culture, independent of the monied, and a thoroughly wonderful idea. But it
has nothing in common with actually existing U.S. civil society, nor does
it have much in common with the softer version dreamt by Solo."

Doug