Re: Lenin on immigration and Taylorism

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Doug Henwood:
> A position not all that different from Hardt & Negri in Empire -
> ironically enough, given their hostility to Lenin and most Leninists'
> hostility to them. As they say on p. 43 of Empire, a book that
> celebrates the spontaneous migrations of the multitude throughout:

Did you remove me from your killfile, Doug? How flattering.

In any case, Lenin sees immigration favorably within the context of growing
working class unity worldwide so as to make conditions for proletarian
revolution more favorable. On the other hand, Hardt and Negri are enemies
of socialism and proletarian revolution. Their interest in immigration has
more to do with their hostility to the nation-state and the "poisoned pill"
of national liberation. By focusing on a rootless multitude, they shift
politics away from a contest with the bourgeoisie in a given nation-state.
It goes hand in hand with protests against "global capital" and for a
global minimum wage. In other words, utopian retreats from class politics
and socialism.


Louis Proyect, Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org