Re: criticising Arundhati Roy

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm intrigued to learn that the critique of Roy is all about her
personality. I thought the Toor essay was an excellent analysis of
how she functions as a commodified celebrity, and how the new class
created by "neoliberalism" functions within India and in its
relations with the outside world (including the Indian diaspora).

Speaking of "neoliberalism," I'm coming around to thinking there
should be a moratorium on that word. It's really squishy, kind like
"globalization." What is it being counterposed against? Import
substitution? Petty commodity production? Soviet-style socialism? Is
any of those a model that we should be struggling for? It seems to
function as one of those empty signifiers that can unite different
tendencies, the way populism uses The People, without getting bogged
down in specifics, which always cause trouble.

And speaking of Richard Gott, I interviewed him at <http://
www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#050922>.

Doug