What this text describes—the calculated American effort to reorient the Western left from class struggle to cultural critique, from the collective to the individual, from socialism to liberal moralism—resonates almost prophetically with the forgotten work of Michel Clouscard.
For those asking me where they can access Clouscard’s writings in English: Sorry. As far as I’m aware there’s nothing published yet 😕 I suspect @GabrielRockhill, @iskrabooks and/or @monthly_review might be working on it. Otherwise @MidwesternMarx, @EdbieLigerSmith and
@hispano_studies Are you french ?
@_s1len Oh God no
@hispano_studies - The post quotes a thread claiming the "woke left" emerged from U.S. efforts during the Cold War to redirect socialist movements toward cultural issues, citing German philosopher Hauke Ritz's analysis of CIA-funded operations like the Congress for Cultural Freedom. - It draws on
@hispano_studies Sure seems spot on to where we are today..
@hispano_studies Lasch??
@hispano_studies My article covers the whole history of this: https://ryanperkins.substack.c...
@hispano_studies Every once in a while, there's something that makes it worthwhile on this app.
@hispano_studies Radicalizing left groups to destroy them is also a std tactic - Look at Antifa and woke and see history repeating itself.
@hispano_studies Since we are clearly moving beyond the post–Cold War era and into a period of escalating global conflict, how do you foresee the political landscape evolving? Will it remain centered on the politics of desire, sexuality, and identity,or will it transform into something new?
@hispano_studies @biggav Need a real examination of the history of the New Left. It was many things and it changed dramatically over time. For example, Maoism, Trotskyism, anti-imperialism, feminism, anti-consumerism, hip consumerism, anarchism, cultural critiques, Weather Underground, dropping out...
@hispano_studies The new left of the 60s was about rejecting Stalinism & Laborism, authoritarian government & the managing capitalism illusion. It was about rejecting war, abolishing nuclear weapons, and building socialism.
@hispano_studies Brain control
@hispano_studies Best tweet ever.
@hispano_studies There was a study that showed that when Occupy Wall Street occurred the neiea. Started promoting BLM and the LGBT stuff. Today being on the Left means you are into race and sexual identity. That's not a coincidence.
@hispano_studies Are there known links between his thought and that of Thomas Frank?
@hispano_studies Sounds like what Marcuse identified as "repressive desublimation" (though he is pretty solidly "New Left").
@hispano_studies Absolutely perfect
@hispano_studies Well, looks like capitalism succeeded in turning left wing politics into something harmless. Just have a look at contemporary left wing parties across western world. Richmen tamed western lefties and use them to promote their policies, electric vehicles are perfect example.
@hispano_studies With current state of affairs in automation of labor, people should be perfectly able to work like 4 days weekly for six hours. But modern left doesn't care and fights for DEI and prideflags instead. Only rational explanation is that left was made useless on purpose by someone.
@hispano_studies @threadreaderapp unroll
@hispano_studies See also Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society (1964)
@hispano_studies @irregnata And that’s why the current administration wants to get rid of all the brown people
@hispano_studies La izquierda indefinida.
@hispano_studies @samhaselby @TuttReal may be of interest to you. More and more attention to Clouscard!
@hispano_studies @WilliamHogeland curious what you think of this
@hispano_studies Truly superb post. Also worth considering how this effort to neuter the left complemented these two agendas to control the right, i.e. the corruption of libertarian ideology into maximal greed, and the redirecting of welfare/rights away from the marginalized to ‘the unborn’
@hispano_studies It's getting more and more absurd. The "New Left" as a capitalist conspiracy. What do you guys smoke? The truth is: the academic left has manoeuvred itself into this rabbit hole all on its own.
@hispano_studies When one is less seduced by money and sexual escapades, what is left that is not addressed by the rhetorical seduction of nationalism, socialism or other state-supported identity programming? Thus the indigeneity-exploration politics navigate the abundance of styles and crafts.
@hispano_studies @MarxEngelsLnin very much like to hear your opinions on this, in writing or via stream, as you see fit 👍