Feminism and bureaucratic discourse∗

Abstract

The globalization of markets is calling national employment and social legislation increasingly into question, so that not only the international trade union organizations but also the Clinton Administration are calling for workers’ rights to be embodied in trade agreements. This paper deals with both the fundamental question of whether international labor standards serve a useful purpose and the more specific question of whether trade agreements are a suitable way of enforcing minimum standards. It will argue that international standards can plausibly be justified in terms of development theory. Core labor rights, furthermore, enjoy universal acceptance. A social clause can help in enforcing these rights. The procedures for negotiating social clauses and for implementing them as proposed by the international trade union movement do not lend themselves to protectionism.     

On interest,credit and capital ∗

On interest, credit and capital Laurence Harris This article examines the category of interest payments within the problematic of historical materialism. It examines the interest payments which occur under the capitalist mode of production on the basis of credit from capitalists to capitalists, from capitalists to workers, and from workers to capitalists. On the subject of capitalist to capitalist interest payments, the article examines the views of Marx on interest-bearing capital and demonstrates that Marx did consider this interest rate to be subject to determinate and analysable laws. These interest payments are transfers of surplus value as such. On the subject of worker to capitalist interest payments it is demonstrated that these are payments out of wage revenue which are appropriated as profit on merchants' capital rather than as profit on interest-bearing capital. Finally, capitalist to worker interest payments are identical with payments of wage revenue and, therefore, are for capitalists equivalent to the advance of variable capital. These results are established on the basis of the law of value and after considering the concept of value of labour power. In conclusion, the construction of data employed in empirical work is criticised.     

A discourse–design approach to multimodality: the visual communication of neoliberal management discourse

This paper takes a discourse–design approach to communication, providing a framework as to how this should be done. Design here is how individuals and institutions realize their interests in the world. We show how it is fruitful to link design more closely to the way discourse has been used in critical studies which draws attention to the motivated use of design, for thinking about design in terms of socio-political context. Due to their affordances, semiotic modes such as photography, graphics, layout, colour, numbers and writing will be deployed and co-articulated. The aim, using a discourse–design approach, is to show how we can best identify the very different affordances of such modes and how they rely on the principled design of a discourse. We illustrate this using examples from management documents at a university which draw on these different affordances in different ways to communicate the same discourse. Through this analysis we see how a neoliberal discourse based on a general design principle of coordination enters everyday practices and become very difficult to challenge.     

Althusser's solitude ∗

Noting the prevalence of the theme of ‘solitude’ in the writings of Louis Althusser, this paper aims to capture something of Althusser's own theoretical solitude as a Communist philosopher intent upon renovating Marxist theory in order to ‘help put some substance back into the revolutionary project . . . in the West’. It argues that Althusser's singularity within the Marxist tradition consists in his effective rupture not only with orthodox dialectical and historical materialism and heterodox western Marxism, but with central tenets of classical Marxism itself; that this break derives from his utilization of key non-Marxist discourses (Spinozism, conventionalist philosophy of science, and aspects of structuralism); and that the resulting reconstruction of Marxism was highly original, yet seriously flawed. It concludes that, despite the resonance of his work in the 1960s and 1970s, for theoretical and political reasons Althusser is today once again condemned to solitude. “Communists, when they are Marxists, and Marxists when they are Communists, never cry in the wilderness. Even when they are practically alone.” (Louis Althusser, Reply to John Lewis)     

Hyperreal America ∗

May 1968 in Paris was a utopian revolt which failed; America is a utopia which has been achieved. It is the original version of modernity. This article examines the logic of Biosphere 2 a miniature version of the entire planet, but which means the society is already living with the prospect of a catastrophe affecting its utopia, it is a zoological museum in anticipation of its own destruction.     

The ‘histories’ of economic discourse

Baudrillard's work has been presented as the essential postmodernist contribution to social theory. Yet doubts have been expressed as to the accuracy and the meaning of this claim. Here a number of leading presentations are reviewed against the claims and denials found in the work of Baudrillard himself: his opposition to postmodernism and his refusal to be labelled postmodernist. The ironies of this position are discussed with respect to Marxist and feminist readings in light of the possibility that it may be these appropriations themselves which are postmodern.

Baudrillard ‘was perhaps the first to organize a postmodern social theory’. (Kellner 1988: 242)

Baudrillard speaks from the dark side of postmodernity. A. Kroker 1988: 171

So far Baudrillard has resisted spelling out a theory of postmodernity. Kellner 1989: 121

I have nothing to do with postmodernism. Baudrillard     

Other books received∗

This article examines factors that explain cross-national variation in states’ willingness to repress racist associations. Non-democratic regime history is the primary factor that predisposes a country toward repression. Yet three situational triggers also matter when accounting for the development and application of a state’s provisions. First, the immediate aftermath of the transition to democracy can spark new laws and bans; second, ratifying UN provisions against racist organisations can prompt state action; and, third and most importantly in the contemporary era, spikes in high-profile racist events or steady increases in the influence of racist associations can generate the passage of new laws or the enforcement of existing legislation. Focusing on the combination of the one predisposing factor and the three situational triggers provides a systematic probabilistic explanation for cross-national variation in liberal democracies’ stances toward racist associations.     

Afterthoughts on Kuhn ∗

Is a non-economistic approach to the economic possible? This paper presentsa positive answer to this question through a discussion of the much vauntedRudolf Hilferding. In particular, it examines Hilferding's implicit structuralism in his portrayal of the economic space as organized. The notion of organization is critically analysed from the perspective of recent advances in post-structuralist theory around the concept of discourse. To this effect, the paper attempts to develop a fuller theoretical understanding of the idea of disorganization. finally, it looks at the consequences that this idea might hold for a new conception of democratic politics.     

Space and Deterrence∗

Regardless of whether the United States decides to extend deployment of its weaponry beyond land, sea, and air to the medium of outer space, military dependence on assets stationed between low Earth orbit and geosynchronous orbit for communication, navigation, and surveillance will likely remain high. Deterrence as a strategy to protect these assets carries with it the risk that a crisis over satellites will escalate out of control. Nevertheless, when evaluated against other options on the agenda—such as space control and space avoidance—it is the only strategy for which the United States is currently equipped militarily and politically. In order to mitigate the downsides of deterrence, in particular to stave off a decision that would require disproportionate retaliation, the new United States Administration is likely to mix in tactical elements of control and avoidance. These elements, however, will not subvert deterrence as a core strategy, nor will they obviate uncomfortable and undemocratic compromises that have marked deterrence since the Cold War.     

Racism and resource colonization∗

The attacks on our sovereignty and treaties are really attacks on our way of life, our way of viewing things. The environment is critical to our being. The same attacks to separate us from our resources and land are being used in Brazil, Alaska, and elsewhere. It's really racism, with many different names and faces