Louis Proyect: By the way, Doug and I both went after the Genovese gang on the Marxism list some months ago. I discussed a review of his new book and an old comrade of mine (not the one who is mentioned just below) offered some thoughtful reflections on Genovese's views on slavery. > > Louis Proyect: > > An old friend from my Troskyist days alerted me to a review of > Eugene Genovese's new book "Southern Discomfort" that appeared in > the London Review of Books (June 8, 1995). To my surprise, this book > seems to have eluded reviewers over here. Since it is appallingly > reactionary, you'd expect it to garner glowing page-one reviews in the > NY Times book review section, etc. > > Genovese offers up in this book a defense of the values and civilization > of the ante-bellum South. The only thing he rejects is slavery, but all > the rest of it--the agrarian life-style, the traditionalism, the > paternalism, etc.--seems to appeal to him immensely. He identifies > particularly with the Agrarian poets, a noxious offshoot of the new > criticism that included John Crowe Ransom and Allen Tate among > others. This crew hated the north, industrialization, democracy and > liberalism and were strongly influenced by the creepy T.S. Eliot. > > Genovese, now 63, was once briefly a member of the CPUSA. He was > a prominent opponent of the Vietnam war and left Rutgers University > in 1966 when the anti-Communist fervor was still strong. But a year > earlier Genovese showed signs of adapting to slavocracy. He was one > of the few scholars of the civil war who came to the defense of William > Styron's slimy "The Confessions of Nat Turner". > > Genovese, although a Yankee, began to discover his own affinity for > the slave-owner's society in his book "The World the Slaveowners > Made" (1969) and the forward to "American Negro Slavery" by U.B. > Phillips. Phillips and his own book try to make the case that the > slavocracy was "hegemonic" like no other ruling class in history. He > decries the racism but is fascinated by the "stability" of the old south. > > In 1974, Genovese came out with "Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the > Slaves Made". According to him, masters and slaves struggled > together to create a "reasonably livable world of shared responsibilities > and obligations: an interpretation that scarcely pleased the Left or the > slaves' descendants", according to reviewer Bertram Wyatt-Brown > (now is that a British name, or is it!) > > The political thrust of Genovese's latest book is that the old south > championed "family values" and that this is something US society > needs to recover. If we bracket out the nastiness of chattel slavery, he > thinks there is a lot to be admired about the old south. > > Genovese has followed the same political trajectory as that of the > recently > deceased Christopher Lasch, who also in recent years had castigated > the excesses of 1960's radicalism. Both of these old farts reached > political maturity at a time when the left was a place where men were > men, women were women, and everybody knew their place. Thank > god for the woman's movement, the gay movement and the > counterculture. While these movements stuck in the craws of these old > geezers, this is one 50 year old who is nostalgic not for the stable and > traditional south, but the wild and woolly 1960's when everything was > coming apart at the seams. > On Tue, 18 Jul 1995 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > In Roll Jorday Roll Genovese pointed out that the record of slave revolt > in the American South was relatively minor. He then asked a question that > deserved asking at the time. "Why, since slavery is such an evil and > inhuman system, were there not more slave revolts?" A question that we > can certainly ask profitably about wage slavery. He then went on to > analyze the system of represssion and reward in the unique instance of > slavery in the South. He pointed out that it was the only slave society > in history where the slaves reproduced themselves. He pointed to the > uncomfortable fact that the standard of living of Southern slaves was > higher than that of factory workers in Europe and equal to that of factory > workers in the North. In Roll he did not glorify paternalism, he > explained it. I remember the experience of reading that book very clearly > because I felt at the time that Genovese offered an insight, namely that > social reality is complex and so are the people who make it up. An evil > social system is not purely evil. It's filled with positive features that > allow it to continue to exist. Slavery, bondage and wage slavery, offer > freedom from choice, little risk as long as you stay within the prescribed > bounds. With our short lives and perilous mortality, those are powerful > incentives to accept whatever is given. > > ----------------------[Reply - Original Message]---------------------- On Thu, 24 Aug 1995, Harry M. Cleaver wrote: > Doug: > > Thanks for the update. Have they joined the Right Wing National > Association of Scholars? Have they joined David Horowitz's "Second > Thoughts" group of ex-new lefties turned neoconservative? Probably not > the latter. After all Eugene was blasting the New Left years ago. His > wife's association with the Right appears quite consistent with his history > of reactionary politics. The question is how many readers of his > "Marxist" work on slavery understood how those politics were embodied > in that work? Those who didn`t understand it should go back and read it > again. > > Harry > > > On Thu, 24 Aug 1995, Doug Henwood wrote: > > > I just got the press pack from the Independent Women's Forum, the > > Washginton-based right-wing women's group headed by Barbara Ledeen, wife of > > the notorious covert operator Michael Ledeen. The IWF is funded in part by > > the Bradley Foundation, one of the major funders of the big-time right. > > Elizabeth Fox-Genovese has joined the advisory board for their journal, and > > she also appears in their guide of experts along with Sheila Burke, Bob > > Dole's chief of staff; Wendy Lee Gramm, free marketeer and spouse of Phil; > > and hip Gen X rightists Laura Ingraham and Lisa Schiffren; a number of > > Republican staffers at Congressional committees; and a biger number of > > think tanks at the usual places, from Heritage to the property rights > > theorists at PERC in Bozeman, Mont. E F-G modestly lists herself as an > > expert in: "Children & Family, Family Leave & Child Care, Education, > > Welfare, Ethics & Religion, Feminist Ideology, Health: General, Health: > > Ethics, Health: Women's, Popular Culture, Public Policy, Race & Ethnicity, > > Affirmative Acdtion & Equal Opportunity, Glass Ceiling, Multiculturalism, > > Sexual Harassment, Civil Rights, Economic Policy/Budget, Legal Issues/The > > Law, Politics." I've not measured this scientifically but this list looks > > longer than any other entrant's. > > > > This comes upon news that E F-G's spouse, Eugene, in one evening in 1992 > > announced that he: 1) planned to vote for Bush, 2) loved the Gulf War, and > > 3) praised Pat Robertson as "a good anti-racist." > > > > Doug > > > > -- > > > > Doug Henwood > > [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Left Business Observer > > 250 W 85 St > > New York NY 10024-3217 > > USA > > +1-212-874-4020 voice > > +1-212-874-3137 fax > > > > > > > > ........................................................................... > Harry Cleaver > Department of Economics > University of Texas at Austin > Austin, Texas 78712-1173 > USA > > Phone Numbers: (hm) (512) 442-5036 > (off) (512) 471-3211, ext. 181 > Fax: (512) 471-3510 > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Home Page: http://www.eco.utexas.edu:80/Homepages/Faculty/Cleaver/index.html > ........................................................................... > > > >
