On Thu, 24 Aug 1995, John R. Ernst wrote: > > Harry, > > Can you suggest critiques of Genovese's slavery stuff that show how his > present and past politics are "embodied" in his Political Economy of > Slavery, Roll, Jordan Roll, et al. John: If by "critiques" you mean written/published critiques, I cannot. I've never seen the kind of critique I have in mind. However, it is implicit in the work of what I would casually call "real" Marxist historians of slavery, such as C.L.R.James in his BLACK JACOBINS and George Rawick in his FROM SUNDOWN TO SUNUP. Whereas Genovese's preoccupations from early on were primarily concerned with understanding southern slavery in terms of a non-capitalist "mode of production" headed by a distinct planter ruling class --an approach which diverted our attention from the self-activity of the slaves and from class struggle-- those two authors approached slavery from the bottom-up, seeking an understanding of the dynamics of struggle from the point of view of the slaves themselves. Although I can't prove it, my guess is that it was this kind of infinately more interesting work --that constituted a political alternative to his own previous approach-- that prompted Genovese to do the work that led to ROLL, JORDON ROLL. When James reissued THE BLACK JAOBINS in 1962 he attached an essay "From Toussaint L'Overture to Fidel Castro" tying his 1938 work directly to Third World revolution in the 1960s. James was getting plenty of play from the New Left by the end of 1960s, e.g., RADICAL AMERICA's Special Issue in May 1970. Rawick, who had worked with and was inspired by James, and who had been assembling a massive collection of slave narratives, published his FROM SUNDOWN TO SUNUP in 1972. More generally, by the late 1960s "bottom-up" history focusing on the self-activity of the working class (e.g., Thompson, Hill, Hilton) was rapidly displacing top-down narratives both from the right (most mainstream history) and from the left (e.g., Dobb, Geneovese) in the attentions of young, progressive historians and activist readers of history. Genovese's ROLL,JORDON,ROLL appeared in 1974. Now the interrelationship of the historical work of all these authors with their theory and their politics is one of the most interesting things about them --and too often ignored by those who read their work as merely history. Just as we can only understand Genovese's approach to slavery within the context of his own politics, so is this also true for the others. THE BLACK JACOBINS certainly bears the mark of James' Trotskyism in that period, just as Thompson's MAKING OF THE ENGLISH WORKING CLASS was shaped by his prior experience in the Communist Party. The ability of their students and followers to go beyond the limits of the work of such major figures in Marxist history, has in turn been closely related to their own experience with theory and politics. You can begin to get a sense of this by looking at the work of one of Thompson's students, Peter Linebaugh. On the one hand you can examine his historical work in ALBION'S FATAL TREE and his magistral THE LONDON HANGED; on the other you can look at his pamphleteering political uses of his historical research, e.g., his LIZARD TALK gift to the AIDS movement (now available on-line at gopher://mundo.eco.utexas.edu:70/1m/mailing/chiapas95.archive/Lizard%20Talk) or his recent article to THE NATION concerning Mumia and the death penalty. I wish I knew, and could give you, a citation to an article of the kind that needs to be written about Genovese's history, his theory and his politics, but I can't. Nor do I have time to write one, at this point. Sorry. Harry > >On Thu, 24 Aug 1995 "Harry M. Cleaver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >said: > > >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 > >........................................................................... > > > -- > John R. Ernst > ............................................................................ 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 ............................................................................
