Apologies for misunderstanding your earlier reference: the use of 'NO scheme under capitalism is deemed worthy of support, so the Johnny-one-note criticism of any particular one is of reduced interest' in reference to criticisms of microcredit (along with other stuff) made me worried, that perhaps folks might be inclined to dismiss politically relevant critiques of microcredit in process of rightly dismissing critiques which were possibly apolitical. Just wanted to stop that before the critiques of micro-credit were written off on these grounds. >I hold no brief for or against micro-credit (I'm mildly >sympathetic, but I claim no knowledge of the subject). >I'm just not going to be as interested in a critique when >the general patter of criticism is to reject most anything. Fair enough. However, to my dismay, I find that important and politically relevant critique is often dismissed on just such grounds, especially in the higher levels of NGO and policy-making circles and out here where much of the support/push for various types of aid allocations and policy promotion comes from. So I try and make the political point every chance I get, it gets loss in the general mass of critique of the apolitical type you rightly critiqued. >> . . . >> to work, and that is a political intervention, no? For the record, I will >> reassure Max that many of us 'nasty critics' work with and . . . > >Please don't attribute words to me that I never used! >I DID NOT use the term "nasty critics" in my post. >I wasn't even talking about critics of micro-credit >per se. My post was not about micro-credit at all. Apologies again, responding more to the general climate in which I and others make this intervention, and this, alas, is the subtext I get much too often. And tho' your post was not about microcredit, do spread the word to your policy-activist oriented colleagues that there are good real-politic reasons to temper general sympathy with critique on this particular issue. yours, Charu. ******************************************************************* * * * * S. Charusheela * PH: (O) (717)-291-3936 * * Economics Dept. * (H) (717) 390-8906 * * Franklin & Marshall College * FAX: (717) 291-4369 * * Lancaster PA 17604 * email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * *******************************************************************