1. Belief, resistance,
theory
Philosophical
theory flows from human belief and
resistance.
While
philosophical theory--the formulation of concepts--relates
to belief and resistance, it does not determine them.
Philosophical concepts can reinforce or undermine
belief or resistance. Although philosophical concepts
are not necessary for belief and resistance to
operate, they are useful to human beings in the
process of believing and resisting.
Belief
and resistance are not concepts; the words describe
actions of human beings in real relations with other
human beings. Theory does not exist apart from the
embodied thoughts formed by human beings in social
contact and conflict with one another in language,
directly or through media. It seems plausible to say
that theory follows belief and resistance--belief and
resistance, that is, action grounded in a non-logical
human energy, does not wait for theory. Theory seems
to develop because of the actions and passions
generated in human intercourse by belief and
resistance. It is, in this sense, an instrument for
advancing belief and resistance.
Next section: 2 Test
of a theory
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Belief, resistance, theory | 2 Test of a theory | 3 Life goes on | 4 Resistance rises | 5 Waiting for theory |
2. Test of a theory
There
is no complete system of theory. Every system
of thought takes its life from the human
exchanges around its concepts. Human
exchanges generate novelty as they occur
through time. That is why any person's system
of theory cannot remain closed or complete,
no matter how "logically" tight it
seems to be. A system of theory written by an
isolated philosopher without an audience is
irrelevant except to the philosopher, reading
the text as his/her own audience. It may be
"complete" in that sense but that
has no practical bearing on the life of the
world. Once read by others, it would become
"incomplete"--open to new thoughts,
or opening new thoughts.
The
test of a philosophical theory is not whether it is
totally true or false. Truth in any complete sense is
a meaningless objective for a theory. The test of a
theory is whether it is effective. Does it move human
beings at a time and place to belief or resistance?
The
theory of postmodernism formulated by Fredric Jameson
is a useful reference for illustrating these general
statements. The logic of late capitalism, according
to Jameson, has led to a seeming dead end. Jameson's
analysis shows how late capitalism has led to the
waning of affect. He traces its dissolving effect on
what Kroker and Cook call "the old
hermeneutic-modernist theory and aesthetics." He
discerns in the growth of the late capitalist system
the power to commodify the whole world. He refuses,
in the end, to find fault with this situation. But he
seems implicitly dissatisfied with it; for he expects
that some sort of "mapping" strategy will
enable us to theorize our way out of the
postmodernist dissolution and into a state of affairs
in the future presumably more desirable.
The
Jamesonian theory of postmodernism has become
canonical since he first presented it in print in
1984. It has had a wide influence. That influence has
led many to believe that late capitalism leaves us
with no viable political process for advancing human
welfare (except, perhaps, for that which incidentally
befalls people as the globalizing activity of
transnational corporations proceeds). Such a belief
arouses despair--it "logically" persuades
many that we have no means within the global
postmodern system effectively to advance the welfare
of human beings in anything like the way that was
theorized by the now discredited Enlightenment
rationalism.
An
energetic search in the academy goes on for the
theory that will liberate us from this seemingly
ironclad political dilemma. (Juergen Habermas,
meanwhile, has sought to show us that the old
Enlightenment rationalist theory is not discredited
totally--it can be the basis, he argues, for a
revised theory of communicative action in the
postmodernist environment. His theory has not
succeeded, however, in sweeping away the influence of
Jamesonian theory.) Does this mean that, pending the
discovery of the new theory, the needy people of the
world are sitting in neutral on the sidelines? Do we
see them patiently awaiting the elusive concept that
will finally enable them to go back into action in
pursuit of their welfare?
Next section: 3 Life
goes on
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Belief, resistance, theory | 2 Test of a theory | 3 Life goes on | 4 Resistance rises | 5 Waiting for theory |
3. Life goes on
The
question begs the answer. Life goes on.
Beliefs continue to consolidate and evanesce.
Resistance arises and declines. Postmodern
theorists continue to form concepts, tools
(weapons?) in the ongoing life of the
species. Habermas continues offering his
alternative theory.
I
remember an immediate sense of futility as I finished
Jameson's essay. If his finding was true, we would
have to reconcile ourselves to a bland impotence. Be
quietists and let the money flow. Hope that theorists
like Jameson would map the way out sometime or other.
The
mood of futility passed, however. I saw that we are
where we are. The clock keeps ticking. Quantities
become qualities, whatever theories may call them.
Shit keeps happening.
Now,
in Spring 2000, we see new and interesting evidence
that belief and resistance are working energetically
against the consolidation of power in multinational
corporate forms. There may be some theory at work
that grows logically and persuasively out of the
Jamesonian logic. More likely, there is an understanding
of Jameson's analysis of the worldwide consolidation,
followed by an untheorized "No" among a
bunch of people who feel hurt by it.
Next section: 4
Resistance rises
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Belief, resistance, theory | 2 Test of a theory | 3 Life goes on | 4 Resistance rises | 5 Waiting for theory |
4. Resistance rises
Juliette
Beck and her friends co-opted space in The
New Yorker and
on National Public television to tout their
opposition to the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund. They pushed
"A16"--Sunday, 16 April 2000--as a
day of demonstration against the perceived
negative effects of postmodern corporate
globalization. (William Finnegan. The
New Yorker. "After Seattle:
Anarchists get organized". 17 April
2000, p. 40ff.) Beck is a thoughtful young
woman who has studied international economics
in preparation for her activist life. The
line between concept and action blurs
somewhere comfortably in her being. She and
her allies have not been sidelined by the
seeming "time out" that Jameson's
theory blows.
The
activism in Seattle and in Washington, the picture of
a rising Direct Action Network across the nation and
beyond, the (non-Marxist) anticapitalist feeling
behind Beck's organization, Global Exchange--these
are the evidences of beliefs and resistances in
lively action.
As
to late late capitalist theory, Finnegan's interview
with Beck quoted as much as she presumably needs for
the time being to energize her coalition-building
agenda:
"Big
corporations are a great target, because they do
things that hurt virtually everybody." (They
also do things that help many, someone could argue,
leading to argumentation over an emerging theory of
corporate vs. personal rights.)
"...corporations
just naturally grab all the power they can, and when
they've grabbed too much there has to be a backlash.
That's what led, a hundred years ago, to
trust-busting and federal regulation after the robber
barons did their thing, and that's what's causing
this movement now." (Someone
could argue that this time federal regulation on a
worldwide stage will not operate the same way,
leading to argumentation over national vs.
transnational polity.)
So,
while postmodernist theorists refine the concept of
power in a Jamesonian vision of global culture, Beck
and her friends are raising hell where they can. For
anyone with obsolete liberal sentiments regarding the
individual subject, these are quite refreshing
developments. It makes you want to believe again; it
makes you believe you can resist those rascals.
Next section: 5
Waiting for theory
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Belief, resistance, theory | 2 Test of a theory | 3 Life goes on | 4 Resistance rises | 5 Waiting for theory |
5. Waiting for theory
But you
also hope the theory shops are heated up and cooking
overtime. Some shouts and placards from the coalition
on the streets of this city and that, some arrests
and broken heads, will not suffice. I think that the
belief and resistance of Beck and friends will need
some theoretical tools to make a real dent in the
global juggernaut.
(But
Richard Rorty thought otherwise. He did not think new
theory would be needed to activate the Left against
social injustice. My review of his 1998 book, Achieving Our Country,
explains.)
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Belief, resistance, theory | 2 Test of a theory | 3 Life goes on | 4 Resistance rises | 5 Waiting for theory |
Note:
I adopted the phrase "belief and
resistance" from Barbara Herrnstein
Smith's book of that title.
