James Lindsay purports to find a common thread among the new critical theories that have garnered attention in the United States and to a lesser extent, Canada. For the purposes of the podcast, he summarizes what Marxism is and some of the related terminology (including marxist-feminism 18:50).
Different points of view and different analysis are necessary when evaluating ideologies and systems present in society. Lindsay is a critic of Marxist methodology and it is important to hear his critiques.
“We often hear that Woke Marxism is a new ideology in the world. I’ve even said so. Well, it isn’t. It’s just an old one repackaged in various ways without any essential changes made to it at all. Critical Race Theory is Race Marxism in the same way as what we usually call Marxism is Class Marxism. Radical Feminism is Sex Marxism. Gender ideology and Queer Theory are Sex, Gender, and Sexuality Marxism, or just Gender Marxism or Sexual Marxism to be more concise. Fat studies is Fat Marxism. Disability studies is Ability Marxism. Critical Education Theory (Critical Pedagogy) is Knowledge Marxism in terms of what it means to be formally educated or literate within the existing system. Postmodern postructuralism is Language Marxism. Postcolonial Theory is National Origin Marxism. And on it goes, with all of these cobbled together by intersectionality, which is Identity Marxism.”
bleatmop
Mystro
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9 comments
April 6, 2022 at 5:43 am
silverapplequeen
Rather simplistic
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April 6, 2022 at 10:04 am
renagm
Of course, there are common threads in Marxism and radical feminism, but to spin from the few threads an new Identity (radical feminist Marxism) is the ignore the major differences threads, and in this case enacting the patriarchal habit of dismissing/distorting feminist thought and appropriating it as a version of male theory. This just keeps droning on
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April 6, 2022 at 3:30 pm
The Arbourist
@ Silverapplequeen
I agree to a certain extent. I was looking more at how he posited that some proponents of radical feminism seem to have been put in a bind, as they have played the role of ‘useful idiots’ and having served their purpose have now been put to pasture, so to speak.
I cannot recount the number of times that I’ve been referred to as a some form of right wing reactionary when coming into contact with gender ideologues and their supporters. It always leaves me flabbergasted for a moment as that is far from my stance or political leanings.
What I get called for being a reactionary on is when I state that sex is a non arbitrary immutable concept that plays a large part in defining the people in society. It is not a spectrum, it is not variable, and one cannot change sides in any sort of meaningful way.
I’m also right-wing for believing that the primary axis of oppression of females in our society is sex. (???) I can’t help but feeling that the way I’ve argued and processed my feminist views have, to a certain extent, paved the way for the new level of ‘progressive deconstruction’ which happens to erase females from society.
There is a great deal of mulling going on this side of the keyboard as I’m trying to reconfigure or reframe my notion of how things work and if my premises have been faulty.
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April 6, 2022 at 3:45 pm
The Arbourist
@renagm
Just one thread from part of the lecture though. Raising feminist consciousness has been a goal for what I do here on the blog (among other things) and I do believe that it is a worthy pursuit. I do believe that when enough women share a common ideal we can protest and make our voices be heard by our political representatives so that change can happen. I think that if we can identify the features of society and societal institutions that are currently failing women they can be reformed and restored to intent of serving the population in a just, equal manner.
I support the idea of striking as Icelandic women did in 1975 to further their cause and to shake up the old system to accommodate a more equal footing between the sexes.
I’m not completely agreeing with what Lindsay has to say, but his arguments are making me think more closely about how I define my world and feminist views.
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April 6, 2022 at 3:45 pm
renagm
Hello, I haven’t heard or read this man’s discourse. I would like to know what is meant by feminists serving as “useful idiots.” It doesn’t comport with anything I have experienced or know. I am a second wave radical feminist who is deeply distressed by the backlash against radical feminism. I see the whole trans phenomenon as exactly that-tho the “that” I refer to is a complex mixture of misogyny , exploitation, and appropriation.For me your ideas are my radical feminist politics and those of my radical feminist sisters. What you are getting is the backlash whose ideological epicenter is academia. Your premises are not faulty..you have just not found the support that exists in women like myself, for we have been marginalized.
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April 6, 2022 at 4:05 pm
The Arbourist
@ renagm
In the podcast from say, 22:07 Lindsay describes the progression of the social constructionist dialectic “past” what would be arguably be the tenets of second wave feminism (the values I also espouse and base my cognitive framework of feminism on).
I heartly agree. So much of trans ideology is the regressive gender horseshit of the 1950’s being remapped somehow now as being progressive. Gender is reified and performing gender is what creates the true authentic self. While in reality gender is the method by which much of oppression in society is enacted. How does enacting stereotypical gendered behaviour *make* you the opposite sex? I have yet to hear a credible response, what I do get is vacuous notions like “being born in the wrong body” or “sexed brains” and other malarkey that, for the most part, is pseudo-scientific nonsense.
Thank you. British radfem twitter has been a island of refuge from the madness that has overtaken so much of the Canadian feminist discourse.
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April 7, 2022 at 11:52 am
renagm
I have also been watching Women’s Declaration zooms that feature feminists worldwide. Check them out . They have great programs and panels every week.
The second wave challenged the rigidities of sex role socialization and its political agenda included transformation of society to liberate ourselves from these prescriptions. Now, they are reinforcing sex role stereotypes and substituting surgeries and hormones for political transformation. That the liberal/left/”feminist” populations are going along with this is sheer madness, and definitly a symptom of the backlash against radical feminism. It’s difficult to find a word to capture the zombie-like non-thinking that prevails.
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May 13, 2022 at 2:01 pm
cara ryan
In reality, “Queer Theory” seems like nothing but porn being manufactured for the autistic demographic.
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May 14, 2022 at 11:20 am
The Arbourist
It is a well fleshed out thorough system of beliefs. It is fine tuned to resist arguments from rationality which makes it so very dangerous.
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