The Party Lines of Thinking

I wanted to address the degree to which I think sovereign political process has a stranglehold on political thought in general. this appears most distinctly for me when talking about left/right debates in general, as well as talking about feminist movements. We believe ourselves to be participating in politics that operates according to A (as in one) decision. The operation of government, particularly television government (working at even faster rates, with clearer results) creates a myth of social progress as on/off, yea/nay, veto/override. Maybe the frustration with the feeling of hopelessness comes from our expectations – we’re pre-empted from the start because a particular kind of change dominates our perception of reality. The hegemony of speed and efficiency rumble forth as the modes of knowing change. The means to affect change that occurs with such speed structures other relationships to the government structure issuing whatever orders.

Government forms its own genre of social change. Genre refers to consistant patterns of rhetoric that audiences and speakers of rhetoric refer to in the creation of meaning. Genres ‘work’ because they form a shorthand for communication: one statement implies another, implies another, easing communication, under the pressure of other needs. The power of this genre of social change rhetoric capitalizes on the function of genre as a reference to the speed of ideas – how fast they can move to create meaning.

Aside from the hegemony of speed, the grip of a governmental rubric affects perceptions of the unity of political movements. Feminists do not share a political platform or party, but the approval of one feminist of a political position allows for the spin of that as ratification of the position for feminists in general – i.e. Feminists for Life, who challenge the ability to mobilize feminists around pro-choice issues. Feminism looks more like participation in a party platform or an identity category rather than a political stance. What does it take to be a feminist? Can you believe in women’s liberation but not be a feminist? The identity marker for theory and humans ‘feminist’ may mystify political organization or conflate issues that need not be conflated. The response I get when I tell people I am a Women’s Studies minor is that “feminists go to far.” Well, which feminists, and what do they have to do anything? The conflation of feminist theories behind the structure of a party or monolithic body of thought allows for some degree of political organization, but also a platform for attack or disqualification of all thought concerning liberation behind the same convergence of thought.

Duncan