I feel like this thread has taken a direction where I can be patronising here
Words, and their definitions, are not set. There's often a collective acceptance of what words mean, but their meaning, naturally, changes over time. That can apply to the mundane, everyday language (the Gay Look was used as advertising for Rootes Group products, for example, in the 1950s and nowadays, that would be interpreted somewhat differently) but this certainly applies to political theory, where people spend decades of their lives debating meanings, directions of travel, and interpretations.
Now, some ideas of Marxism are pretty third rate and fixed. We've already gone through how Marx himself saw capitalism as progress, how the likes of Stalin appropriated the iconography, but departed somewhat from the principle. Of course, you then have the likes of Gramsci, and the concept of hegemony, building on Marx's work. Recently (and again, we've gone through this) we've had Stuart Hall (not the molesting one!) who defines at the edges. Socialism is used by the American far right for ideas which, to a European idea of political theory, would be seen as centrist at best. In this country, we see how the definitions slip from the 1970s (many of Heath's acts would be pretty 'socialist' in present times!) to today.
So when there's talk, paradoxically, of 'the Left' (interesting Othering there, an attempt to demean and diminish by grouping together and totalising a disparate series of elements in comparison to a view seen as superior) constantly splitting apart, yet constantly grouping together behind one big project, it seemsthere's an unwillingness to accept the broad gamut of political views within a body. It's interesting really because, I know certain people would be horrified to be seen as being part of the far right, of being part of a racist, bigoted, intolerant, abusive set of people... but they feel able to do similar to 'the Left'. I could go on about rhetorical strategies, and battling for cultural position and therefore being able to lead the direction of the political discourse but... I won't
Others in turn would be able to argue better than I - there's always somebody wiser than yourself out there (and don't I know it
)
While I'm here, I'll slip in some light reading if anybody wants to be enraged / delighted / befuddled
Prodigiously influential, Jacques Derrida gave rise to a comprehensive rethinking of the basic concepts and categories of Western philosophy in the latter part of the twentieth century, with writings central to our understanding of language, meaning, identity, ethics and values. In 1993, a...
www.routledge.com
