Introduction This is a continuation of a critique of the views of Jeff Noonan, an academic leftist who teaches philosophy (including Marxist philosophy) at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. In an earlier post (The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing the Rule of Law in the Present: Part Two
Category: Social reformism versus Structural Change
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing the Rule of Law in the Present: Part One
Introduction Jeff Noonan, supposedly a Marxist philosopher, in a recent post (https://www.jeffnoonan.org/?p=5864#comments) has the following to say on his blog: Practically speaking, there are no revolutionary movements of any consequence. So the question is: what does one do right now: abstractly condemn the rule of law as a bourgeois subterfuge? Or criticise the reality of … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing the Rule of Law in the Present: Part One
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Ten
Introduction It is interesting that social democrats express themselves in different ways. Thus, Professor Noonan, a professor at the University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada), who teaches Marxism, among other courses, presents a few truths that give credence to a number of distortions and silences in his recent post on his blog (see https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/25539351/posts/5759). Distortions and Silences … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Ten
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eight: Class Harmony
This is an elaboration of a critique of an academic leftist (aka academic historical materialist), the philosopher Jeff Noonan. Professor Noonan's neglect of the relatively privileged status of university professors in relation to other workers leads him to assert the following (from Thinkings 4: Collected Interventions, Readings, Evocations, 2014-2015, page 13): Whether or not it was … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eight: Class Harmony
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Four: The Myth of Creating Socialist Spaces
Professor Noonan, an academic leftist, argues that the Nemak return to work provides lessons for the left. Indeed, it does--but unfortunately he fails to draw further lessons from the situation. He says the following: As regards work, the structural dependence on paid employment is what makes people working class. This structural dependence is what, above … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Four: The Myth of Creating Socialist Spaces
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Three: Collective Bargaining and the Interests of the Working Class
This is a continuation of a critique of an academic leftist (aka academic historical materialist), the philosopher Jeff Noonan. Another example of the limitations of Professor Noonan's analysis is the following (from Thinkings 4: Collected Interventions, Readings, Evocations, 2014-2015,page 10): And sometimes it is necessary to struggle to protect or extend our rights as workers to … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Three: Collective Bargaining and the Interests of the Working Class
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Two: Collective Bargaining and the Interests of the Working Class
Professor Jeff Noonan, as contained in a reference to his work in a previous post( The Poverty of Academic Marxism, Part One), claimed that historical materialism must evolve. This seems to imply that his form of historical materialism, under present conditions, is superior to the historical materialism proposed by Marx. Professor Noonan claims the following … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Two: Collective Bargaining and the Interests of the Working Class
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part One
I had a short debate with the academic philosopher Jeff Noonan on his blog. I am pasting it here since there was no further reply to my criticisms on his post. [Jeff's reply] Hi Fred, Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful comments. Some brief replies: [My initial reply]: Some of the above post is dead … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part One
The Abolitionary 