Harold Walsby used to speak of the economic collectivism of the left and the economic individualism of the right. The terms are accurate and comprehensive, but also polysyllabic and highly general. When these general tendencies appear so to speak on the surface of social life they always do so in particular forms and direct mention… read more »
Jeremy Treglown mentions a conference in Turin at which “Derrida and others, Eric Hobsbawm among them, also warned of some dangers in unity and unanimity, and extolled the values not only of autonomy and local identity, but of every kind of disagreement.” (TLS May 19) The warning seems uncalled-for; it is the right, rather than… read more »
WORK Is it good or bad? On the one hand, worries about unemployment, and cries of triumph at having got more people back to work. On the other, a report that since 1979 the increasing productivity of car factories has enabled them almost to halve the number of people employed to 289,000 – and that,… read more »
OLD CAUSES and old slogans are losing their appeal; the bright young people no longer see themselves leading the masses into violent revolution. Gender and race resonate more loudly than class. Peterloo may still rank above Waterloo, but the emancipation of the slaves shines brighter than either, while the formerly exploited workers of western Europe… read more »
IC is published for a number of reasons, one of them being to expose systematic ideology to criticism. A number of readers have responded (though the [A-]SPGB have been surprisingly quiet) and among other benefits derived we are now able to list some of the most common misunderstandings. We shall, of course, make extra efforts… read more »
Since 1945 no major power has used warfare to subjugate another; tensions which in the past would have led to a head-on collision have been kept under control. The change has been ascribed to the presence of nuclear weaponry, raising the stakes to an unacceptable level, and that is doubtless a factor, but we cannot… read more »
It does seem to me that the “old” series of terms for the major ideologies – “protostatic,” “parastatic” and so on – has one big advantage: just because they are so outlandish they force people to stop and think. This is something I noticed also in the context of what Ron Hubbard’s critics used to… read more »
ETHOS AND EIDOS Since its origination by Harold Walsby systematic ideology has concentrated upon the assumptions and identifications which go to constitute ideologies. Insisting that each ideology is a whole, its form as well as its content significant (in the Foreword to the Domain of Ideologies Walsby presents this insistence upon form as a distinguishing… read more »
reprinted from Dumpster Times. Would it surprise you to know that someone is paying attention to the anarchist movement? George Walford, editor and publisher of ldeological Commentary, an independent quarterly of systematic ideology, has put together a collection of his essays which I thoroughly commend as both thought-provoking and essential anarchist reading. Walford is not… read more »
Winner, 2008 George Walford International Essay Prize. The independence of the judiciary is something which is precious to every single member of the community. You must be able to go into court and know that the person sitting in judgment is neutral. – Sir Igor Judge [1] It is well known that women in… read more »