Guattari on Marxism
I include the following quote from Felix Guattari from "A New Alliance is Possible" from "Soft Subversions" because for me it sums up perfectly the only possible response to daft questions like "are you a marxist?"
"Felix Guattari: I have never taken seriously the notion that we have outgrown Marxism and that we are now on the verge of a new political era. I have never considered ideas, theories or ideologies as anything but instruments or tools. Whence this expression, which has had a certain success and has since been used by Michel Foucault, that ideas and concepts are all part of a "tool box." As tools they can be changed, borrowed, stolen or used for another purpose. So what does it mean, "the end of Marxism"? Nothing, or only that certain Marxist tools are no longer working, that others are in need of review, that others continue to be perfectly valid. Hence it would be stupid to junk them all. All the more so in that re-evaluating these concepts means re-examining them - exactly as a re-evaluation of Einstein’s theories includes a re-examination of Newton’s. One can’t say that Newtonianism is totally dead. We are dealing here with a "rhizome" of instruments; certain branches of the rhizome collapse, little sprouts begin to proliferate, etc. For me Marxism in general has never existed. I have sometimes borrowed or adapted some Marxist concepts I could put to good use. Moreover, I like reading Marx. He’s a great writer. As an author he’s unbeatable."
Really great quote! I’ll reproduce it in P2P News 145 .. it helps me to think about my own attitude to this tradition.
Comment by Michel Bauwens — October 8, 2006 @ 11:17 am
Glad you liked it Michel. I think it’s a useful antidote to the tendency of some to treat Marx’s writings fetishistically as “holy writ” in it’s entirity and the equally illogical position of self-styled “anti-Marxists” who , having convinced themselves they’ve found a flaw or contradiction in some passage of the old fellow’s writings, then use this as an excuse to dismiss any use of other concepts or ideas he touched on. Guattari exapnds on this in another interview in the Soft Subversions collection (”Marxism and Freudianism No Longer Disturb Anyone” - a slightly mischievious title!):
“There is no comparable example in any scientific domain of a similar respect for the texts and formulae produced by great scientists. Revisionism is the rule here. The process of relativizing, dissolving, and dislocating these established theories is permanent. Those who resist are constantly under attack. The ideal thing would not be to mummify them, but to leave them open to other constructs, all equally temporary, but better strengthened by such experimentation. What counts in the long run is the use one makes of a theory [emphasis in the original]”
Guattari’s final comment reminding one irresistably of Marx’s famous 11th thesis on Feuerbach - that the point is to change things.
Comment by Administrator — October 19, 2006 @ 12:18 am