[I have not updated this page in a while, but I will get to it eventually]
Welcome to Chateau de la Schmatte by Abou Rijal, also known as “Juan Fitzcarraldo”. @abou_rijal on Twitter. Email at juanbaptistefitzcarraldo@gmail.com
I’m going to pursue a number of different directions in thought, here, in aesthetics, metaphysics, and politics and they do (eventually) converge (be patient). This post will serve as a map. I will try to provide context and direction for reading my posts.
The “Marxist Series”: these posts develop my thinking about Marxism and communism. They partly deal with basic ideas in Marxist theory that I feel are either neglected or poorly contextualized, and partly reflect my own conceptions.
The Class-Community: this is where Marxist theory opens up to aesthetic considerations. Aesthetics is the flesh and blood of community.
Oligarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy: what is “democracy” (hint: it’s the dictatorship of the proletariat)? What kind of political forms are possible for us?
Marx’s Retvrn to Tradition: Marxism as the only real humanism, Marxism as archeofuturism, man as “homo faber” (important).
Left, Right, and Third Position: proposes a different model of the political horseshoe with communism placed beyond the extremities; Marxism as “alchemical wedding” of real and ideal.
A State of Agony: a look at the dictatorship of the proletariat from the standpoints of agonism and antagonism, and a rejection of the “stateless society”. Again, the notions of “homo faber” and “Marxism as humanism” are central. The idea of hubris as man’s defining quality also features here.
Class Subjectivism: a rejection of the expression “class reductionism” in favor of “class subjectivism”, and a reflection on the role of power in socialism.
Socialism and Integralism: socialism as the increaing power of social integration rather than any finally and definitively integrated social system.