[OPE] Paula Cerni

I am pleased to introduce to you (or rather, let her introduce herself)
our newest member - Paula Cerni.

Many of you may already know Paula from her writings on other Net lists
or, perhaps, from her influential writing on imperialism. More details on
life and interests follow.

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Greetings everyone.

May I introduce myself. I live in Seattle, but my roots are in Europe.
Academically, my first love was for the humanities: poetry and fiction,
as well as languages (fluent English and Spanish, acceptable French and
Catalan). Next I did an MPhil in social sciences at the University of
Sussex, studying the impact of Hispanic immigration on changing American
notions of ethnic and national identity.

I was introduced to politics by my parents, who were CP supporters at a
time when European CPs still enjoyed some popularity. I became very
critical after reading Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and Trotsky on the
Spanish Civil War. For a variety of reasons, however, my experience of
the more left-wing alternatives has been disappointing. At present I am
not affiliated with any political organizations or academic institutions.

Since finishing my postgraduate studies, I have written a number of book
reviews, journalistic articles, and lengthier essays, to educate myself
and also hopefully to assist in the clarification and development of
Marxist ideas. I feel that, although Marxism is going through an extremely
tough period, the potential for regeneration is great, and I would like to
help realize it, in collaboration with others.

My interests range very widely, from the fine arts to the natural
sciences and from tactics to philosophy. Political economy, however,
is at the heart of my understanding of contemporary life. A favorite
approach of mine is to explore the connection between structural economic
change on the one hand, and broad cultural and intellectual trends on the
other. For an example, please see 'The Age of Consumer Capitalism', just
published at <http://clogic.eserver.org/2007/Cerni.pdf>, where I argue
that today's society 'fetishises the commodity's use-value more than its
value'. (Feedback would be much appreciated).

You can find most of my publications listed at
<http://360.yahoo.com/p.cerni>. My plans for the next few years include
writing about the service economy, and about the information society.

Thanks so much for inviting me in. I am honored to be in your company, and
look forward to working with you all.

Sincerely,
Paula

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Paula is only the 2nd person we have admitted to the list in 2008.

Although Paula says that she looks forward toworking with all of us, I
think I can speak for the list when I say that we all look forward to
working with her and hearing what she has to say about political economy.

Paula: welcome aboard!

In solidarity, Jerry

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