Hi Dave Z:
I think you are bending the stick too much in one direction.
> The agents may or may not carry representations of these relations in their
> heads; the important factor, rather, is their sets of actions as determined
> by their positions in the structure of relations.
What representations of these relations they carry in their heads (their
consciousness of themselves and their relation to others, including other
members of their class and other classes) is indeed an important factor
when determining their actions. Members of the working class are not
Pavlovian mice who are guided simply by an instinct for self-preservation.
> The efficacy of 'power relations' does not rest on beliefs, but the actual
> constraints they impose on individual agents that form the collective
> reproduction of class divisions.
Try using that to understand working class history and regional/
international variations in working-class consciousness! E.g. if the
efficacy of the 'power relations' between the bourgeoisie and
the working class in the US did not rest, in part, on the beliefs of
those agents then the whole of US history would be (vastly) different!
You say we should avoid 'vulgar' forms of idealism, but vulgar forms
of materialism are best avoided too.
In solidarity, Jerry
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Received on Mon Dec 20 17:14:27 2010
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