语言文化论文-The politics of protest .doc

语言文化论文-ThepoliticsofprotestPierreBourdieuhasbecomealeadingfigureintheradicalmovementsthathavesweptFranceinthelastfewyears.HetalkedtoKevinOvendenaboutanti-capitalismandresistanceTheWeightoftheWorldwasrecentlypublishedinBritain.Itdescribesthroughinterviewsintheearly1990sthesocialsufferingofcontemporarysociety.Whyislifegettingharderformostpeople?TherearesimilaritiesbetweenwhathashappenedtopeopleslivesinFranceandinBritain.Themainissue,ofcourse,isneo-liberalismandwhatIcalltheretreatofthestate.Thestatehasabandonedalotofareasthatitwasinvolvedin,suchashealthcare,education,andsocialprovision.Whenweconductedthisstudyitwasonlybeginning.Nowitisfarworse.Soforexample,inFranceneo-liberalphilosophyhasbecomeembeddedinallthesocialpracticesandpoliciesofthestate.Ithasbecomeinternalisedinthemindsofthepoliticalestablishment.Theministerofeducationwhowasrecentlyforcedoutofoffice,ClaudeAll鑗re,wasverysimilartotheoneyouhaveinBritain.Heintroducedintoeducationsocalledtoughpolicies-adriveforefficiencyandproductivity.Insteadoflookingverycarefullyathoweducationworks,theneo-liberalsoptforaverysimplesolution.Theycreatecompetitionbetweenschoolsandbetweenthedirectorsofschools,whohavetocompeteforbudgetsandforstudents.Thiscompetitionisfake-itisartificiallyconstructed.Itdoesnotarisespontaneouslyfromthewaytheeducationsystemworks.Theeducationsystemwasnotperfect.Iwasverycriticalofit.Butinsteadofcorrectingitandprovidingthemeanstobetterit,theydestroyitbyintroducingthiscapitalisticvisionofeducation.Onecouldsaythesameabouthealthcare.Irecentlyreadarecordofameetingbetweenagroupofprofessorsofmedicinewhoaretraditionallyveryconservative.TheywenttomeetprimeministerJospin.Hedidnotreceivethem.Atechnocratmettheminstead.Thetranscriptofthediscussionisterrible.Thepeoplesay,Look,Ineverdemonstratedorparticipatedinanystrikeorprotestmovement.ButforthefirsttimeIamforcedtospeakoutonbehalfofmypatients.Onegaveanexampleofa73yearoldwomanwhohadcancer,buthermedicinewastooexpensiveforthehospitalsbudget.Anothersaidthathishospitaldoesnothavethemoneytopayanaesthetists,sotherearenoanaesthetistsatnight.Heaskedthetechnocrat,Wouldyousendyourwifetosuchahospital?Hereplies,ThatsapersonalquestionwhichIwillnotanswer.Weareseeingablindandchaoticresponsetotheproblemsofpublicinstitutions.Wehavehadaveryhierarchicalsysteminhealthcareformanyyears.Butafter1968youngerpeopletriedtochangeit.Theytriedtomakethesystemmorecollectiveandintroducetheideaofworkingaspartofateam.Nowthatisbeingdestroyedbecausetheyworkunderthethreatofcutsanddemandsforgreaterproductivity.Centre-leftpartiesareingovernmentacrossmostofEurope.Theyarepresidingovertheseneo-liberalpolicies.Doyouseeanythingnewinthewaysocialdemocraticpartiesaregoverning?IamveryscepticalabouttheideathatthereisthisnewapproachcalledtheThirdWayortheNeueMitte.Wehave,tovaryingdegreesacrossthecontinent,basicallyneo-liberalpoliciesdressedupwithtalkofanewformofpoliticswhichisnotterriblynewatall.SowefindsocialdemocraticrhetoricbeingdeployedtodestroythesocialdemocraticpolicieswhichgrewupintheperiodaftertheSecondWorldWar.InFrancemanyofthosepushingthisoffensivehailfromthe1968generation.Theybecameradicalisedthen,butnowareincorporatedintothesystem.ThefailureoftheMitterrandyearsgeneratedabacklashagainsttheFrenchSocialistParty.Ofcourse,thegreatrevoltofDecember1995usheredinawaveofsocialmovementswhichbroughttheSocialistsbackintopower.Buttheaimofthegovernmentanditstechnocratsistocurtailanddestroythosemovements.Ministersandadvisersusetheirprestigeandexperiencefrom1968againstthemovements.WhenstudentsoccupiedtheoleNormaleSupieur,thegovernmentfigurearguingtosendthepoliceinfirmlyandswiftlyhadhimselftakenpartintheoccupationsof1968.PeopleinGermanyandinBritainoftentellmethatitmustbewonderfultoliveinFrancewiththe35hourweekandotherreforms.Butthosegainsarearesultofthepressureofthemovements.Theyarenotfreelygivenbythegovernment.Theleftgovernmentbelievesitcanbemoresuccessfulthantherightincontrollingthosemovements.Howdoyoursociologicalideasinfluenceyourpoliticalstance?YoudevelopedyourideaswhenstructuralismwasthemaininfluenceonFrenchintellectuals.Iwasnotastructuralist.Thatapproachsawtheworldascomposedofstructureswhichstrictlydeterminethewaypeopleact.Therewasnoscopeforhumanagency.AsthestructuralistMarxistLouisAlthussersaidinthe1960s,humanbeingsweremerelytheunconsciousbearersofobjectivestructures.TheresultsofmyanthropologicalworkinAlgeriainthe1950sdidnotfitintothisstructuralistframework.Ofcoursepeoplearestructuredbysociety.Theyarenot,asfreemarkettheoryholds,isolatedindividualseachdecidingacourseofactionbymakingindividualeconomiccalculations.Idevelopedtheconceptofhabitustoincorporatetheobjectivestructuresofsocietyandthesubjectiveroleofagentswithinit.Thehabitusisasetofdispositions,reflexesandformsofbehaviourpeopleacquirethroughactinginsociety.Itreflectsthedifferentpositionspeoplehaveinsociety,forexample,whethertheyarebroughtupinamiddleclassenvironmentorinaworkingclasssuburb.Itispartofhowsocietyreproducesitself.Butthereisalsochange.Conflictisbuiltintosociety.Peoplecanfindthattheirexpectationsandwaysoflivingaresuddenlyoutofstepwiththenewsocialpositiontheyfindthemselvesin.ThisishappeninginFrancetoday.Thenthequestionofsocialagencyandpoliticalinterventionbecomesveryimportant.TheheartofMarxismisthestrugglebytheworkingclassforitsownemancipation.Wheredoyouplacethestrugglesoftheworkingclasswithinthespectrumofthesocialmovementsyouareinvolvedin?Seattlebroughttogetherorganisedlabourandvarioussingle-issuecampaigns.Theywereoftenmobilisedondifferentpoliticalbases,buttheyinfluencedoneanother.Thatisnew.Forthefirsttimewehavethepossibilityofaggregatingthesekindsofpeoplewhowereverysuspiciousofoneanother.InFrancewehavethistraditionofworkerismwhichisanti-intellectual.Theunionsareveryhostiletointellectualsandtheintellectualsareverydistantfromworkers.In1968itwasveryvisible.NowforthefirsttimebecauseofthefailureofSovietMarxismwearefreefromthat.SoIcanspeakwithaCGTofficialasIamspeakingtoyou.Theyareveryopen.Inasenseintellectualslikemedidnotexist20yearsago.PeoplelikeSartreandFoucaultweresympathetictothemovement,buttheydidnothavemuchempiricalknowledgeofworkers.Seattleisveryimportantinshowinghownewforcesaredeveloping.ThesmallfarmersleaderJos?Bov?iswellinformed.Heexpresseshimselfclearlywithouttheoversimplificationwhichyouhearfrompoliticians.Heisanintellectual.Butatthesametimeheworksonhisfarm.IrecentlyorganisedameetingofalltheleadersofthesocialmovementsinFrance-theunemployed,thesanspapiersimmigrants,sometradeunionists.Youhadanarchists,Trotskyists,Marxists-alltypes.Thediscussionwasatalevelyoucouldnotimagine.YoucanseetherevivalofaleftpoliticalcultureinthehugesalesofLeMondeDiplomatique.Somesuspicionstillremainsamongthosewhoareworkingtogether,ofcourse.ButattheendofthemeetingtheygaveRaisonsdAgir,thegroupIaminvolvedin,amandatetoissueacharterforaEuropeansocialmovement.Wemustescapenationalistdivisionandhaveaninternationalmovementtofightagainstglobalcapital.Howcanthemovementsgeneraliseandhowwillthedifferentideaswithinthembeclarified?Thewaythemovementwilldevelopisopen.Itisaprocess.WeplantopublishanappealforaEuropeanmovementagainstneo-liberalisminMay.WeareseekingthesupportoftheDGBunionfederationinGermany,theCGTinFrance,intellectuals,socialmovementsandmanydifferentorganisations.TherewillbeameetinginSeptemberofdifferentmovementstoelaboratethischarter.ThenwewillholdaconferenceinAthensinMarchofnextyeartodiscussthatandtrytocreatethefoundationsofasocialEurope.Wehavemanyideas,butwemustworkonthem.Theaimistocreateanintellectualandpracticalopposition.Itisnotonlyintellectuals.OneofthemostimportantleadersofoneofthemainunionsinGreecewantstofundtheconference.Ourmissionistoorganiseandtrytohelppeopletocommunicate.Thereisadivisionoflabourinthisdevelopingmovement.Socialscientistscanhelptoovercomedifficulties.IfwewantaneffectivesocialmovementatthelevelofEuropewemustovercomethat-otherwisewewilldisappear.Therearepowerfulpoliticalobstaclesbetweenpeople.Themainobstaclescomefromthesocialdemocraticmovement.IfwesucceedinovercomingtheseitwillleadtoagenuineThirdWaywhichwillbemuchmoreradical.Weneedtobuildtheleftoftheleft.Intheecologymovementyouhavepeoplewhoarereallyontheleft-evenamongtheCommunistParty,whichhashadadeadeningeffectontheleftinFrance.Manypeoplearecomingtorealisethatglobalisationismoreofapoliticalimperativethananeconomicfact.ThreequartersoftheexchangeofgoodsinEuropeisinternaltoEurope.Thesocialdemocraticpartiesinpowercouldimplementpoliciestolimitthefreemarket.Howwillweforcethem?Willwerequireanewpoliticalparty?Idontknow.Itwouldbeniceifwecouldforcethem,butIamnotsureifwecan.Itseemstomethereisacr