Roland Boer's Blog, page 70

A couple of great articles in the new issue of International Critical Thought

International Critical Thought has just published issue 5.1. I am taken with a couple of articles from the issue. The first is by Chen Ping, called ‘Has Capitalism Defeated Socialism Yet?—Kornai’s Turnaround onLiberalism, and the Evaporation of Myths about Eastern Europe’. The abstract reads:

The Hungarian economist Janos Kornai has warned the West of the possibility of a reversal ofliberalization in Eastern Europe. He advocates a new policy of containment aimed at countriessuch as Russia and...

The original 99 per cent

The Occupy Movement – with its slogan ‘we are the 99 per cent’ – may perhaps not be willing to acknowledge the origin of that idea. But it comes from none other thanIoseb Besarionis Dze Jugashvili, more commonly known as Joseph Stalin. In his lengthy report to the sixteenth congress, in 1930, of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolshevik), he observes:

The share of the kulaks and urban capitalists wasin 1927-28—8.1 per cent; in 1928-29—6.5 per cent; in1929-30—1.8 per cent.

Meanwhile,...

Changes at the Bible and Critical Theory Journal

Changes are afoot at the Bible and Critical Theory journal. Specifically, in 2016 there will be two new managing editors: Caroline Blythand Robert Myles, from the University of Auckland. They both blog at the Auckland theology site from time to time.Meanwhile, through 2015, they will be working with the current editors on getting the two issues of volume 11 through the ropes. Ah yes, you can check out the latest issue of the journal at the website.

With this development, I can safely say that...

Stalin and revolutionary church bells

In the midst of the frenetic enthusiasm of the collectivisation drive, Stalin published his famous article, ‘Dizzy with Success’. It called on comrades not to get carried away with enthusiasm, not to run too far ahead and damage the process. At one point, even village church bells appear:

I say nothing of those “revolutionaries”—save the mark!—who begin the work of organising artels by removing the bells from the churches. Just imagine, removing the church bells—how r-r-revolutionary! (Works,...

Blue skies in Beijing – again

Strange how “Blue Skies in Beijing” is not a headline. If you believe international reports, Beijing is constantly shrouded in impenetrable smog, like being inside a cigarette. To be sure, it can get pretty bad on some occasions, but it can also be clear, crisp and sunny. Like now. I’ve been outside running each day, sucking in the air with pleasure.

My favourite dishes?

As I settle into Beijing for a while, with much peace and quiet and opportunities for writing (and the pleasure of being in a country where the government is mainly the Communist Party), I have been enjoying my favourite restaurant. I treat myself to a meal there once or twice a week, while mostly eating in the dining halls.

One of the pleasures at this little eatery concerns some of the dishes. These include:

Husband and wife lung slice

Thread jujube in Sydney

Boiled salt bath chap

Sneak liver po...

Socialism and feminism: Collective farm shock workers

Stalin and women: this conjunction usually evokes salacious details of Stalin’s somewhat active life as a young man, leaving a number of offspring across Russia. But in this he was no different from many other young Georgian males.

Far less known is the way he came to see, later in life, the importance of socialism for women. On many occasions, he addressed women’s congresses, let alone framing the Constitution of the USSR (1936 revision) to address explicitly equality of the sexes. Article 13...

Try making a mare: Stalin on the value of people

In the midst of the foi furieuse of the Stakhanovite period, when everything was being made anew at extraordinary speed (and with massive disruption), the government of the USSR felt keenly the lack of trained specialist in all areas of work. So in an address to metal workers, Stalin observes:

People must be cultivated as tenderlyand carefully as a gardener cultivates a favouritefruit tree.

A slightly different image of the man who is charged with callously slaughtering millions, drooling while...

Bolshevik grit

More snippets as I near the end of my reading of Stalin’s works – not a task too many take on, assuming all manner of positions without reading what the man himself wrote (and edited). The first concerns ‘Bolshevik grit’ – strong nerves and stubborn patience:

These people, apparently, forgot that we Bolsheviksare people of a special cut. They forgot thatneither difficulties nor threats can frighten Bolsheviks.They forgot that we had been trained and steeledby the great Lenin, our leader, our t...

Stalin and queer theory

Comrade Joe seems to have been a man of more talents than one might imagine. From time to time, he offers observations on nothing less than queer theory. For example:

Is it not strange that our theoreticians have not yet taken the trouble to explode this queer theory? (Works, vol. 12, p. 154)

This is actually somewhat ambiguous: does he wish to debunk queer theory, or does he encourage queer theory to ‘explode’ assumed positions?