Dear Warren--Yes, it is nice to be on the same side of the world system
fence for once. Being in English you are closer to the shifting tides of
cultural frames through which we see/interpret texts, art, and in social
science, lived lives.
You mentioned the World Party, and in a friendly fraternal manner I would
like to ask if this seems the best form of organization given the history
of centralized parties and their outcomes in the 20th century. Somehow it
seems to me that the idea of The Party will be off the agenda for politics
for a while. It just seems a hard sell: let us lead you, let us be a
vanguard, let us seize the high ground, let us make the revolution,
let us give you the better world you want. Maybe its me, but
given the history of what that call resulted in in our century I cannot
imagine being able to mobilize people around the idea of a vanguard party
any more. Mind you I don't as yet have an alternative rallying call, but
the idea of a World Party makes me queezy.
al b.
Albert Bergesen
Department of Sociology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
Phone: 520-621-3303
Fax: 520-621-9875
email: albert@u.arizona.edu