Monday, September 05, 2005
A Little Self-Promotion
I'm presenting a paper at the Political Theory Workshops Conference in Manchester this Wednesday. Not nervous yet. Give it time. Should you wish to read the paper (it centres on Nicos Poulantzas and Fred Block) you can get to it from here (click on the 'Conference Programme' link).
All of the conference papers look interesting, but I draw your attention to the following papers in particular (all can be accessed through the above link):
Paul Wetherly on 'Block, Business Confidence and the Structural Power of Capital'
David Bates on 'The Class Location of the Intellectual: Some Reflections on Gramsci, Poulantzas and Wright'
and Phil Wood on ‘Geographical-Historical Materialism and the Social Production of Space'
I would recommend Paul Blackledge's paper on 'Alasdair MacIntyre's Critique of Marxism’ too, but unfortunately it isn't up on the web. I think this paper will centre on MacIntyre's Marxism and Christianity. I read this book last year and It'll be interesting to see it savagely ripped apart (as I'm sure it will be - Paul doesn't tend to mince his words). MacIntyre's (a man who made an interesting journey from Trotskyism to Thomism) book struck me as pretty seriously deficient. However, the introduction (or first chapter - I can't remember) really impressed me with its very strong arguments as to why Christian morality is deeply incompatible with capitalism. It is one of the most powerful indictments of capitalism I have ever read.
All of the conference papers look interesting, but I draw your attention to the following papers in particular (all can be accessed through the above link):
Paul Wetherly on 'Block, Business Confidence and the Structural Power of Capital'
David Bates on 'The Class Location of the Intellectual: Some Reflections on Gramsci, Poulantzas and Wright'
and Phil Wood on ‘Geographical-Historical Materialism and the Social Production of Space'
I would recommend Paul Blackledge's paper on 'Alasdair MacIntyre's Critique of Marxism’ too, but unfortunately it isn't up on the web. I think this paper will centre on MacIntyre's Marxism and Christianity. I read this book last year and It'll be interesting to see it savagely ripped apart (as I'm sure it will be - Paul doesn't tend to mince his words). MacIntyre's (a man who made an interesting journey from Trotskyism to Thomism) book struck me as pretty seriously deficient. However, the introduction (or first chapter - I can't remember) really impressed me with its very strong arguments as to why Christian morality is deeply incompatible with capitalism. It is one of the most powerful indictments of capitalism I have ever read.
