Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Actants and machines

Bryant has further thoughts on dark ontology. It's quite a rambling post so I'll focus on this:

"Ideological critiques are of very limited value in challenging capitalism.  They might serve a valuable role in helping people to see how contrary to their own interests this system is, thereby encouraging them to organize so as to engage in forms of action that might combat that system or seek alternatives, but I don’t think they do much beyond that."

Hmm, helping people to engage in organized activism to challenge the system and seek alternatives is of limited value? And despite his constant ranting about academic theory being ineffective that is exactly what he proposes more of, only from his more material-based ontology which just so happens to be long on suggestions and bereft of organized action? Again, I'll stick with Rifkin on this one, since he acts on his ideas with heads of State, not with theoretical academics. Same with the CPC. It's better to be an actant than a fricken machine.

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