Matthew Lymburner
Matthew Lymburner is an MA student at the Institute of Political Economy, Carleton University. He is interested in Brazilian history and political economy, and progressive politics worldwide.
E-mail: matt@culturalshifts.com
Web Page: http://theculturalcritic.blogspot.com
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The title of my paper contains an assortment of words relevant to current labor studies – networks, struggle, unions – but one word, or more aptly, one concept, will certainly stand out as peculiar: work-well-fare. What is this concept? What does it mean? I argue that work-well-fare is a tendency towards a renewed class compromise …
(1 comment, posted in Essays & Articles)
Death of a Campaign, March 18th, 2008
At the risk of revealing my obsession with the presidential primary season in the U.S., I’d like to draw attention to the collapse of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. (3 comments, posted in Editorials & Interviews)
From Guerillas to Gangsters: Neoliberalism, Transnationalism, and the Rise of Mara Salvatrucha, February 27th, 2008
Contemporary security discourse emphasizing “terrorism” has displaced the focus on the “gang epidemic” that prevailed in the latter decades of the twentieth century. However, since 2005, law enforcement agencies and media organizations have sparked a renewed interest in gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), dubbed “the world’s most dangerous gang” by the FBI. Thus far, …(no comments, posted in Abstracts)
The Genetics of Politics, February 11th, 2008
Some political scientists and psychologists believe that there is a close relationship between the politics that we practice and our genetic makeup. While not entirely disregarding the “non-natural” world in the formation of our political values, they posit that genes may play an important role in determining our politics by driving us towards certain …(no comments, posted in Notes & Asides)
The Complication of the Nation: Latin America and the Dialectic of Changing Imagined Communities, January 18th, 2008
Despite differing conceptions on what this might actually mean, we are living in a global world. The system of nation states remains intact - and with it, nationalist sentiment from Argentina to Yemen, and everywhere in between - but it is in transition. While in 1991, Benedict Anderson proclaimed, “nation-ness is …(no comments, posted in Essays & Articles)
The Road to Serfdom is a Good Book, January 13th, 2008
There, I said it. Likely all who stop reading this post at the title, and who have done the same with Hayek’s book will be appalled, and will proceed to lambast me somewhere (oh wait, I’m not that important!). But it’s something that needs to be said, though perhaps not for the reasons that one …(7 comments, posted in Reviews, X-Featured)
Democracy and the Rule of Law: Reflections on Gerald Frug, January 13th, 2008
Listening to Gerald Frug talk about the concept of rule of law in relation to cities reminded me just how manipulative elites can be. Frug, a distinguished Harvard law professor, is concerned with the deconstruction of the idea of the rule of law as it is popularly understood and disseminated by politicians, businesspeople, and “think” …(2 comments, posted in Editorials & Interviews)
Phil Agee, Dead at 72, January 10th, 2008
Phil Agee, the famous former CIA agent who defected some 40 years ago, died on Monday Jan. 7th in Havana at the age of 72. Phil gave wonderful insight into just what the agency was involved in throughout his time there, and carefully documented U.S-sponsored terrorism against Latin America. His courage in denouncing the …(no comments, posted in Notes & Asides)
On Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice, December 31st, 2007
I’ve recently had the pleasure of reading Rudolf Rocker’s “masterpiece”, outlining the theory and contextually specific practical application of Anarcho-Syndicalism. Having an avid interest in anarchist theory, this text has long-awaited my attention. And while I generally enjoyed it, reading Rocker’s dated text, I noticed some sharp division between his thought and my own….(no comments, posted in Reviews)
Response: On Realism and Environmental Advocacy, November 24th, 2007
A debate has been brewing over the last few weeks between myself and a colleague of mine on the nature of ‘truth’ and reality and its extension to environmental advocacy strategies. This debate has been especially interesting, picking up from my post on Manuel DeLanda earlier this month and leading most recently to a …(no comments, posted in Editorials & Interviews)
On the Realism of Manuel DeLanda (and Gilles Deleuze), November 24th, 2007
Manuel DeLanda has often spoke at the European Graduate School as part of the Gilles Deleuze chair he holds there. The EGS publishes many of its lectures online, and a 2007 lecture DeLanda gave there dealing with Chapter 3 of Deleuze and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus has made its way onto Youtube (for the lecture …(8 comments, posted in Editorials & Interviews)
