Coopting the language of the left at the pro-life march on Washington

Motopu, Comrade
http://libcom.org/blog/coopting-language-left-pro-life-march-washington-29012017
Date Written:  2017-01-29
Publisher:  Libcom.org
Year Published:  2017
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX20301

Examining the use of left wing rhetoric by a participant of the pro-life match on Washington to justify right wing ideologies and policies, and the broader impliciations of such tactics.

Abstract: 
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Excerpts:

"Cultural imperialism" aside, universal women's rights must be upheld. When abortion is banned, women die attempting to obtain illegal procedures, making "anti-imperialist" arguments to uphold anti-choice laws transparently disingenuous. This seems obvious. You can only argue reproductive rights are the imposition of "Western secular values" if you believe oppressing women is an inherent cultural value of Latin America rather than one that is presently enforced by specific institutions embedded in the logic of capitalist production (exacerbated by imperialism). I'm not saying religion doesn't play a role, but that religion itself reflects divisions of labor and has a role in the state program as a ruling class program. Last I checked, Catholicism is not a Native American invention, which is fine, but we were talking about "cultural imperialism."

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This is my point. It's not the tone or form of a political position that matters as much as the content. Any class-based analysis must also pass this test, or it too is in danger of recuperation by the Right and by liberals. It must be universalist, practicing cross-ethnic solidarity along class lines, across national borders, and ultimately against production for exchange value, if its anti-imperialist and anti-racist demands are meant as more than posturing.

Subject Headings

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