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Communication
Cornelius Castoriadis Thesis Eleven 1987 16: 125 DOI: 10.1177/072551368701600112 The online version of this article can be found at: http://the.sagepub.com/content/16/1/125.citation

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2.

The best recent

source

of these arguments is J. Roemer, ed.,

(Cambridge University Press, 1986).

3.

, Analytical Marxism

See, for example, J. Elster, Explaining Technical Change, (Cambridge University Press, 1983) J. Roemer, A General theory of Exploitation and Class, (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1982); E.O. Wright, Classes, (New Left Books, London, 1985); A. Przeworski, Capitalism and Social Democracy , (Cambridge University Press, 1985).

Communication Cornelius Castoriadis The

Sozialwissenschaftliche

Literatur Rundschau has

published, in its

Nr

12(1986), a review by Hauke Brunkhorst of my books published up to now in German (&dquo;Die Zunkunft des revolutionaaren Projekts&dquo;, pp.40-45). It is not, of
course, my intention to comment upon the review itself. But there appears in it a sentence which, irrespective of the undoubted good faith of the author, contains

malevolent and to my eyes slanderous misrepresentation of my positions (as Dr Brunkhorst himself easily admitted in personal conversation). The sentence in question states: &dquo;When Castoriadis to-day, like all Parisian intellectuals, condemns the policies of detente and salutes (greets, begrsst) the new missiles of the American President, he may be wrong, but at least he knows what he is talking about. He has never entertained illusions concerning the stalinist real socialism&dquo; (p.40, italics in the original). The fact is that I never condemned the policies of detente, neither could I have done, for this would have meant that I would have entered the discussion of which would be the better policies for the present Western Governments and regimes, something I have consistently refused to do in over forty years of political writing. I have only explained that the &dquo;detente&dquo; policies have never and comprevented the Russians from pursuing their expansionist enterprises mented, in advance, that &dquo;to say that the Dillinger gang, in such and such circumstances, is stronger than the Al Capone gang, does not entail either that one admires the former, or that he pities the latter&dquo; (Devant la querre, Paris, Fayard,
a
-

1981, p.10).
The notion that I could have &dquo;saluted&dquo; the American missile in Europe is plainly ridiculous. In dozens of talks, interviews, articles etc. (including ones given to Taqeszeitung and Pflasterstrand in 198 1) 1 have always stressed that &dquo;to

these Governments and to these States (i.e. of the &dquo;~est&dquo;), one can grant not the slightest confidence on the level of realism, nor the slightest solidarity on the level of principles.&dquo; (&dquo;Which Europe? Which Threat? Which Defence?&dquo;, Le Monde 26 Febr. 1983, p.2 reprinted in Domaines de Ihomrne I~e Seuil Paris, 1986, pp.86-90). More recently, I stated in an interview with the Bayerische Rundfunk (reproduced in F. Rotzer, Franzosische Philosophen in Gesprach, Boer, Munich 1986, pp.46-5): &dquo;In any case, I refuse this dilemma (between nuclear war and
-

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enslavement). There is the activity of human beings, who can struggle against both Governments.&dquo; (ibid., p.65. Interview of 22 Feb. 1985). The origin of this slander is not difficult to trace. It is to be found among those elements in the &dquo;pacifist&dquo; movement whoi for years now have professionally specialized in explaining how weak and innocent Russia is and who, instead of refuting my analysis of the Russian regime, its bombs rather than butter policies and its external expansion, find it of course much more convenient and expedient to distort the views of the opponent, so that nobody would look at them seriously and without prejudice.
where, when and by whom these methods were invented. Their the so-called &dquo;pacifist&dquo; movement, especially in Germany and within resurgence Britain, is ominous and disturbing.
We all know

"How Do We Invent? " to David Cooper) (An

obituary

Fiona Mackie David Cooper died during 1986. Our loss is not yet fully comprehended. David skilled craftsman: no longer speaking from earlier more recognized professional sites. Speaking instead from the pit-face of the everyday. Honing new concrete praxes with others. Asking &dquo;how do we invent~&dquo; - &dquo;a diffuse pattern of communication&dquo;, a &dquo;professional worker whos actually a political animator of scenes which occur daily in society&dquo;, &dquo;other categories&dquo;, &dquo;invent a sense&dquo;. Concrete work - research in Naples and Parma, at the interface between social groups and practices, each speaking separate languages that clash in the welfare experience of those marginalized by centralization. David worked to uncover those barriers. Out of rupture, to realize transformations. He sought already the applications and insights of the new science. A new book, he said, &dquo;may be called The Geometry of Freedom &dquo; A post-quantam geometry against which the rigid systems of classical physics and the social theories that reflect it are an agonized flaw in the flux. We must invent new ways to speak it now. David listened also to his own ghosts. He wanted language to express that politically crucial experience avoided as delusional. In a trajectory from normal enclosure lie new sensitivities. The political requires &dquo;a deconstruction of oneself&dquo;. Alternatives are thrown up within conditions of &dquo;genocidal ecocide ... and the now near fatal loss of our minds&dquo;; requiring us to live the proximity of &dquo;ecstatic joy and total despair&dquo;. Out of chaos, to invent for ourselves!
was a

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