More on the Negri affair - it now seems, according to Well Futile, that the Director of Sydney University’s RIHSS, Dr Philip Jones, cancelled the Negri Conference in response to Windschuttle and Devine’s criticism.
In my first post on the Negri/Windschuttle affair, I wrote:
Let’s remember that Windschuttle was one of the first to claim that his ideas were scorned in the public domain because of “political correctness”. My strong suspicion is that the Conference has been postponed as a result of Windschuttle’s column and that Negri is encountering visa problems. Can anyone still maintain that right-wing conspicuous indignation is not the new PC?
As I’ve argued before, the fact that a University could apparently be intimidated into cancelling the right to speak on campus of a philosopher because of his politics is an absolute disgrace. And it’s disgraceful too that this occurs because of confected outrage on the part of right-wing newspaper columnists. And it’s appalling that these same columnists can continue to get away with claiming that “left-wing PC warriors” are the enemies of freedom of speech.
Dr Jones’ lamentable action - as someone who ought to defend academic freedom but is instead seemingly running scared in an era when columnists issue diktats and Dr Brendan Nelson scrutinises Universities for signs of heterodoxy and funding for ARC projects can be rejected by the Minister on unstated grounds - seems to me to be further indication that a climate of fear has been created by right-wing PC Warriors. As I wrote over at Troppo:
As the right wing culture warriors continue their long march through the institutions, adjudicating on what displays are permissible in the National Museum, stipulating how English should be taught in High Schools, obsessing over ‘bias’ and ‘balance’ in the ABC, and so on and so on, I get the sense that the inventors of PC moral panics have conjured up their desired world - where discussion of certain topics is inadmissable because people in public employment live in fear of the attack dogs of right wing PC and conspicuous indignation jumping on them and trashing their professional reputations
It seems, contrary to the original formulation of “conspicuous indignation” by Chris Sheil, that conspicuous indignation can and does have effects in the world. It frightens people, and it shuts them up. That is deplorable.
Criminalising political beliefs is repugnant and we should all stand against such practices if we want to continue to live in a liberal society. The practices of the Italian government revealed in the links to the last post are deeply disturbing.
As is “guilt by association” which is what Dr Jones seemingly fears. I see no reason why he could not have given the classical Voltairean response and gone ahead with the conference.
I hope that people at Sydney University are taking this up strongly.
This climate of fear created by right wing PC culture warriors is nothing short of McCarthyism. We need people with the same courage as those who refused to tolerate such intolerance in the US in the 50s. It’s a pity Dr Jones doesn’t appear to be one of them.
I plan to do a longer post on this issue at Catallaxy over the weekend (some of us have jobs to go to:)), but I’m inclined to take the same view of this that I took of the Right’s complaints about ‘political correctness’ in the mid-1990s. This is that while ideally the norms of civilised discussion should be observered, inevitably the political passions will have their say, and views will be expressed strongly and ad hominen attacks launched. This does not count as a threat to free speech or to academic freedom. If an academic can be intimidated by a couple of newspaper columns it says more about him or her than it does about the state of the nation.
I’ll look forward to reading your piece, Andrew.
So now the creators and enforcers of Political Correctness are frightened of being treated the same way they treated others? Remember who were the strongest supporters of the suppression of free speech in the name of “anti-vilification”?
What goes around, comes around. I have no sympathy at all for the lefties now copping a dose of their karma. There should be much more of it.
Free speech has not been thwarted. Mr Windschuttle expressed an opinion as an academic on the credentials of Mr Negri’s politics and incarceration.
A person who proposes public violence and has stated he believes in terrorist type principle to achieve a political outcome should be outed for dangerous thought. Who next do we get to speak in academia, the Snow town mob, the people who killed Anita Cobby. Mr Negri’s works have not been banned, all that has happened is that a controversial person with dubious political and criminal history doesn’t get to give a talk. The world still turns and the sun will come up tomorrow and those who want the lecture can always buy his torturous ponderings while wearing their favourite Che Tshirt. Me I’ll wait for the books to appear in fillum.
Oh well we can wait for Osama’s next caveside lecture on the peaceful aims of revolution and to be politically correct we must all listen dutifully and believe every word.
How ridiculous, John. The absurdity of the analogies that you make shows your argument up for the spurious nonsense that it is. Negri is a philosopher and comparisons with Bin Laden just show what a ludicrous position yr taking. Negri has rebutted the allegations about terrorism - if you can’t see why preventing people with a “dubious political history” - in your opinion - from speaking is problematic, then I worry about you. Maybe you should be prevented from commenting on blogs because of yr total lack of rationality??? No, I’ll defend your right to speak rubbish. And I’ll call you on it - just as Negri ought to be allowed to speak in public and be challenged.
I know, I’ll shut up because PC Kim decided to invectorise me. How dare I have an opinion. Negri may be a philosopher but he has also been incarcerated, Hitler was a philosopher too (remember his famous essay piece Mein Kampf). I don’t worry about you Kim I just don’t care.
Calling something spurious nonsense without any argument except the intellectual effete snobbery of the PC monger comment :
“Maybe you should be prevented from commenting on blogs because of yr total lack of rationality??? No, I‚Äôll defend your right to speak rubbish. And I‚Äôll call you on it - just as Negri ought to be allowed to speak in public and be challenged.”
Shows you for the murderer excusing abusive PC apologist you are.
I hope you get to wash his feet some time soon. Don’t get the great man’s toe jam on your tongue.
Bye Kim.
John,
Please don’t be abusive or I’ll be compelled to delete your comment in future if they’re similar in tone. Please read the comments policy on the site. You’re well within your rights to disagree with Kim but calling her “murder excusing” is going too far.
Kim, I’ve just had another look at this thread and I think you were being quite rude to John as well. Please try to disagree without implying that your interlocutor is ridiculous, or lacking any rationality.
Everyone needs to calm down and practice some healthy and therapeutic exercises to purge our minds of bad and harmful thoughts. Imagine yourself surrounded by a beautiful woodland, in light sunshine slanting through the leaves and branches of the trees, there is a twittering of birds and the pleasing bubble of fresh spring water tumbling and dancing over the rounded pebbles in the stream. Everyone close their eyes and allow the harmonious and calming ambience of this to ease the tensions in our minds, then slowly open your eyes and imagine the expression on the face of your enemy as you ever so gently press him down into the water of the stream for the third and last time.
Rafe, I never thought of you as a meditator
It must be your recent conversion to non-violent anarchism…
Well I try to remain polite at all times even when my first impulse is homicidal. This can make for very bland posting but it paid off at least once when someone made a very scathing comment about my dismissive review of Straw Dogs. He was not entirely at home with English and his comments may have been harsher than he intended, anyway he took offence at the tone of the review and on reflection he was right because it was written in a more smart-alecky tone than I usually employ. His reply to my reply was entirely concilliatory which would have been unlikely if I had posted the first thoughts that came to mind! For what it is worth, the review is on the first page of my Amazon list of reviews. By the way, I could use some more votes, I have been anchored around the 3,700 mark for about a year.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/ACL845LEHNC7/104-4971405-5731141
Interesting review, Rafe. Gray’s a classic conservative really, despite his social democratic conversion. Much like Robert Manne.
Rafe’s brand new image is just a ruse to win votes for his Amazon reviews!
This is becoming a worry, to work out whether my new persona is a bomb-throwing anarchist, the moderator of Larvatus Prodeo or defender of Ayn Rand from silly misunderstandings (this refers to a post on the Skeptics email list which I may reproduce on Catallaxy).