In this thought-provoking paper by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak the author makes the argument that “Two senses of representation are being run together: representation as “speaking for,” as in politics, and representation as “re-presentation,”as in art or philosophy.” Spivak makes the point that in both politics and economics, the opposing parties remain divided and distant. They use the example of “executive control” which implies both a collective (society) and an individual agent. Who has the control in that situation? Is just the mere fact that we can attain class consciousness enough? The author wrote this paper from the viewpoint of their homeland of India, which, as we Americans know has a social caste system based on class. The more money and prestige that you are born into, the more resources (education, housing, jobs, social networks, etc.) that you have access to. We Americans scoff at this idea. Everyone is created equal! If you work hard, you will achieve the American Dream! We are all told that in every sitcom, every rock song, every Chevy commercial, you know the drill. Are we as a nation that far away from India? If you are born into poverty, is there any way to work out of it? Are we as a nation just being placated with I-phones and big screen TV’s to keep us from questioning our government and their true agenda? In our textbook in Chapter 16, the authors state, “Moral authority rests on voluntary consent. Thus, democracy cannot exist without core, shared values. And political values are the distillation of principals from a systematic order of public beliefs” (p.330). Is the Land of the Free becoming the Land of the Bought and Sold?
~Debbie
