Maia Ramnath - Decolonizing Anarchism.pdf - Libcom

204 1 Ramnath
antimodern, and not all antimodernisms arc the same,
though a certain kind of anti-anti modernist discourse tends
to equate postmodernism, Hindutva, and anarchism as
identically reactionary, and virtually interchangeable.
For example, the anarchistic dimension of Gandhi's
thought is sometimes misidentified as his "postmodern"
aspect.70 But neither anarchist thought nor decolonizing
theory is the same as postmodernism, although there arc
postmodernist forms of each. Indeed, recent assessments
of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies have proposed
a synthesis by which the interventions of various forms of
oppositional knowledge (such as poststructuralism, critical
race theory, and feminist and queer theories), if used in a
nuanced fashion, can be seen as a necessary critique, enriching
rather than negating Left thought and practice by using
an intersectional, holistic strategy and analysis to better suit
changes in the social, cultural, and economic shape of the
world since the 1970s.-[
As fo r the taint of reaction where tradition is defended,
each situation needs to be evaluated for its content, not
just its proven::lnct', Where tr2dition is source of oppression,
it must be opposed; where it plays an emancipatory
role, it should be retained. The same is true of elements of
modernity, including instrumental reason. Where do science
and technology, say, humanize and promote justice?
Where do they dehumanize and promote injustice ? Each
old or new practice or belief gets the same evaluation relative
to a chosen goal-in this case, maximizing freedom
and equality. Bur it's misplaced to call something bad or
good simply because it is either modern or traditional.