Representation-50.

Sometimes direct democracy is posited as the
alternative. But this merely changes the moment of
representation -- it puts politics in the hands of
claimants to an activist representation, in place
of an electoral one.. Sometimes what is demanded of
the politics of representation is that it recognise
a new subject. Minorities of race, gender,
preference demand the right to representation. But
soon enough they discover the cost. They must now
police the meaning of this representation, and
police the adherence of its members to it. Even at
its best, in its most abstract form, on its best
behaviour, the colour blind, gender neutral,
multicultural state just hands the value of
representation over to the commodity form. While
this is progress, particularly for those formerly
oppressed by the state's failure to recognise their
identity as legitimate, it stops short at the
recognition of expressions of subjectivity that
seeks to become something other than a
representation that the state can recognise and the
market can value.

[[50]]

p049 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p050w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p051

v?