Political Economy II 1126

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Political Economy II 11/26

• Domination and complementary schizmogenesis
• Begin Review of Course Themes

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Critics of American Policy (e.g. Chomsky)

• If the Jews deserve a homeland, then the
  Palestinians deserve a homeland.
• If the Jewish homeland has to be contiguous,
  defensible and economically viable, then
• If Arabs cannot colonize Israeli farmland
• If it is not OK for Palestinians to practice
  assassination and civilian intimidation.
• If it is not OK for Palestinians to bomb
  Washington

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Avoid creating a brief

• This does not mean that he is justifying
  Islamic Jihad.
• But he is saying that we or our proxies are doing
  the same kinds of things.
• The bad thing the other guy did does not
  justify anything we do or they do.
• What are the structural sources of the problem
  and the basis of any solution?

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Chomsky The U.S. role

• Chomsky has been a consistent critic of American
  and Israeli foreign policy.
• He believes that as long as the Palestinians (90
  of Israel after WWI) remain dispossessed of
  land, jobs, income and citizenship and,
  self-determination, the problem is insoluble.
• He believes that Sharom and those who support him
  are terrorists.
• He believes that Israeli policy explicitly and US
  policy implicitly has opposed self-determination.

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Chomsky The Fateful Triangle (1999)

• The insoluble dynamic is produced by
• The world superpower (US) continues to arm
  Israel (1 recipient of US aid) who then do
  actions such as the East bank settlements.
• As long as Israel (4th strongest world military)
  believes that it will have the support of the
  U.S. it will continue to hold onto Greater
  Israel and to destroy any viable Palestinian
  leadership.
• Palestianans are impoverished, dominated, and
  deprived of land or citizenship and so they adopt
  the weapons of despair.

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The Only Viable Divorce

• The Oslo accords land for peace.
• Not a cordial divorce not all the Palestinian
  wishes will be realized.
• Greater Palestinian autonomy will lead to an
  increase in some kinds of conflict aggression,
  (whatever was prevented by powerlessness)
• and it requires that the Jewish settlements on
  the West bank be dismantled.
• Any Israeli leader who does that will be
  ferociously attacked.

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Pirates and Emperors (1987)

• Chomski argues that it is only because the United
  States has been willing to back up the
  dispossession of the Palestinians,
• (often by the use of terror directed against a
  civilian population),
• that millions of them are locked in despair, and
  that terror is a weapon of despair.
• Thus he allocates principal responsibility to the
  US.

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States as terrorists

• Chomsky takes his title from Augustine
• Justice being taken away, then, what are
  kingdoms, but little robberies? For what are
  robberies, themselves, but little kingdoms?That
  was an apt and true reply which was given to
  Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been
  seized. For when Alexander had asked what he
  meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea,
  he answered with bold pride What meanest thou
  by seizing the whole world? But because I do it
  with a small ship, I am called a pirate, whilst
  thou, who does it with a great fleet, are called
  an emperor.

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What Has Justice Got to Do with it?

• Like Feagin (or Einstein) Chomsky argues that the
  basic considerations of social justice and equal
  moral concern dictate the parameters of a viable
  solution.
• Like Durkheim (or Marx) he believes that must
  rest on equal treatment and self-determination.
• The only viable policy would have to be a just
  policy.

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Chomsky 9/11 (2001)

• Everyone here was quite properly outraged by the
  Oklahoma City bombing, and the headlines read,
  Oklahoma City Looks like Beirut I didnt see
  anyone point out that Beirut also looks like
  Beirut, and part of the reason is that the Reagan
  administration had set off a terrorist truck bomb
  there, in 1985, outside a mosque timed to kill
  the maximum number of people as they left I
  dont know what name you give to the policies
  that are a leading factor in the deal of maybe a
  million civilians in Iraq and maybe a half a
  million children, which is the price the
  Secretary of State says were willing to pay.
  Is there a name for that? Supporting Israeli
  atrocities is another one. 9/11 p. 44

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US responsibility, Chomsky and negative feedback

• Chomsky argues that regardless who has the main
  responsibility, US intellectuals should focus on
  the US part
• When Group A is in conflict with Group B,
  intellectuals in Group A will be rewarded for
  criticizing B and penalized for criticizing A.
  But criticizing Bs role can only escalate the
  conflict while criticizing As role can reduce
  it.
• This is similar to Pettigrews view that social
  theorists must offer negative feedback.

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Why Are Israelis and Palestinians Often Unwilling
to Compromise?

• It is often not possible to walk away from
  escalating conflict.
• If you have made someone want to kill you, and
  they are not killing you only because you are
  holding a gun on them you cannot turn your back.
• Giving in to terror or aggression can lead to
  more.

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Domination and Bullies

• Both Palestinians, Israelis, and the US believe
  that the actions of the other demanded a
  response and steadfastness.
• And it is often the case that ignoring action of
  a bully can encourage, rather than discourage
  bullying.
• This is the dynamic that Bateson called
  complementary schizmogenesis.

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Positive feedbacks

• In addition to the escalation or positive
  feedback of similar behaviors (symmetrical
  retaliation), Bateson argued that there can be
  positive feedback of opposite behaviors
  (complementary).

symmetrical

Male boasting
Male boasting

complementary

Female deference
Male boasting

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Fear of negotiation

• Both Israelis and Palestinians often believe that
  to negotiate within the parameters that the other
  side offers would be to capitulate to terrorism,
  like acting timidly to a bully.
• If this is the main dynamic, then compromise and
  concession in the face or coercion is part of the
  bad dynamic
• It is accentuated by the fact that there are
  different parties on moth sides. Sharon never
  wanted the Oslo accords.

Timidity (capitulation)
Bullying (terror)

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Absolute Power

• Lord Acton argued Power corrupts absolute power
  corrupts absolutely
• This was directed against absolute power both in
  the state and the church.
• This can be viewed as a complementary
  schizmogenesis.
• One gets stuck or addicted to power.

Diminished opposition accountability (fear)
Absolute power

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Course Themes

• Systems
• Feedback dynamics
• Levels micro and macro
• Unintended consequences
• Self-fulfilling prophecies

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1. Systems

• A set of interdependent parts.
• E.g. 1st half disadvantage of a neighborhood.
• E.g. 2nd half institutional racism.
• E.g. Israel Palestinians and Israelis are mirror
  images of each other.
• E.g. Ed. Success or failure of school policy
  depends on family, jobs, drugs

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2. Feedback dynamics

• Self-reinforcing and self-controlling effects of
  a change back on the original change.
• E.g. 1st half Conflict and Functional theory
• E.g. 2nd half Self-reinforcement of advantage
  (Matthew Principle)
• E.g. Israel escalation
• E.g. Ed. academic success skills,
  motivation, identity, work success

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3. Levels

• Social structure is not just individual
  behaviors.
• E.g. 1st half Neighborhoods, social facts
• E.g. 2nd half Institutional racism.
• E.g. Israel The Palestinian problem is not bad
  people doing terrorism.
• E.g. Ed. equal educational opportunity.

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4. Unintended Consequences

• One importance of systems thinking is that it
  highlights multiple consequences.
• E.g. 1st half Murrays criticism of the welfare
  state.
• E.g. 2nd half Invisible hands silver linings.
• E.g. Israel Refuge camps terrorism.
• E.g. Ed. SAT institutional sexism

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5. Self-fulfilling prophecies

• Beliefs about someone can encourage that person
  to behave in that way.
• E.g. 1st half labeling of saints and roughnecks
• E.g. 2nd half tokenism
• E.g. Israel you can never trust an Arab.
• E.g. Ed. Teacher expectations.