Comments on: Ingrid Robeyns and Scott McLemee are joining CT

By: jayann

jayann — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 16:28:58 +0000

yes, that’s the way I think of it too

harry, I’m relieved to hear it!—I feel in a small minority these days.

, and I should have been more careful

oh no problem. And I did know what you were saying.

By: lemuel pitkin

lemuel pitkin — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 16:13:27 +0000

There are some who would like to see a nice anti-globalist or ultra-leftist here [Raises hand, squirms frantically in seat] Me too! How about Max Sawicky? He has the right politics and writing chops to match McLemee's. His comrade Barkley Rosser might be an even better fit, come to think of it. How about Doug Henwood -- ditto, and he even did a guest blogging stint here (and so far as I know he has no blog to call his own, boo hoo.) How about Ken MacLeod -- we're all SF fans here, right? Or, I know, Yoshie Furuhashi. Try her out as a guest first, but if what you're looking for is a mix of hard Leninism, awesome yet unpretentious erudition and, nothing-alien-to-me humanism, Yoshie's your gal. Her politics will be too third-world nationalist for your tastes, but wouldn't it be nice to have someone smart to your left here to argue with?

By: fade theory » crooked Tiiiimmmmberrrrrr

fade theory » crooked Tiiiimmmmberrrrrr — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:59:46 +0000

[...] Scott McLemee has joined the cast of Crooked Timber. And thanks to Scott’s personal blog, I am currently listening to Radio Schizo. [...]

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:18:02 +0000

Am I the only one who would like to see more ideological diversity among the CT authors?

I hope so, if Jane Galt is your idea of diversity. There are some who would like to see a nice anti-globalist or ultra-leftist here, but our voices are cruelly suppressed by The Man (as played by Belle, in case you didn’t know who wears the pants around here.)

What you might try to do, though, is get some IQ diversity, and give mediocrity its voice. Everyone laughwed at Senator Hruska, but his words were prophetic. And in fact, by that method you will probably get a George Bush little-government libertarian conservative, thus achieving ideological balance as a bonus.

By: lemuel pitkin

lemuel pitkin — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:01:40 +0000

Marvel comic books? Marvel comic books???

For christ’s sake what’s wrong with you? DC is superior in every way.

By: dsquared

dsquared — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 11:51:16 +0000

I would just clarify that I love the nigel molesworth books to bits (I am also the contributor who bears the closest facial and sartorial resemblance to molesworth) and the literary taste issue which has had me biting my tongue for years is not that. Wild horses could not drag it out of me what it is. Bloody Marvel comic books for God’s sake. oh sorry.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 04:26:55 +0000

Thankfully there’s significanly less hate speech and calls to wipe our opponents off the face of the earth here than one finds on the LGF!

By: Adam Kotsko

Adam Kotsko — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 03:46:40 +0000

Whenever conservatives are part of a “balanced” group, they always end up taking up a disproportionate amount of time and energy, just because they tend to be so emotionally needy.

By: David Kane

David Kane — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 02:41:14 +0000

Thanks to Harry for clarifying CT’s (perfectly reasonable) goal to be a “left-of-center forum.” I think my description of CT as the “Little Green Footballs of the academic left” is funnier—- and not an insult since I like LGF!—- but to each his own. I’ll see what I can do to join the ranks of “combatative right-of-center commenters.” It is a dirty job . . .

By: gmack

gmack — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 01:26:40 +0000

I’m very glad to hear this. I’ve learned a lot from Ingrid’s academic work, and enjoyed her earlier blogging.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:03:07 +0000

23: But where would they find such a person?

By: Adam Kotsko

Adam Kotsko — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:29:41 +0000

If only you could find someone left of center who is doing theology/religious studies, this blog would finally take off.

By: lemuel pitkin

lemuel pitkin — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 20:34:43 +0000

I figured Ingrid wouldn’t appreciate a mention of gender balance—no one wants to be seen as filling a quota. And I’m sure that she’s a worthy addition regardless. But gender balance does matter, and you can’t deal with it if you don’t pay attention to it—which means making an extra effort to look for female contributors. Good on CT for doing so.

By: harry b

harry b — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:32:12 +0000

jayann, yes, that’s the way I think of it too, and I should have been more careful. I guess I was making fun of the idea that you could have gender balance with only men involved (even though obviously you could in principle—I just don’t think that is what would matter). Sorry, it sounds like I’m taking this more seriously than either of us are.

By: jayann

jayann — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:19:48 +0000

unless you adopt an absurdly socially constructivist conception of gender and say that some of the men are women by gender.

I do, I do, but don’t know any of the CT men so can’t classify them:). Seriously (and pace some of the wilder postmodernists), sex is the biological category, gender the social construct. (I know it’s incredibly old-fashioned to say so.)