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Walter Benn Michaels’ The Trouble With Diversity: or, Scott Has Left Building…

So that post I promised last week on The Trouble With Diversity?  Well, it’ll appear, just not here.  And, quite possibly, not by me.  But many other smart people will be participating in The Valve‘s book event on it, and you’re more than welcome to stop on by.[1]

If you’re interested in reading more about one of Jeff’s favorite thinkers, I’ve provided a bibliography of online resources.  Unfortunately, some of those are only available by subscription.[2] In addition to that, posts about The Trouble With Diversity have already been uploaded to the Valve—and will continue to be, for the rest of this week and possibly into next.  At this time, we have posts up by Brad DeLong, John Holbo and Sean McCann. 

I’ll have one up there in a few hours, but it sidles up to Michaels’ argument via a close-reading of Atom Egoyan’s film Next of Kin, so it may not be of general interest.  Other contributions will be, I promise.

That said, I want to take this opportunity to thank Jeff for allowing me to guest spot here these past two weeks.  Despite the impression my silliness (and the silliness about my silliness) may’ve given you, I’ve come to respect a number of the commenters here.  Finally, to my fellow guest posters, let me just say this:

I expect my winnings from the Comment Contest in the mail by next Monday, or y’all can expect a call from my lawyers.

1 So long as you promise to behave.  This means you, Mr. Block.  You too, SBF.  Don’t make me turn this car around …

2 Or asking nicely.

9 Replies to “Walter Benn Michaels’ The Trouble With Diversity: or, Scott Has Left Building…”

  1. JJ says:
    October 3, 2006 at 4:40 am

    I hate name-droppers. Come on. Blog a summary essay, anyway. Use of the active voice is much kewler.

  2. Scott Eric Kaufman says:
    October 3, 2006 at 5:26 am

    JJ, I’m not sure whose name I’m dropping here, but I’ll bite.  If you want to read a summary of Michaels’ new book, you can read the first chapter right here.  It presents his argument, if not in full, robustly enough for you to get an idea of what he’s saying.

  3. BoZ says:
    October 3, 2006 at 9:24 am

    Scott Has Left Building

    Not enough thoughtful construction workers.

  4. Scott Eric Kaufman says:
    October 3, 2006 at 10:24 am

    Or I’m just more agile than you think.

  5. klrfz1 says:
    October 3, 2006 at 3:18 pm

    klrfz1, you’re a pathetic excuse for a troll.  I’ve had trolls email me my home address and threaten to rape my wife; you, however, partake of mid-’90s warboard cliches and think yourself clever.  If you really want to go toe-to-toe with me, I’m game.  Be warned, though, that I will obliterate you.  One of the reasons I’ve tired of anonymous flaming is that, compared to the likes of you, I’m just better at it.  I’m an old warboarder, you see, and the lame salvos you ineffectively deployed above, well, that’s what I’d expect from someone who resorts to “your momma.”

    If you want to go down that road–and believe you me, you don’t–I’m more than willing to.  You’ll look foolish, sure; and your reputation will be shot, most definitely … but at least you can put to rest that nagging feeling that you could’ve been someone.  Because by the time I’m through with you, you and the rest of the literate world will know better.

    Wait, what am I saying?  All this hyper-masculine, warboard-blustering’s made me forget that I’m not here to forward empty arguments, but to engage people with whom I disagree in intelligent conversations.  Sure, I could step into those shoes again and reveal klrfz1 to be as brilliant as his handle’s pronounceable, but that’d be juvenile.  That’s precisely the sort of empty rhetoric I bored of in eleventh grade … which makes me wonder why some “adults” are so eager to engage in it.

    Posted by Scott Eric Kaufman | permalink

    on 09/18 at 01:53 AM

    You mindless cretins lay off Scott Eric Kaufman! He is a really, really good man. After I apolgized he forbore to obliterate me. And he taught me how to cut and paste!

    YOU’RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE HE’S A GRADUATE STUDENT IN ENGLISH AND YOU’RE NOT.

  6. Jeff Goldstein says:
    October 3, 2006 at 6:43 pm

    If you all get a chance to check out Michaels’ stuff, you should.

    He and I take different paths with regard to how one might proceed once we come to similar linguistic conclusions.  But Michaels—unlike many of contemporaries—is refreshing precisely because the only danger he poses is to those within his discipline, whereas many of his contemporaries have foisted on society a set or kernel assumptions that animate some of the most pernicious social projects and legal reasoning in the history of ever.

  7. RiverCocytus says:
    October 3, 2006 at 8:54 pm

    … in the history of ever.

    Yea; and it was a long history. Marked with shame and bloodshed and famine and destruction…

    Scoot Has Left Building? Is possible beneficial this? Why must informed of be?

    Looking up at what I just wrote, I should probably correct mispelling ‘Scott’ ‘scoot’. But I won’t.

    Just so you know.

  8. Scott Eric Kaufman says:
    October 3, 2006 at 9:43 pm

    “klrfz1, proudly not getting the joke since (at least) 9/18/06…”

  9. David R. Block says:
    October 4, 2006 at 7:58 am

    Hey, NOW what did I do?

    Do I have an imposter running around?

Comments are closed.