became a shell into which the neo-Romantic elixir of cultural/moral relativism and anti-colonial primitivism were poured. This toxic mix facilitated the bizarre situation in which jihadi movements have been able to colonise what now passes for the radical Left as a vehicle for its own reactionary agenda.
The postmodern Left doesn’t appear to realise that the Islamist agenda is profoundly incompatible with their own ostensibly “inclusive” libertarian cultural and gender aspirations. Nor do they seem to know what happens when leftwing revolutionary groups try to hitch their cause to reactionary movements—following the 1979 revolution in Iran, the Islamists immediately turned on the communist Tudeh Party and imprisoned or liquidated its membership and support base. This has not dampened the enthusiasm with which the postmodern Left still embraces the Iranian regime and its Islamist clients in Gaza and Lebanon. Apparently, the Left’s neo-Romantic primitivist commitments place the Islamists in the sacred class of noble savage, which exempts them from responsibility for their actions. It will be interesting to see how the Left responds when they discover that Islamists do not return the favour of granting diplomatic immunity to heterodox practices, particularly in matters of gender and lifestyle.
Worth a read.
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