Of Shibboleths and Ruthless Critique: Marxism and International Critical Geography

Abstract

The rise of an international critical geography since the inaugural Vancouver conference in 1997 is both necessary and inspiring, but what coUnts as critical is very vaguely defined. As a means of trying to focus our understanding of what is critical about critical geography, I try in this to tackle some of the major shibboleths of this emerging political and intellectual grouping. It is now conventional wisdom on the Ieft that we need to be inclusionary and self-reflexive, there is a sense that all political struggles are equivalent, and a confusion of politics with ethics, as well as a powerful place the most political of practices involves working not so much in movements but ín the "interstices" of daily life. I challenge the usefulness of each of these arguments in the context of 21st century international critical geography and conclude with an appeal that we rethink the power of the marxist critique through what we have learned from the critical engagement with these shibboleths.