My reading of Negri: 1)The novelty of Obama’s election is not in doubt;2) The power imparted by this novelty is in doubt;3) The power imparted by the novelty will be evaluated by the way Obama deals with the economic crisis and peace; 4) “The direction which Obama will take in solving these two big problems will make us understand to what extent we are not finding ourselves in front of a umpteenth media spectacle but in front of a real historical and epochal transformation.” 5) By saying we may be merely “finding ourselves in front of a umpteenth media spectacle” indicates to me Negri considers a possibility that the Obama election was no gain at all—that the power imparted by the novelty of his victory may turn out to be zero.6) My opinion is that whether Obama is a dud or not will be determined by how effectively he can be pushed by the masses. How the hell the masses can find a way to effectively push Obama is the only serious question for me, and for insights into how, the only reason for reading Negri.

My reading of Negri: 1)The novelty of Obama’s election is not in doubt;2) The power imparted by this novelty is in doubt;3) The power imparted by the novelty will be evaluated by the way Obama deals with the economic crisis and peace; 4) “The direction which Obama will take in solving these two big problems will make us understand to what extent we are not finding ourselves in front of a umpteenth media spectacle but in front of a real historical and epochal transformation.” 5) By saying we may be merely “finding ourselves in front of a umpteenth media spectacle” indicates to me Negri considers a possibility that the Obama election was no gain at all—that the power imparted by the novelty of his victory may turn out to be zero.6) My opinion is that whether Obama is a dud or not will be determined by how effectively he can be pushed by the masses. How the hell the masses can find a way to effectively push Obama is the only serious question for me, and for insights into how, the only reason for reading Negri.

I read this sentence several times, with puzzlement. As far as I can tell, you and Negri are in agreement–your use of words is what’s misleading. My opinion is that for Negri the words expression and productive, or “product”, are important technically. I don’t think he would use productive or product with regard to the election of Obama until we see how Obama actually deals with the financial and international(peace-war) crises. In using the word expression instead of production, I think Negri is honoring the symbolic victory of a “dirty nigger” becoming President, without commiting himself to believing Obama will usher in revolutionary changes, or even anything new. I think the distinction is important, and it has been bothering me. I also want to honor the symbolic importance of Obama’s victory, but without mistaking it for a revolutionary change in itself. There’s some difficulty here I can’t put my finger on. Your point about Obama’s victory leading to the denial of structural racism was helpful. If I recall correctly, we differ on the nature of change. I think capitalism allows change, but it is managed change. The very existence of change itself is not necessarily productive.