Everyday forms of popular resistance

The electoral successes of Jesse Jackson are understandably heartening to progressives. What I would like to suggest is that massive popular support for Jackson has arisen from sources to which many of us within the Marxist tradition have given insufficient attention. These sources can and need to be more consciously tapped in thc strategies of those of us on the American Left, whether in our work for progressive candidates in Congressional and localelections, or in our day-to-day organizing as labor, minority, feminist, and other activists.'

What can be observed all around us are the signs of resistance to, evasion of, and even neutralization of the oppressive measures of American capitalism and the capitalist state by poor people, women, blacks, skilled workers, and even the real middle class-the petty owners of property and professionals. This resistance and evasion is usually covert, nonconfrontational, or "passive" and unorganized-but it is very real and in many arenas very effective. And yet, because of a perspective derived from traditional conceptualizations within Marxist thought-however much this perspective may be contrary to Marx's own critical spirit of inquiry-many incorrectly believe that such informal resistance, evasion, and even occasional but arduously achieved victory is not worthy of serious attention.

But the existence of extremely widespread forms of resistance and evasion challenges the assumption that working people in the United States are "mystified" by capitalist "hegemony" and more or less actively "consent" to the depredations of' large-scale capital and the state. The evidence for popular resistance to and evasion of capitalist policies and programs directed against working people strongly suggests that hegemony and consent can never be assumed to exist universally among the U.S. working class and other subordinate groups. To the contrary, each specific local arena within which working people come into contact with large-scale capitalism and the capitalist state must be concretely *Investigated to discover what combinations of hegemony and consent, resistance and evasion exist. Only then can a broad-based left movement take advantage of the points of- leverage against capitalism which do exist but which often have not been recognized. Given the current political conjuncture, there is no better time than the present for such a recognition, at a time when progressive agendas to turn back the reactionary assault of the last decade can for the first time in many years not only be conceived, but also acted upon.

Working People and the Electoral Process One could start by pointing out that in 1984 Reagan was hardly reelected by a resounding majority of the electorate, because a very large percentage "voted with their feet" by not voting at all, to indicate their disenchantment with the electoral process and the grossly limited choices it poses. Some 47.1 per cent of those eligible to vote in 1984 did not, in fact. It was only among the remaining 52.9 percent of the eligible population that Reagan's so-"landslide" vote took place-one which, in net terms, represented a minority of those people eligible to vote. The 1984 election merely reinforced a long-standing trend since the 1960s-the tendency for an increasing number of people eligible to vote not to vote, rising from 32. 7 percent ill 1960 to 47.4 percent in the 1980. Recent studies of nonvoters by political scientists strongly suggest that the majority choose not to vote because of their dissatisfaction with the policies and programs of the state, not out of any belief that things are going so well that voting would be superfluous. As one important recent study of the significance of voting in American politics concluded about those who decide not to vote:

Those who do not vote have probably made that choice because they recognize voting to be a symbolic act of reaffirmation, not oneone that will bring them tangible benefits. Unable to obtain material rewards for themselves through more complex, nonelectoral channels, and hence alienated from the system, the have-nots feel little obligation to engage in acts of political ritualism to the extent that their middle-class counterparts do.'

Furthermore, Reagan's so-called "landslide" did not extend to Congress or to municipal or other local elections. In some instances, very progressive candidates were elected or reelected-for instance, Ronald Dellums and John Collyers of the Congressional Black Caucus. Young Me and "Noncompliance" with the Selective Service System

There are other forms of resistance and evasion . Consider, for example, the widespread "noncompliance" among young men who are failing to register with the Selective Service System. According to a 1983 article by Herbert Puscheck of Headquarters, U.S. Army Readiness and Development Command, it is estimated that, since the registration program was instituted, more than 700,000 have falled to register within two years after the required period-within one month of their eighteenth birthday-and it is expected that this number will continue to grow. Puscheck estimates a "noncompliance" rate of between 5 and 7 percent of all eligible ment.[3] However, as he concedes, "no one really knows exactly" how many young men become eighteen years of age each year; the number of young men refusing to comply is undoubtedly even higher, perhaps greatly so.