Episodes
Thursday Nov 08, 2018
/52/ Duterte's Despotism ft. Nicole Curato
Thursday Nov 08, 2018
Thursday Nov 08, 2018
In which we learn of Duterte's promises of blood and how he's lived up to those promises. Is massacring drug user, dealers and anyone caught in the crossfire actually popular? How does violence fit in with his development model? Do elites back his rule - and which elites? And how does he compare to other far-right authoritarians?
Readings:
The Duterte Reader (ed. Nicole Curato)
Nicole Curato in the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/opinion/philippines-rodrigo-duterte.html?smid=fb-share&referer=http://m.facebook.com
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
/42/ Erdogan Ever-Present? ft. Yasemin Yilmaz
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
In which we survey Turkey's election results in light of five years of tumult - Gezi, economic downturn, terrorist attacks, Syrian war, coup, repression. Are cracks beginning to show for Erdogan? He teamed up with ultranationalists, while opposition secularists and Islamists joined forces, but Erdogan held on. How demoralised are the Turkish people, and what are the prospects for the Left? We conclude by debating whether Erdogan represents a generalisable type of political leader today: initally moderate and neoliberal, but tacking increasingly authoritarian and socially conservative.
Saturday Sep 02, 2017
Episode 16: Aung San Suu Kyi ain't what she used to be
Saturday Sep 02, 2017
Saturday Sep 02, 2017
In which we learn about Burmese Buddhist nationalism, escalating violence against Muslims, and what happened to the West's liberal hero