Bungacast

/299/ Micropower & Transcendence in Brazil (Bungazão 2022) ft. Miguel Lago

On reclaiming populism.

 

With only a couple of days to go until the decisive runoff between Lula and Bolsonaro, we continue our Bungazão 2022 series by talking to to political scientist Miguel Lago about how Lula and Bolsonaro both construct a Brazilian people. Lula does so broadly on class lines, while Bolsonaro's construction is a moral one: "good citizens" and those to be excluded. 

 

Why is populism the right way to analyse the election, and how might Lula re-embody Brazil's greatest populist leader, Getúlio Vargas? We discuss how Bolsonarismo works on the basis of 'micropower' – that is, it appeals to those who hold power over others in any walk of life.

 

And we conclude by looking at Bolsonaro's combination of transcendence and transgression, and how it has re-politicised Brazilian society. Why is this recipe proving more successful than the transactional politics of old?

 

Readings:

• Batalhadores do Brasil, Miguel Lago, piauí (in Portuguese)
• The self-help guru who conquered Brazil, Alex Hochuli, UnHerd
• What Lula's Comeback Means, Alex Hochuli, Compact
• Do que falamos quando falamos de populismo, Miguel Lago & Tomás Zicman de Barros, Companhia das Letras (in Portuguese)
• Linguagem da destruição, Miguel Lago et al., Companhia de Letras (in Portuguese)

Listenings:

• On anti-corruption: /297/ Bungazão 2022 (Clean & Godly) ft. Benjamin Fogel (on anti-corruption)
• On the war of all against all: /292/ Bungazão 2022: Unrealistic Pragmatism, ft. Unbridled Possibility Collective
• On the role of the military: /284/ Bungazão 2022 ft. Alcysio Canette

/292/ Bungazão 2022: Unrealistic Pragmatism, ft. Unbridled Possibility Collective

On Brazil's containment of the crisis.

We talk to members of the Unbridled Possibility Collective (Fabio Luis B. Santos | Thais Pavez | Daniel Cunha) about their intervention, trying to look beyond this week's election in Brazil.

What does establishment support for Lula this time round represent? Is Lula guilty of "unrealistic pragmatism"? How will Brazil react to a potential coup attempt by Bolsonaro? 

And we look at the deeper social and structural context: what are the features of the Brazilian "war of all against all"? How does Bolsonaro accelerate these tendencies?

We conclude by looking at the possibility of a new 'Pink Wave' in Latin America and examining the state of the Brazilian left. 

Readings:

• After the Election: a Contribution to the Debate, Unbridled Possibility Collective, Damage
• /189/ Pink Tide Paradoxes ft. Fabio Luis
• Brazil's Arrested Development, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin
• Policing Bolsonaro's Brazil, Alex Hochuli, Verso

 

/291/ The Right Timeline ft. Mattia Salvia

On the Brothers of Italy.

We talk to Mattia Salvia, former Rolling Stone Italia politics editor and author of Interregno, about Italy's election last weekend in the context of a Europe in crisis. The big question to start: is Meloni a fascist - and will her government be fascist?

With very low turnout, it seems like the working class has deserted politics, with 5 Star being the last gasp of proletarian participation. Does Meloni try to appeal to this constituency at all? Her low-tax anti-welfare policies don't seem like it.

And what of Meloni's pro-NATO politics? And what does this mean for the EU - will a FdI-ruled Italy weaken the union, or strengthen it? 

Readings:

• Meet the New Wolf, Giorgia Meloni, Mattia Salvia, Popula
• In Italy’s Deserted Democracy, Far-Right Giorgia Meloni Has Emerged Victorious, David Broder, Jacobin
• Meloni’s victory only strengthens the EU, Philip Cunliffe, Unherd
• What an Italy led by the far-right might mean for Europe, FT

In Italian:

• Coatta Antica, Mattia Salvia, Not Nero
• http://www.iconografie.it/

 

/284/ Bungazão 2022 ft. Alcysio Canette

On Brazil's elections and the military.

 

A month away from the first round showdown between former president Lula and current president Jair Bolsonaro, lawyer, podcaster and communist Alcysio Canette joins us to look at the features that have shaped the past years.

 

How did Bolsonaro's response to the Covid pandemic – denialism, essentially – tarnish his image? What role is the military playing in Brazilian politics and what is its history of political interference since the 1964-85 dictatorship?

 

Part two available at: patreon.com/posts/71560313

 

Readings:

• Will Bolsonaro Be Held Responsible for Brazil’s COVID-19 Disaster?, Alcysio Canette, Jacobin
• Cálice podcast, Atabaque Produções (in Portuguese)
• Pro-Bolsonaro Protests Were Supposed to Show His Strength. Instead, They Showed His Weakness, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin (on last year's 7 September protests)
• From Anti-Politics to Authoritarian Restoration in Brazil, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin

Excerpt: /261/ Three Articles: Macronistan

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

We analyse the French presidential election results, the country's geographical and class divides, and what a second term for Macron means for the EU.

 

Three Articles:

• Emmanuel Macron Is Forming a New Right-Wing Bloc, Interview with Bruno Amable, Jacobin
• Why Macron is invincible, Christopher Caldwell, Unherd
• Le Pen was doomed from the start, Nathan Pinkoski, Compact

Other readings:

• Waking Up from Anesthesia: Decline and Violence in France, Alexis Moriatis, Brooklyn Rail
• Macron, Le Pen and France’s long battle between order and dissent, Sudhir Hazareesingh, FT
• Jean-Luc Mélenchon's new supporters: the young, urban working class, Julie Carriat, Le Monde

/257/ How to Boil a Frog (2) ft. Chris Bickerton

The second part of our double ep on France's presidential election.

Ahead of the second round, we discuss how likely a Le Pen victory could be and the effect of Zemmour’s candidacy – which appears to have made her seem more centrist. We also debate how the French deep state and EU might react to a Le Pen victory.

We also ask Chris, co-author of Technopopulism, whether this is a classically 'technopopulist' election.

Reading:

• Technopopulism: The New Logic of Democratic Politics, Chris Bickerton
• The European Union: A Citizen’s Guide, Chris Bickerton

/256/ How to Boil a Frog (1) ft. Charles Devellennes

On France's presidential elections.

 

We talk to Charles Devellennes to digest the first round, which saw centre-right Macron and far-right Le Pen come out on top, with leftist Mélenchon missing out. How similar are Macron and Le Pen's proposals actually? And has Macron's attempts to play statesman over Ukraine affected his chances?

 

With Le Pen and Macron both going after Mélenchon's 20% of the voter share, how will each approach this challenge?

 

Readings:

• Charles' twitter thread on the similarities between Macron and Le Pen
• Why the French left keeps failing, Charles Devellennes, spiked
• The Gilets Jaunes and the New Social Contract, Charles Devellennes
• The Macron Régime: The Ideology of the New Right in France, Charles Devellennes (forthcoming)

  

 

/228/ Three Articles: Popular Backlash in Chile, India, Europe

On people power on three continents.

We discuss Chile's landmark elections, the first after the uprising of 2019-20, which see a face-off between left and far-right; Modi's repeal of controversial laws that provoked a huge mobilisation of farmers in India last year; and protests and riots against new lockdowns and vaccine mandates across Europe.

Articles:

• Has the Backlash to Progressivism Come to Chile?, Lili Loofbourow, Slate
• In Rare Show of Weakness, Modi Bows to India’s Farmers, Various, NYT
• Violence in Belgium and Netherlands as Covid protests erupt across Europe, Jon Henley, The Guardian

Other relevant episodes

• /93/ Hot Chile and Other Neoliberal Failures ft. Pablo Pryluka
• /198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik

 

Excerpt: /226/ Science Says: No Woke

On the Jacobin & YouGov survey of the US working class.

 

A study (pdf) carried out by YouGov on behalf of Jacobin magazine and the Center for Working-Class Politics has learned that "working-class voters prefer progressive candidates who focus primarily on bread-and-butter economic issues, and who frame those issues in universal terms." What can we learn from the study, beyond the obvious? What are its limitations, who is it for, and what does the survey say about those who commissioned it?

 

Plus: does it make sense to frame your politics as 'anti-woke'?

 

Reading:

• Jacobin executive summary
• Full report (pdf)

/218/ Stability Über Alles ft. Wolfgang Streeck

On German's elections – and the costs of stability.

Wolfgang Streeck is back on the podcast to round-up Germany's elections last Sunday (26 September). What's behind the emphasis on continuity and competence? Is Germany stuck in the 2000s?

We also discuss the importation of US-style culture wars into Germany, the country's role in the Eurozone, and strategic relations with France. 

The second part of the conversation – where we debate the end of neoliberalism and capitalist crisis – is over at patreon.com/bungacast.

Readings:

• Will it Be Enough?, Wolfgang Streeck, Sidecar
• “Order” Prevails in Berlin, Gregor Baszak, The Bellows
• Things Can’t Go on Like This for the German Left, Alexander Brentler, Jacobin

/216/ Goodbye Mutti! Election Preview ft. Dominik Leusder

On Germany's election this week.

Merkel has led Germany since 2005, outlasting any number of politicians across the West. What accounts for her longevity? How has such a non-ideological, post-political figure lasted so long? 

Germany is finally leaving her motherly embrace. But why is continuity on the cards, despite the many global crises Germany has passed through?

/181/ Juche in North Britain? ft. Cat Boyd & David Jamieson

On the socialist case for Scottish independence.

David Jamieson and Cat Boyd, writers and hosts of Conter, the Scottish anti-capitalist website and podcast, join us to to talk about the prospects for Scottish independence in advance of the Scottish parliamentary elections in May. Would an independent Scotland within the EU be a contradiction in term? How would an independent Scotland fare - and what would it mean for the "national question" across Europe? And what's up with the factional strife among Scottish nationalists?

Readings:

• Contercast, podcast hosted by Cat & David
• Independence Beyond Salmond and Sturgeon, David Jamieson, Conter
• The Origins of Scottish Nationhood, Neil Davidson, Pluto Press

/159/ Biden Time ft. Amber A'Lee Frost & Alex Gourevitch

On the US election, a huge turnout and the end of Trump.

We survey the results of the presidential and legislative elections, peer through the exit polls and discuss some counterintuitive facts: Florida goes Trump but opts for a $15 minimum wage; California goes Biden while Uber gets its way; Trump did protectionism but it didn't help him win the Rustbelt; the Republicans win over more Latinos – but do Latinos even exist?

And the big questions: Will Biden and the Democrats have any authority now that they don't have anti-Trumpism to drive them? Is a Biden administration to be a Silicon Valley dictatorship? And will the GOP be Trumpism without Trump?

Readings:

• Are the Democrats losing on purpose? Amber Frost & Daniel Bessner, Jacobin

UNLOCKED /154/ A Reasonably Important Election... Preview ft. Alex Gourevitch

On the Covid election. 

Trump has made himself deeply unpopular while the Democrats have tried to demobilise the electorate. What, if anything, are the two parties selling? Are they coherent entities? And what is likely to happen? Plus: we discuss a potential political realignment in process and what foreign policy would look like under a Biden presidency.

Excerpt: /154/ A Reasonably Important Election ft. Alex Gourevitch

Full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast 

On the Covid election. 

Trump has made himself deeply unpopular while the Democrats have tried to demobilise the electorate. What, if anything, are the two parties selling? Are they coherent entities? And what is likely to happen? Plus: we discuss a potential political realignment in process and what foreign policy would look like under a Biden presidency.