Bungacast

/258/ Conformist Rebellion ft. Elena Lange & Joshua Pickett-Depaolis

On Marxism & the Left.

We talk to Elena & Joshua about their new edited collection, The Conformist Rebellion: Marxist Critiques of the Contemporary Left. Who or what is "the Left" today – merely the left wing of Capital? And what distinguishes a specifically Marxist critique of the Left? How has Marxism and the question of exploitation been sidelined in favour of a libera concern with discrimination?

Over on Patreon you can hear the second part of the interview, plus our After Party debating the contemporary Left's connection to Marxism, the history of social democracy, and moral versus materialist critique. 

Readings:

• Counterattack journal
• Counter Attack telegram 
• Elena's substack
• Value without Fetish: Uno Kōzō’s Theory of ‘Pure Capitalism’ in Light of Marx’s Critique of Political Economy, Elena Lange

/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)

  

 

Excerpt: /255/ Reading Club: Fear I – Robin

[Patreon Tier 2 Exclusive]

On Corey Robin's Fear: The History of a Political Idea. 

This is March's Reading Club, the third in the Emergency Politics section of the 2022 Syllabus.

/254/ Three Articles: Ukraine

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

On US proxy wars, Russia's elite, Ukrainian neutrality.

 

'Three Articles' aims to provide serious political discussion on current affairs that we feel is lacking elsewhere, drawing out the logical conclusions of the three pieces' arguments.

 

Articles:

• A proxy war in Ukraine is the worst possible outcome — except for all the others, Sam Winter-Levy, War on the Rocks
• “Now we're going to f*ck them all.” What's happening in Russia's elites after a month of war, Farida Rustamova, Faridaily
• Zelensky’s muddled neutrality plan is not the answer for Ukraine, James Sherr, FT (attached)

/252/ Technopopulism & Toxic Politics ft. Carlo Invernizzi Accetti

On the fusion of technocracy & populism.

Carlo Invernizzi Accetti talks to us about his book, Technopopulism, co-authored with Chris Bickerton. This is the "new logic of democratic politics". How are all politicians today effectively technocratic and populist at the same time? How does this distinguish our age from a more ideological age in the past? And what can be done to make politics ideological again?

Part 2, which includes the rest of the interview, and the After Party where Alex, George and Phil debate why politics are toxic today, is available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64729183/

Readings:

• The Age of Technopopulism? George Hoare, Damage
• Alex's thread on consensus-through-dissensus
• The Berlusconi - cocktail recipe

/250/ Oil & Disorder ft. Helen Thompson

On energy, the material basis for all our politics?

Helen Thompson, podcaster and professor of political economy at Cambridge and author of Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, joins us to talk about the geopolitics of oil, stretching from the 1956 Suez Crisis to the Fracking Revolution of today. How does US energy independence help explain shifting politics in Europe and the Middle East?

Plus, did the End of History stay afloat on a sea of cheap oil?  

Part 2 of the interview, plus our After Party, is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/251-oil-disorder-64394535

Readings:

• Profits from fossil fuel energy power Russia's war machine, and Ukraine suffers, Helen Thompson, New Statesman
• What Is Fueling Our Century’s Global “Disorder”?, Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, The Nation
• How Did Europe Get Hooked On Russian Energy?, Paul J. Davies, Bloomberg
  

/249/ Dances with Truckers ft. Ashley Frawley

On the Freedom Convoy, the indigenous question, and 'anti-socialist socialism'(?)

Sociologist and commentator Ashley Frawley is back on the pod to talk about the situation in Canada. With family members involved in the protests, we asked her what she made of the truckers and the way demands were framed as 'anti-socialist'.

We move on to debate how to understand popular resistance to 'social engineering' today, as well as the uses of 'emotionalism' to undermine political agency.

Readings & Links:

• How the truckers split indigenous Canada, Ashley Frawley, UnHerd
• Lecture: Emotion & Reason, Ashley Frawley, The Academy
• Semiotics of Happiness, Ashley Frawley, Bloomsbury, 2005

Excerpt: /248/ Aufhebonus Bonus

In which we respond to listener questions & criticisms.

A bumper episode, featuring plenty on Canadian truckers, Swedish populists, ideas of justice, hyperpolitics and much more. 

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

/246/ Why Isn’t There Revolution? ft. Vivek Chibber

On class & material self-interest.

We talk to Vivek Chibber about his new book, The Class Matrix: Social Theory After the Cultural Turn, which seeks to answer why capitalism has proven remarkably stable. Vivek explains why classical Marxism does not need 'ideological supplements' to explain why there hasn't been revolution; instead, structural class theory already provides the answers. 

We go back to basics, looking at the role of interests, debate what the real role of ideology is (not 'false consciousness'), and look at why particularism, rather than the universal collectivism of class, now dominates. 

Part two of the interview, plus the After Party, is available over at patreon.com/bungacast

Excerpt: /245/ Reading Club: Emergency Politics II - Agamben

On Giorgio Agamben's State of Exception (2005). 

How did a darling of the left during the War on Terror become a resource for the right during Covid? Is Agamben right to blur the boundary between fascism and liberal democracy? And if we are in a 'permanent state of exception', what is the right response?

And we discuss your questions.

The full episode is for $10+ subscribers. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

Other links:

• The Crisis of the Crisis: Is Covid politics the real emergency?, Geoff Shullenberger, The New Atlantis 

/244/ Bunga NYC: Live Debate ft. Adam Tooze

On The End of the End of History

On 22 February 2022, at The People's Forum in Manhattan, Alex Hochuli and Adam Tooze were in conversation on the themes of the Bunga book and what comes next. The event was moderated by Christie Offenbacher (Damage Magazine).

Buy the book: linktr.ee/bungacast

/236/ Green Nazi Paedos ft. Lily Lynch (UNLOCKED)

On the German Greens' shady history.

 

Journalist Lily Lynch, editor of Balkanist, joins us to talk about her recent investigations into the Green Party, who are now back in power in Germany.

 

The 68ers attempted to combat authoritarianism and Nazi legacies through sexual liberation, building on the work of Wilhelm Reich. How did this lead some small groups associated with the Greens to advocate paedophilia – and even to accept former Nazis into their ranks?

 

Later the Greens would fully embrace war. We discuss how their emphasis on "maturity" and multilateral humanitarianism became the means through which they justified their new hawkish stance and adoption of NATO's cause.

 

Readings:

• Meet the German Green Party: From "Pedophile Rights" to Post-Pacifism, Lily Lynch (free)
• The German Green Party's Oldest Member Was a Known Pedophile Nazi Stormtrooper, Lily Lynch
• West Berlin Had a "Radical" All-Female Pedophile Commune with Links to the German Green Party, Lily Lynch
• How a Pacifist Party Gave War a Chance, Lily Lynch
• What's Become of the German Greens? Joachim Jachnow, NLR (2013)
• No End to Neoliberalism in Germany, Bernhard Pirkl, Damage (Dec 2021)

 

/242/ Bureaucracy Rules OK ft. Michael Lind

On class wars, new and old.

Michael Lind, Professor of Practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, joins us to talk about what it might take to restore working class power in Western states. He explains some of the arguments in his book The New Class War (2020) in greater depth, as well as discussing his intellectual debt to the ex-Trotskyist theorist turned Cold War conservative, James Burnham.

Plus, Michael talks about how his Texan background and upbringing shaped his outlook on industrialisation, national development and populism. 

Part two: https://www.patreon.com/posts/243-bureaucracy-62900197

Readings:

• America’s Asymmetric Civil War, Tablet Mag
• Why ending tenure is only the start, Tablet Mag
• The importance of James Burnham, Tablet Mag
• Bungacast Reading Club on The New Class War

Excerpt: /241/ Three Articles: Peace & Social War in North America

On dovish conservatives, Trumpist coup-mongers and Canadian truckers.

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Live debate/book launch in NYC, Feb 22nd: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-debate-book-launch-the-end-of-the-end-of-history-tickets-261000468427

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We examine what arguments 'pro-worker conservatives' are making in an aim to rid the GOP of warmongers and what this says about their vision of politics. In that light we also look at the Trumpist wing and ask what they might have in common, if anything, with the former. And we debate the Canadian protests against vaccine mandates and the left's response to it so far. 

Three Articles:

• Hawks Are Standing in the Way of a New Republican Party, Sohrab Ahmari, Patrick Deneen, Gladden Pappin, NYT
• The second coming of Donald Trump, The Economist
• As Workers Resist, the Left Recoils, Edwin Aponte, The Bellows