Aufhebunga Bunga

On our financialised world.  We talk to Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou about his new book, Speculative Communities. How has speculation become the very practice around which modern societies coalesce? And how does speculation actually give voice to the  waning legitimacy of neoliberalism?  Do dating apps, Tik Tok and other social media give birth to 'speculative communities'? And is populism a speculation on the future, a leap into the unknown?

[Patreon Tier 2&3 Exclusive]   On Zizek's "How Marx Invented the Symptom" from The Sublime Object of Ideology.   We kick off the second phase of the 2022 Reading Club, on Cynical Ideology, with this selection from Slavoj Zizek's landmark first book in English. How does he supplement Marx's conception of ideology? Are we post-ideological or trapped in cynical ideology? How would we go about breaking free of it?   Reading: The Sublime Object of Ideology (ch. 1), Slavoj Zizek 

On the end of the Cold War and the rise of neoliberalism. Fritz Bartel talks to us about his new book in which the 1970s crisis and its aftermath takes centre-stage. How did the response to this global crisis differ in Western democratic capitalism versus Eastern state socialism? And why did this determine which side won the Cold War? How did the twin factors of global finance and energy emerge then, to the extent they still seem so determining today? We discuss Bartel's striking claim that democracies, rather than authoritarian systems, were better able to 'break promises' – that is, impose economic discipline. And we conclude by discussing whether it could have been otherwise, whether neoliberalism and the collapse of the 'really existing socialism' were inevitable. Readings:  The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism, Fritz Bartel, Harvard UP Democracy and Discipline: Review Essay, Alex Hochuli, American Affairs

On the climate emergency. We are specially unlocking this episode of our monthly Reading Club – the concluding episode of the first half of the 2022 syllabus (download it here). If you'd like full access to all of the Reading Club, go to patreon.com/bungacast We discuss Andreas Malm's Climate, Corona, Chronic Emergency and Adam Tooze's review essay, "Ecological Leninism". How convincing is Malm's call for Soviet war communism as a model for responding to climate change?  We also approach these readings in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the knock-on consequences for energy politics. And what should we make of Tooze's  contrast of social democratic time-frames with the eco-Leninist one? 

On reviews of our book, The End of the End of History   [Patreon Exclusive]   A year since the book came out, and two years since we finished writing it, we take a look at published reviews the book has received and respond to them.   Questions addressed include: have we overstated our case? Do we ignore the importance of the 1970s in favour of the 1990s? Might war matter more than class struggle? Is it useful to understood History in the metaphysical/Hegelian sense? Should we be less modernist and dispense with the politics inherited from 1848-1980s? And are we too critical of left-populism?   Reviews War at the End of History, Adam Tooze, Chartbook 109 The End of the End of the End, Sam Kriss, First Things Book Review: The End of the End of History, Jason C. Mueller, Critical Sociology How long is the end of history?, Connor Harney, Platypus Beginning of the End, or End of the Beginning?, Park McDougald, American Affairs Book Review: The End of the End of History, Dan Taylor, Marx & Ph

[Patreon Exclusive] On your questions & criticisms. We discuss the link between Covid and war in Ukraine and return to the question of who exactly is the ruling class. Plus: inflation, what actually happened in the 1990s, contemporary art, and the politics of abortion.  

On abortion. After the US Supreme Court ruling, where does this leave women in the US? Political theorist Alex Gourevitch joins us to discuss Roe v Wade, and how the fact it rooted abortion in a right to privacy was problematic. How can we ground the right to abortion in an argument for freedom in general? And is the US really faced with a rising tide of reaction, as liberals claim? Are same-sex marriage and contraception imperilled by the decision. Reading: Wrong Life and Abortion, Ethan Linehan, Sublation The Left killed the pro-choice coalition, Kat Rosenfield, Unherd A Defence of Abortion, Judith Jarvis Johnson   How to Win the Abortion Argument, Helen Lewis, The Atlantic

On the endgame to war in Ukraine.   Eminent Russian expert, Putin and Gorbachev biographer and ex-Sovietologist, Prof Richard Sakwa, joins us in advance of his imminent retirement from the University of Kent. We talk about the geopolitics of NATO expansion and the dynamics of the Ukraine war reaching back to 2014. How high is the risk of nuclear war now, and how might the Ukraine war play out? Readings: Whisper it, but Putin has a point in Ukraine, Richard Sakwa, The Spectator The Dual State in Russia, Richard Sakwa, Post-Soviet Affairs A Review of 'Frontline Ukraine' by Richard Sakwa, Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday Putin Redux: Continuity and change, Richard Sakwa, openDemocracy

[Patreon Exclusive]   On the whatever decade.   People are turning back to reinterpret the 1990s. Clearly, they were peak End of History years. But does that mean that no politics actually happened? If it's the period of the cultural turn, does that mean we should seek to understand that decade culturally?   And what are the political consequences of how we interpret the 1990s?   Readings: The 1990s: An age without qualities, Gavin Jacobson, New Statesman (attached) Were the 1990s Really Devoid of Politics?, Ryan Zickgraf, Jacobin The ‘90s: The decade that never ended, Jason Farago, BBC

If the End of History was characterised by post-politics, and the 'populist decade' of the 2010s dominated by anti-politics, then how should we understand more recent phenomena? Are the following of a qualitatively different nature to anti-politics, namely: the intensification of culture wars, growing polarisation that does not always align neatly with class, of increasingly hysterical and personalised politics, and of the competition between escalating emergency politics?  To commemorate the publication of the German edition of The End of the End of History, co-author Alex Hochuli was in conversation with historian of political thought, Anton Jäger at the Monacensia in Munich.

To commemorate the publication of the German edition of The End of the End of History, co-author Alex Hochuli was in conversation with David Broder, Europe editor of Jacobin Magazine at Spike Magazine, Berlin.   The crumbling of the liberal, technocratic order over the past decade has led to a variety of hysterical reactions from the establishment. Faced with new challenges to their authority, they have reacted by calling their opponents "fascist", blaming misinformation or adopting conspiracy theories of their own. How are we to understand these reactions and the apparent conflict between neoliberal technocracy and "populism"?    

[Live events in Germany: Berlin / Munich] On emergency politics today. We talk to Geoff Shullenberger about competing emergency politics, left and right. Should politics be enjoyable and provide a frisson of transgression, or not? Is bare life all that's on offer? And is declaring the predominance of 'emergency politics' itself an emergency a problem? Readings: How We Forgot Foucault, American Affairs The Crisis of the Crisis, The New Atlantis

On crumbling state authority.   Benjamin Fogel is back on the podcast to talk us through how South Africa has gone from the hopes of post-apartheid to the Durban riots of 2021. How have corruption, criminal networks, Indian oligarchs, and political forces combined to shatter any sense of a national project? We also discuss the role of xenophobia and particularist and racial politics in today's South Africa.   Readings & Links: /27/ After Zuma ft. Sean Jacobs The insurrection in South Africa is about more than freeing Zuma, Benjamin Fogel, Al Jazeera Dons have KZN in their grip — and Don of Dons Jacob Zuma has the tightest grip, Chris Makhaye, Daily Maverick No two elephants are alike, Ryan Brunette, Africa Is A Country Rising vigilantism: South Africa is reaping the fruits of misrule, Landau & Misago, The Conversation  

[Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]   On neoliberalism and biopolitics.   In the fifth session of the "Emergency Politics & Control" theme of the 2022 Reading Club, we take on The Birth of Biopolitics, Michel Foucault's 1978-9 lectures at the College de France (no's 4-6, 9-10).   How does Foucault trace a line between German ordo- and American neo-liberalism to biopolitics? What role does human capital play? Is 'biopolitics' a critique or a manual? And how useful a tool is it to understand the management of the Covid pandemic?

[Patreon Exclusive]   On the economic drivers and political choices of inflation.   In the absence of workers demanding higher wages, where is inflation coming from? Is there more to it than pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and the Ukraine war? How responsible is Biden's spending package? And how can generations who have never known serious inflation respond?   Three Articles: Chartbook #122: What drives inflation?, Adam Tooze, Substack Inflation Is No Accident, Christopher Caldwell, Compact Britain is drifting towards economic oblivion, Ben Marlow, Telegraph

[Patreon Exclusive] On your comments & criticisms. We tackle ideological realignments over the use of history; conspiracy theorising; a game-show called The Last True Marxist; whether we've had any progress over the last 50 years; and much more. 

On liberals' embrace of the past and history wars. We talk to Matthew Karp about his essay, "History As End: 1619, 1776, and the politics of the past". It seems as if there's an ideological inversion going on, where liberals see history in terms of original sin and cycles of injustice, or at best, want to relitigate the past in order to fight battles of the present. Meanwhile conservatives have abandoned the past. What does this say about current attitudes to capital-h History and making the future? Readings: History As End: 1619, 1776, and the politics of the past, Matt Karp, Harpers Ends in Sight: Marx/Fukuyama/Hobsbawm/Anderson, Gregory Elliott The End of the End of History, Bungacast

[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

[Patreon Tier 2 Exclusive] On Frank Furedi's How Fear Works. Following on from last month's discussion of Corey Robin's Fear, we examine a differing attempt to demystify the politics and culture of fear.  To join a local Reading Club where you are, email info@bungacast.com 

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