Bungacast

On class reductionism, commodity fetishism, and value theory. To discuss Covid, the state as 'PMC leviathan', and the politics of value theory, we’re joined by philosopher Elena Louisa Lange, who also explains why class reductionism is not a theoretical position or a mere mistake, but a social reality. We also address the value of 'going back to school', take on the new Leftist 'holy trinity' of c...

On memes and the counter-culture.   Theorist and curator Mike Watson advances the argument for "acid leftism". What is this, and why do we need a new counter-culture? Is contemporary leftism lacking a utopian imaginary?   Plus: slow memes and fast memes; the democratisation of art and media; and generations: which ones became conservative, which might not?   Running order: (00:04:15) - Interview w...

On Latin America's progressive wave and its discontents. A new book on Latin America argues that 'pink tide' governments tried to treat the symptoms of neoliberal capitalism while allowing the underlying situation to worse. We talk to the author, Fabio Luis, about cases across the region, including the election in Ecuador and Venezuela's disaster, to Bolivia's coup and Argentina's "path of least r...

How to address the political problems of leftwing parties today?   Liverpudlian historian David Swift argues that the problem is hobbyism - people for whom politics constitutes their identity rather than expressing their interest in social and political change. He joins us to take us through his arguments about hobbyism, and how he thinks the Left might change for the better. Readings: A Left For...

On the end of the End of History and neo-feudalism. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast In a continuation of our discussion on the emerging transfer state, we ask whether the end of neoliberalism entails the end of the 'End of History'. What are the determinate features of the End of History that we are leaving behind? Which are still with us? Also, what to make...

On cash welfarism and state investment. Plus regionalism in Belgium & the UK. Anton Jäger is back on the pod to discuss the emerging 'transfer state'. We examine Biden's massive trillion-dollar spending plans and ask if this means we're leaving neoliberalism. What are the limitations to the 'cashification of welfare'? Also comparisons with cash transfers or lack thereof in the UK, Brazil and Belgi...

On Covid state failure + responses to listeners.    The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   We start off by discussing listener points and criticisms – e.g. is PMC a useful category? Is a counterculture a terrible idea? Were we wrong on Deleuze? More on the lockdown debate... – before featuring the second part of our discussion with Lee Jones on the coronavirus...

On the uprising in Myanmar, plus Covid state failure. Southeast Asia scholar (and Bunga recidivist) Lee Jones joins us to talk about the coup in Myanmar (and why the word “coup” can be misleading), and explains the nature of the forces opposing the military, in the context of the country’s recent transition to civilian rule. Then, from 40mins, we discuss how the UK failed in dealing with the pande...

We discuss the first of Perry Anderson's new essays on Europe published in the London Review of Books , which focuses on Luuk van Middelaar - described as the EU's first organic intellectual. We discuss what that means, as well as the role of the "coup" in forming the EU. Reading Club episodes are for subscribers $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On memes and the counter-culture.   This is a sample. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast   Theorist and curator Mike Watson advances the argument for "acid leftism". What is this, and why do we need a new counter-culture? Is contemporary leftism lacking a utopian imaginary?   Plus: slow memes and fast memes; the democratisation of art and media; and generations: which ones be...

In this latest Three Articles, we examine the rise of 'techno-populism', look at the EU's vaccine debacle, and question whether cinema - and popular culture in general - is being desexualised and pornified at the same time.   This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   Readings: The rise of the technopopulists , Chris Bickerton, New Statesman (pdf attached) Acceleratin...

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 wh...

On gay liberation and sexual politics. After big advances over the past decades, we can now ask, did the gays win? And if so, so what? Mark Simpson in the UK and River Page in Florida join us to discuss whether something was lost in that victory.  We ponder whether gay politics was the original identity politics and what happens when a narrow focus on equality triumphs over liberation. Do sexual l...

How to address the political problems of leftwing parties today?   Liverpudlian historian David Swift argues that the problem is hobbyism - people for whom politics constitutes their identity rather than expressing their interest in social and political change. He joins us to take us through his arguments about hobbyism, and how he thinks the Left might change for the better.   This is a sample. F...

We've exceptionally unlocked one of our recent Reading Clubs. For access to all the monthly Reading Clubs - as well as our ~2 patreon episodes a month - subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast for $10.  ––  On Richard Tuck's The Left Case for Brexit , a book composed of essays written throughout the Brexit process, providing a diary of Brexit of sorts, as well as political and historical arguments arou...

We discuss Gilles Deleuze's short essay, Postscript on the Societies of Control and ask whether his understanding, according to which society has changed from one where discipline is exercised in institutions to one where control is implemented across society, holds water.  The monthly Bungacast Reading Club is for patrons $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

We respond to your questions and comments from the past two months. Plus a continuation of our chat with Catherine Liu (from 55mins onwards) - on PMC unions, PMC child-rearing and the culture industry.   This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   Readings: The PMC Gets Organized , Dominic King, Damage Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional-Managerial Class...

On the Professional-Managerial Class.    Catherine Liu joins us to talk about the worst class in history (the PMC), and how and why they hoard all forms of secularised value. We discuss the development of the PMC as a class, figure out when it stopped being "heroic", and debate who the PMC'S leader might be. We conclude by asking whether the Left needs the PMC (or vice versa?).    The discussion w...

On the relevance of psychoanalysis. In a continuation of our talk with Benjamin Fong, editor of Damage Magazine , we discuss the relevance of psychoanalysis today. What happened to the marriage of Marx and Freud – and what does the decline of both say about our times? We criticise social media as the latest instance of the culture industry as well as the growth of the US as a 'drugged society'. Ho...

On American breakdown. Editor of Damage Magazine, Benjamin Fong, joins us to talk about the lack of shared narratives in contemporary America. We discuss QAnon and conspiracy theories, Biden's authoritarian liberalism, and "pro-worker" conservatives.  We also interrogate the use of psychological analyses of politics and reaffirm the value of psychoanalysis, in a preview of a more detailed forthcom...

On Uber, class war among the rich, and its political consequences Articles: The real class war is within the rich , Janan Ganesh, FT Uber pays to get rid of its self-driving cars , Pluralistic, Cory Doctorow The radical Left is now extinct , Oliver Bateman & Malcolm Kyeyune, Unherd

This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   If liberal democracy has been dethroned, what next?   Francis Fukuyama famously declared the "end of history" in 1989. Has he been misunderstood? Should we understand the declaration in a geopolitical sense - liberal democracy triumphant - or in a more philosophical sense? We discuss what capital-H History means and what Fuku...

This is a sample. Reading Clubs are for patrons $10+. Sign up now at patreon.com/bungacast   This month we discuss a book by leading German sociologist and public intellectual, Wolfgang Streeck. Critical Encounters is a compilation of book reviews, discussing neoliberal ideas, politics and economy. We start off by discussing the value of reading books in today's noisy, social media-filled, locked-...

On the Biden administration and Trumpist reaction.   We discuss the riot at the US Capitol and why it was not a (failed) coup attempt. How serious was the event, and what next for Trumpist reaction - will it lead to a split in the Republican Party? Our guests - journalist Amber Frost and political science academic Daniel Bessner - help us preview what the Biden administration has in store for the...

On the 'war communism' solution As we enter the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant turmoil, suffering and lockdown, inevitably the search for systemic causes and systemic responses grows more intense. Swedish ecologist and social theorist Andreas Malm joins us to discuss one possible response - a crisis communism modelled on the War Communism of early Soviet rule, as discussed...