Bungacast

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Excerpt: /310/ Do You Want to De-Grow? Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

On 'degrowth communism'.

Why the rage for degrowth now? With deindustrialisation, energy rationing and severe pressure on standards of living, it looks increasingly like degrowth is official policy.

Yet its advocates, drawing from the work of radicals like Mike Davis, John Bellamy Foster, Jason Hickel, and Kohei Saito, would argue that ecological Marxism or degrowth communism is wholly different from stagnant capitalism. How much continuity is there between much older generations of socialists and the contemporary left?

Readings:

The paradox of Degrowth Communism, Thomas Fazi, UnHerd
‘A new way of life’: the Marxist, post-capitalist, green manifesto captivating Japan, Justin McCurry, Guardian
The degrowth delusion, Leigh Phillips, openDemocracy

/309/ Sack of Potatoes ft. Anton Jäger Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

On atomisation and association. Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone came out 22 years ago and the structural changes he identified then – increasing atomisation – have only worsened. Everyone now blames the internet, and though it may have accelerated some aspects, the problem goes deeper. The social consequences – loneliness, mistrust, depression – are widely discussed, but the political ones less so. Does the decline of associationalism open the door to authoritarianism? Are 'right-wing' associations (say, churches or homeowner groups) just as threatened as left-wing ones (like unions or labour clubs)? What are the political valences of growing atomisation? And are we now like the peasants that Marx described in his 18th Brumaire: just potatoes in a sack - and does this explain the crazy politics of our time?
Links:

Fill out our 2022 Listener Survey: tinyurl.com/bunga2022survey
From Bowling Alone to Posting Alone, Anton Jäger, Jacobin
Bowling Alone (2020 revised edition), Robert Putnam

Excerpt: /308/ A Balance-Sheet of the Left Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

On the global left after the Cold War.
[Patreon Exclusive]
Has the left declined, been defeated, or is it dead? Is the continuity with the Old and New Lefts of the 20th century, or should we understand 1989 as marking a definitive break?
We use a long essay by Swedish Marxist sociologist Göran Therborn in the latest New Left Review as a plank to examine these questions. Therborn tries to present a synoptic analysis of where the left is, globally speaking, almost a quarter of the way into the 21st century. Is he right that the old dialectics of industrialism and colonialism are no longer operative - and that no new dialectic has emerged?
And is trying to present a "balance sheet" a valid approach in the first place? FILL OUT OUR 2022 LISTENER SURVEY: tinyurl.com/bunga2022survey
Links:

The World and the Left, Göran Therborn, New Left Review (2022)
Renewals, Perry Anderson, New Left Review (2000)
/37/ The Ghosts of May ‘68 ft. Catherine Liu, Bungacast
OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, ep. 3 (Boomers), Bungacast

Excerpt: /307/ Aufhebonus Bonus (Dec 2022) Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

On your questions & criticisms.

[Patreon Exclusive]

We debate what kind of work 'shared-labour socialism' would involve in a complex society, and what role 'dispossession' or 'expropriation' has in the contemporary economy. Plus: strategies on Ukraine – backing independence, guerilla warfare, and what an 'anti-NATO' stance actually looks like; and whether the forces exist for exiting the EU.

Fill out our 2022 Listener Survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XNLTVLB

Excerpt: /306/ Reading Club: AI Capitalism Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

On Inhuman Power. [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive] Contemporary capitalism is possessed by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) question – one of the few areas today in which capitalist still seem to have ambition. Why is this so, and is there something about AI that gets to the nub of what capitalism is, as a mode of production? Is capitalism without humanity anything more than a dystopian Skynet nightmare? And would the creation of a surplus humanity still be capitalism? Would it be techno-feudal, or something else? Reading: Inhuman Power: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Capitalism, Nick Dyer-Witheford, Atle Mikkola Kjøsen and James Steinhoff, Pluto Books

/305/ Techno-Feudal Unreason Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

On "techno-feudalism".

In the Bungacast Reading Club for patrons, we've been discussing various works on "neo-feudalism" - a thesis that tries to explain capitalist stagnation and inequality by arguing that we are moving beyond capitalism – toward something worse.

In this free episode, we discuss one of the most thoroughgoing critiques of this thesis: Evgeny Morozov's "Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason".

Why has this thesis becomes so popular today, across the political spectrum? What is the economic and political logic of feudalism, and how do current trends supposedly indicate a resurgence of these logics? Why have Marxists, who draw such a clear line between feudalism and capitalism, believe that politically-driven expropriation is replacing exploitation?

And how do Big Tech companies make money - purely through rent, or do they produce commodities?

To join the Reading Club, sign up for $10 at patreon.com/bungacast

Readings:

Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason, Evegeny Morozov, New Left Review
The 'New' Imperialism: Accumulation by Dispossession, David Harvey, Socialist Register (pdf)
Escalating Plunder, Robert Brenner, New Left Review

/303/ The Failure of the French Forever War ft. Yvan Guichaoua Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

On Mali and the Sahel. French president Emmanuel Macron declared the end of Opération Barkhane on 9 November 2022, bringing to an end to nearly 10 years of French military intervention in Mali. But what is the legacy of the French Forever War in the Sahel, and what happens next? Sahel expert Yvan Guichaou joins us to talk about French defeat in the war on terror, the continued French military presence in the region, the growing extent of jihadi power, as well as the crisis of the post-colonial state in Africa and the new geo-politics of Franco-Russian competition in the region. How do these various political forces intersect with the political economy of aid and smuggling networks? [Part 2 is available to subscribers at patreon.com/bungacast] Readings:

Norms, non-combatants' agency and restraint in Jihadi violence in Northern Mali, Yvan Guichaoua and Ferdaous Bouhlel, International Interactions
The bitter harvest of French interventionism in the Sahel, Yvan Guichaoua, International Affairs

Music: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo!

OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations (FULL) Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

A special five-part series on generational consciousness and conflict.
Previously released in 2021 only to subscribers at patreon.com/bungacast, a year on we're releasing the whole series to everyone.

Part 1: (00:00:00)
Part 2: (00:38:11)
Part 3: (01:07:54)
Part 4: (02:50:32)
Part 5: (03:59:24)

Part 1:

We look at the current, vexed discourse around generations, and analyse competing theories on how to understand generational cleavages.

Guests include:

Felix Krawatzek, political scientist at the Centre for East European and International Studies in Berlin
Jennie Bristow, sociologist at Canterbury Christ Church University
Joshua Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow

Part 2:

We look at the emergence of ‘youth’ as political concept in the age following the French Revolution, and its shifting meanings. How important was generational consciousness in the Young Italy movement and its imitators in the 19th century, and how should we understand the so-called ‘Lost Generation’ of 1914?

Guests include:

Niall Whelahan, Chancellor’s Fellow in History, Strathclyde University

Part 3:

We examine the Baby Boomers – myth and reality. The revolt of the ’60s has been misunderstood in many dimensions. Was it betrayed or did it always express capitalist ideology? Were the Boomers the ones who really did the 1960s anyway? And what world have the Boomers created as they passed through life – and institutions?

Guests include:

Jennie Bristow, senior lecturer in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University
Helen Andrews, senior editor at The American Conservative
Josh Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow
Jeffrey Alexander, professor of sociology at Yale University
Holger Nehring, chair in contemporary European history at the University of Stirling
Kristin Ross, professor emeritus of comparative literature at New York University

Part 4:

We examine Generation X – the generation of the End of History. How was this generation overshadowed by the Boomer’s failures? In the Eastern Bloc, the fall of Soviet regimes was a traumatic moment – how did this shape consciousness? And how did the Iranian Revolution – and subsequent war – shape the political perspectives of Iranians? Guests include:

Maren Thom, film scholar
Alexei Yurchak, professor of anthropology at Berkeley
Jennie Bristow, senior lecturer in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University
Josh Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow
Arash Azizi, historian of Iran at New York University
Felix Krawatzek, political scientist at the Centre for East European and International Studies in Berlin

Part 5:

We examine the Millennials and Generation Z. Uniquely, generation war today seems to be a conflict over resources more than over values. Is there any basis for this, and what do Millennials actually want? With generational and class conflict seemingly bound together today, we analyse ‘Generation Left’ and ‘Millennial Socialism’. And we ask what the effect of the pandemic may be on the creation of a Gen Z consciousness.

Guests include:

Paul Taylor, former director, Pew Research
Jennie Bristow, senior lecturer in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University
Helen Andrews, senior editor at The American Conservative
Clive Martin, journalist who has written for VICE Magazine
Josh Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow
Jennifer Silva, assistant professor in sociologist, Indiana University

Original music by: Jonny Mundey

Additional music:

Peter Kuli / OK Boomer / courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc.
Liru / For the Floor / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Leimoti / Don’t Leave It Here / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com
Leimoti / The Small Things / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com
Philip Ayers / Trapped in a Maze / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com
Walt Adams / Dark Tavern / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com
Medité / A Change in My Heart / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
Ondolut / Blumen / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
Elliott Holmes / Bull Chase / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
Kick Castle / Kick Down / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
T. Morri / Nuthin’ but Nuts / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
Kit Kruger / Freakin’ Freefall / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
Cacti / I Will Be Waiting / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
Filthy the Kid / Vampire / courtesy of epidemicsound.com

Other Clips:

Mr Lloyd George Speaks To The Nation (1931) British Pathé

Excerpt: /302/ Aufhebonus Bonus (Nov 2022) Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

On your questions & criticisms.
[Patreon Exclusive] The weakness of anti-EU forces; the implications of defending Ukrainian sovereignty; what should we call the new far-right and what does it *do* in power? And the gravity of nuclear war Also, is Phil okay?

Excerpt: /301/ Reading Club: Neo-Feudalism Nov 04, 2022

Show notes

On Joel Kotkin's The Coming of Neo-Feudalism

We start off by discussing your points on the last RC, on conspiracy theory.

Then we delve into Kotkin's book, asking whether he has an adequate understanding of feudalism, and whether this is the right lens to understand transformations underway now. Is 'techno-feudalism' not just a downturn in 'systemic cycles of accumulation', related to the decline of the US empire? And what are Kotkin's politics and how do they relate to his analysis?

Thanks for all the questions received on this one, we discussed them as we went through the episode.

Reading:

The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class, Joel Kotkin, Encounter Books
Techno-Feudalism Is Taking Over, Yanis Varoufakis, Project-Syndicate

Next month: Inhuman Power: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Capitalism, Nick Dyer-Witheford, Atle Mikkola Kjøsen and James Steinhoff, Pluto Books

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