David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles

Latest Episodes:

An Important Update from David Harvey May 24, 2023

Show notes

Please keep an eye out for more episodes from Anti Capitalist Chronicles host David Harvey at an exciting new media organization: Politics in Motion! You can learn more at www.politicsinmotion.org

Anti-Capitalist Chronicles will no longer be produced by Democracy at Work. If you want to continue receiving episodes and analysis from David Harvey, please go to www.politicsinmotion.org. We thank Prof. Harvey for all the wisdom and critical analysis he's shared with us over the years.

US Indebtedness & Capitalism’s Internal Contradictions May 08, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of Anti-Capitalism Chronicles, Prof. Harvey explores the issue of US indebtedness. Drawing on various Marxist theories—the coercive laws of competition, the falling rate of profit, and capitalism’s irrationality—Harvey explains how the US ended up in such a deep foreign indebtedness position, who it may benefit, and the implications on the global economy.

The Corporatization of Academia Apr 20, 2023

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In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey reflects on how universities in the US have shifted and evolved under advanced capitalism to function more and more like corporations. The ethos of the academic model is no longer about universities paying professors to teach, but rather that professors earn their keep by making money for the university. We are seeing increased bureaucratization, a push for entrepreneurialism among professors, and a growing corporate managerial structure. This reorganization of education around monetization has left professors disillusioned and despondent and cannot be sustained.

Housing in a Broken System Apr 06, 2023

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In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey shares major lessons he learned while studying the housing issue in Baltimore in the late 1960s and asking the questions: Why is housing quality so appalling in low-income areas? Why had past attempts to change that failed? How could the richest nation in the world tolerate this? Harvey explains how he came to learn the importance of looking at the totality of the system—not just the issue itself—as well as leveraging, how social policies often work well for those who need it least, the issue of gentrification, and more.

David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles is a Democracy at Work production, made possible by audience donations. Consider supporting us on Patreon.

Daniel Ellsberg, Government Dishonesty & Nuclear Weapons Mar 23, 2023

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In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey explores the contributions made by Daniel Ellsberg, the political activist known for releasing the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Ellsberg gave the public a look into the ways in which the US government was lying about the Vietnam war with the Pentagon Papers, and offered a look into how the US military thinks about military policy with respect to nuclear weapons in his book The Doomsday Machine. Ellsberg’s contributions are deeply relevant today with the Russian/Ukraine war and the ever-growing number of nuclear weapons around the globe.

David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles is a Democracy at Work production, made possible by audience donations. Consider supporting us on Patreon.

The Circulation of Fictitious Capital Mar 09, 2023

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In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey explains Marx’s analytical techniques of presupposition and posit and applies them to today’s capital circulation system and the crises that may emerge from the ever-growing fictitious capital investments. By looking at the presupposition, or what came before a system, and the posit, what happens as a result of an established system, Harvey takes apart the complex systems and issues today, such as climate change or the instability of fictitious capital investing in itself, and is able to illuminate some possible futures if we continue down these paths.

The Impact of War on Civilians Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey focuses on the impact of war on civilians, both today in Ukraine and historically. While it is a war crime to attack civilian populations, there is a long, deadly history of it. From the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the fire bombs in Dresden and Tokyo, the US is far from innocent of civilian attack. Harvey reminds us that the horrors inflicted on Ukrainians today should be judged in a similar manner as we judge those atrocities of the past.

Support Anti-Capitalist Chronicles and Democracy at Work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/democracyatwork

Applying Marx’s Theories to Contemporary Struggles Feb 09, 2023

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In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey focuses on the concept of totality, conceptualized in Marx’s Grundrisse, and the importance of situating theoretical frameworks within on-the-ground struggles. Harvey explains how he’s spent his life’s work attempting to do this, focusing on issues such as housing, climate change, and more. Marx and Engel’s theoretical contributions are critical, but it is in the tangible application of them that the true benefits are realized.

Support Anti-Capitalist Chronicles and Democracy at Work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/democracyatwork

Making Sense of Today’s Inflation - Debt, Austerity and Tax Cuts Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey uses the diagram of capital’s circulatory processes, shared in the last episode, and applies it to the pressing issue of inflation today. Harvey draws parallels to how inflation was handled during the Reagan and Thatcher administrations, with austerity politics and the resulting reduced standard of living for the working class. These attacks on social expenditures were explained as necessary to curb inflation, yet there is much more to the story. By utilizing the framework of capital’s circulation within a capitalist mode of production, Harvey reveals the many possible causes of inflation and how public policy often has hidden intentions.

To download the diagram: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qcd7k6so6v4jhss/capitalism-cycle.pdf?dl=0

Support Anti-Capitalist Chronicles and Democracy at Work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/democracyatwork

Capital in Motion Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Season 5! In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey discusses the ever-expanding circulatory systems of capital. He shares a diagram, designed by fellow d@w host Miguel Robles-Duran (Cities After…), which illustrates capital in motion. Like the human body, capital has many circulatory processes that can be analyzed both individually as well as part of the larger structure. This diagram is a useful way to picture the capitalist mode of production and its place in the capitalist social formation in order to make sense of how and where crises and contradictions show up within the system.

To download the diagram: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qcd7k6so6v4jhss/capitalism-cycle.pdf?dl=0

Support Anti-Capitalist Chronicles and Democracy at Work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/democracyatwork

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