Aufhebunga Bunga

On Covid and the end of the end of history. Adam Tooze joins us to discuss his new book, Shutdown. In 2020 everything changed... so that everything might remain the same. What were the reasons behind the global shutdown? Was it a result of over-protection, a policy of repression, or the result of structural tensions? Has China been the winner of the pandemic? How have central banks been victims of their own success? And does this represent the end of neoliberalism?   The latter part of the interview continues over on patreon.com/bungacast

On net-zero, CCP nanny state, and optimised dating.   We start off discussing the HBO series "The White Lotus" before tackling three articles on middle-class anxieties: climate change and pressures on UK living standards; the Chinese state's crackdown on private tutoring; and women's attempt to avoid crappy men through 'Female Dating Strategy'.   The full episode is available to patrons only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   Articles: Boris Johnson’s push for net zero plunged into chaos, Edward Malnick & Emma Gatten, The Telegraph (attached in patreon) China’s nanny state: why Xi is cracking down on gaming and private tutors, Tom Mitchell & Thomas Hale, FT (attached in patreon) ‘Sales funnels’ and high-value men: the rise of strategic dating, Katie Cunningham, The Guardian   

On lockdowns, education, and the left. California middle-school teacher and social critic Alex Gutentag (@galexybrane) joins us to talk about the depredations of lockdown in California and the wider world. How has lockdown affected different segments of society, and how damaging have school closures been on education? Why has the professional middle class been so in favour of widespread restrictions – and how did the left go from backing Medicare 4 All to cheering on lockdowns in the space of a few months? Readings: The War on Reality, Alex Gutentag, The Tablet   The Great Covid Class War, Alex Gutentag, The Bellows

We discuss Eli Zaretsky's essay, "Psychoanalysis and the Spirit of Capitalism" (also available as a chapter in his book Political Freud).   How convincing is Zaretsky’s idea that, as capitalism was becoming more organized and systematic, it also liberated relations between the sexes and enhanced a sense of individual subjectivity?   Was Freudianism a victim of its success? Did it ‘win’ and thereby make itself obsolete - socially if not intellectually? And what is today’s "spirit of capitalism"? Are we still within the spirit that was reshaped in the 1960s - the world of the New Left?   Reading Clubs are only for patrons $10 and up. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On the Fall of Kabul, plus responding to your questions & comments. On this Aufhebonus Bonus, we take your critical comments on 'positive biopolitics' and authoritarian responses to Covid. Plus, whether neoliberalism is really ending, the usefulness of using 'PMC' or 'clerisy', and much more.  We start by discussing what's happening in Afghanistan, the 20 years of failure, and what happens next.   The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at pateron.com/bungacast for access. 

What comes after neoliberalism - the protective state? We talk to Paolo Gerbaudo about his new book, The Great Recoil, in which Paolo argues we are now turning inwards – globalisation is no longer a sea of opportunity and instead fear dominates. How convincing is his notion of an emerging 'protective state', and do either the left or right variants of it really promise us much at all?  Part two of the interview is available for subscribers only. Sign up and listen at patreon.com/bungacast Links: The Great Recoil, Verso Books On the 'digital party', Bungacast

On post-liberalism: loving the state, crushing the individual?   For this 3A, articles from different 'conservative' outlets - but how conservative, and of what kind?   Articles: The real danger is insurgency on the right, William Hague, The Times (pdf attached in patreon) To curse social media is to exonerate society, Janan Ganesh, FT (pdf attached in patreon) We are all Britney now, Mary Harrington, Unherd Full episode for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

What country best captures 20th and 21st century history?  For our 200th episode special, we posed the question: "If you had to study the history of only one country from 1900-2020, and thereby understand the history of the whole world, which would you pick?" You voted on the ten submissions and now we invited the top 3 back on the pod to discuss in more depth: Dominik Leusder on Germany; David Broder on Italy; and David Adler on India. Then Phil and Alex choose a winner (it's a "managed democracy").   Buy our book! Links to retailers

On Chinese investment, Swiss democracy, and fleeing from Afghanistan. In this Three Articles, we discuss flight or departure in various ways: China opening the gates for its huge savings to spill onto world markets; Switzerland leaving (or remaining outside) the EU; and the US's sudden departure from Afghanistan, without telling anyone.  'Three Articles' episodes are normally for subscribers only - but this one's free. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast for regular access. London book launch/bunga party: Register here Articles: What happens if Chinese household wealth is unleashed on the world?, Thomas Hale and Tabby Kinder, FT (pdf in patreon) Swexit, Wolfgang Streeck, Sidecar-NLR US troops abandoned Bagram airport base in the dead of night..., various, Daily Mail

On pandemic & post-pandemic politics.   We talk to Benjamin Bratton about his new book, The Revenge of the Real, and its argument for a "positive biopolitics". What does an "epidemiological view of society" look like, and why should we let go of the idea that unmediated social relations are the most authentic kind? We touch on the work of Foucault and Agamben and why they are or aren't relevant to our conditions and critique "boomer theorists". The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   Come to our book launch in London.   Readings: The Revenge of the Real, Verso Books The 7th Function of Language, Laurent Binet, Penguin  

In our latest 3A, we discuss "the clerisy" and how it relates to the PMC; how the EU is doing forever war just as much as the US; and the hyper-commodification of football. The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast Articles: Did Populism Start A 21st Century Anti-Clerical Revolution?, Angela Nagle, Substack Interview with Wolfgang Streeck: The EU’s war in Africa, Jonas Elvander, Brave New Europe Cursed and compromised but Euro 2020’s irresistible circus rolls on, Barney Ronay, The Guardian

We discuss Michael Lind's The New Class War. Lind identifies new lines in the class war, between working class and managerial overclass, between those in the "heartlands" and those in the "hubs". How convincing is this account? What is his critique of technocratic managerialism and its symptom, populism? How convincing - and realistic - is his solution of "democratic pluralism"? And is this only achievable as a result of a new cold war with China? Reading Clubs are for higher-tier subscribers only. Sign up for $10/mo for full access: patreon.com/bungacast

On world history, 1900-2020. For our 200th episode special, we pose the question: "If you had to study the history of only one country from 1900-2020, and thereby understand the history of the whole world, which would you pick?" We invited 10 contributors to each pitch one country, whose particularities capture the universal sweep of world history from the start of the 20th century till now. Vote for which you think is best, and we'll have the top 3 back on to discuss in more depth: Link to voting page Running order: (18:20) Germany - Dominik Leusder (23:02) Greece - Jonas Kyratzes (27:57) India - David Adler (33:46) Indonesia - Vincent Bevins (38:25) Iraq - Liam Meissner (44:03) Italy - David Broder (49:19) Mexico - Roger Lancaster (54:01) Taiwan - Nic Johnson (59:44) Turkey - Arash Azizi (01:04:32) Yugoslavia - Lily Lynch Buy our book! Links to retailers Come to our London book launch! Event link

We take your questions, comments & criticisms.   This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   On this Aufhebonus Bonus, we discuss whether unions are still capable of fighting for their members; the Arab-Israeli conflict at the End of History; a lot more on the 'PMC debate'; plus: whether Phil is "reductionist in the service of his own prejudices".

On secularism, nationalism and identity politics.  India is held up as a model developing country: liberal, democratic, multicultural. Renowned Indian writer and activist Achin Vanaik joins us to examine how India has turned away from universalism and secularism.  How did Gandhi, Nehru and the Congress as a whole lay the seeds for today's Hindu chauvinism? What are the consequences of defining secularism as merely 'tolerance'? And how has caste come to function a bit like identity politics in relation to the state? Readings: Nationalist Dangers, Secular Failings, Achin Vanaik, Aakar Books The Rise of Hindu Authoritarianism, Achin Vanaik, Verso Books The Rise of Hindu Nationalism and the Failures of the Indian Left, Interview with Achin Vanaik, Jacobin

We discuss the third and final in the series of Perry Anderson essays on the EU in the London Review of Books, "The Breakaway", and wonder if the EU can - despite its crises - just carry on indefinitely. Reading Clubs are for monthly subscribers $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On atrocity and sovereignty. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   The disasters of Iraq, Libya, Syria and beyond are there for all to see. Why hasn't an emphasis on Human Rights led to fewer atrocities? How has Western intervention made the world a less safe place? We discuss Philip's book Cosmopolitan Dystopia: International Intervention and the Failure of the West and discover that no one really defends sovereignty today. What's behind the concept of 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P)? And should we understand it as a form of "liberal imperialism"? 

On China, economic reform, and the future. While Russia famously succumbed to destructive neoliberal "shock therapy", China managed to avoid it. How and why? Isabella Weber, author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy, tells us about China's opting for gradual reform instead.  What did reform mean for understandings of socialism? Do communists make the best capitalists? And is the pursuit of growth and development at any cost China's own version of the End of History?

On global insurrection and identity politics.  This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast  We discuss an essay by the ultra-left collective 'Endnotes' that deals with the same political questions as we do, but comes up with different answers. Are the fragmented and ephemeral movements that have taken to the streets in France, Chile and the US, for example, the future of politics? Anti-political rejections of the establishment seem radical, but can they overcome their own negativity? And are identity politics the necessary form that re-politicisation has taken?    Readings: Essay discussed Onward Barbarians, Endnotes Background The Bleak Left, Tim Barker, n+1 Endnotes no.5: A melancholic goodbye…, Angry Workers of the World On communisation and its theorists, Friends of the Classless Society

On liberal idealism and imperial overreach. Why did the winners of the Cold War turn 'revisionist', undermining their own order? How has utopianism come to dominate the discipline of IR, such that we have lost the means to critique power? We discuss Philip's recent book, The New Twenty Years’ Crisis 1999-2019: A Critique of International Relations, which is both a revisiting of EH Carr's international relations classic The Twenty Years' Crisis as well as an account of the contemporary crisis of the liberal international order.  Reading: The New Twenty Years’ Crisis 1999-2019: A Critique of International Relations, Philip Cunliffe, McGill-Queen's UP