Aufhebunga Bunga

On Ridley Scott's Napoleon.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We couldn't avoid discussing the new biopic about the "world soul" himself, Napoleon Bonaparte. The film isn't great, but what can we learn from it? And how does it sit in a context in which most biopics today are about musicians, business leaders and scientists?   We discuss: Why did Scott choose to focus on Napoleon's relationship with Josephine? What is Scott trying to say, if anything, about Napoleon and the Napoleonic wars? Where are the depictions of youth, revolution and modernity? Are there any redeeming aspects to the film? What do we make of Phoenix's portrayal? Are we seeing the return of films about Great Men of History?

On taking control.   The Netherlands has elected an anti-EU rightist, but he won't take the Netherlands out of the European Union. Britain left the EU, but net migration to the UK has soared to its highest levels. What's going on?   In this special episode, Alex treats Phil and George as interview guests and grills them over their book, Taking Control: Sovereignty and Democracy after Brexit. We discuss: Why all the fuss for Brexit, when things have ended up the same as they were before? Why Brexit when the same politicians are still in charge? Why was no section of society able to lead Brexit with a positive vision of the future? Did Brexiteers need a more concrete proposal beyond "democracy"? What lessons can be learned from Brexit by others in the EU?

On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century   [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]   We discuss the Part 2 of this landmark book from 2008, debating theories of Western economic decline: Robert Brenner's, and Arrighi's critique of it.   Points discussed: Are you 'Team Brenner' or 'Team Arrighi'? Was neoliberalism a counter-revolution? A passive revolution? A restoration? How does the depression of the 1870s compare to that of the 1970s or the post-2008 period? What are the characteristics of our own Belle Époque (1993-2007) What matters more in explaining the downturn: inter-capitalist global competition? Upward wage pressure? The role of the global South? Links: Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century, Giovanni Arrighi, Verso (2008)

On Australia's lockdown.   We welcome back Shahar Hameiri and Tom Chodor to talk about their new book, The Locked-Up Country, to try to learn some lessons from Australia's response to Covid-19. We also talk about the country's recent Indigenous Voice referendum and ask whether it was Oz's "Brexit Moment".   In the episode we ask: Was the pandemic another success for the 'lucky country'? How was the Australian state transformed from the 1970s to the 2020s? Why was Australia's pandemic planning inadequate? What was up with the hotel-based quarantines? Why did the public largely support these measure? And what can the rest of the world learn from the experience?

On your criticisms.   [Patreon Exclusive - subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]   We respond to your points made in the comments on Patreon over the past few months. The first section is of course dedicated to the Gaza war, followed by discussion on hyperliberalism, neutrality, big tech, outsourcing, and drugs.   Now available also as video on Patreon.

On John Gray's The New Leviathans.   [Patreon Exclusive - for the full episode, follow the link]   We discuss the British post-liberal philosopher's new book, looking at his background, ideological journey, and why he might be of interest. We also ask: How does John Gray use Hobbes and the idea of a Leviathan? What is a "state of nature", and what would an artificial state of nature be? Is Gray right in this characterization of liberalism? Is hyperliberalism the product of liberalism's decay? What is postliberalism and how does Gray’s project fit with it? Readings: The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism, John Gray Pseudo-Leviathans, George Hoare, Damage

On a decade of protest around the world.   Journalist Vincent Bevins is back on the podcast to talk about his new book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution. We discuss the 2010s protest wave across countries as varied as Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Chile, Bahrain, Yemen, South Korea and Tunisia.   We ask: Why were protests in places that were so different all look so similar? Why was there such a focus on spontaneity, leaderlessness, peformativity, and horizontalism? What are some examples of the ways protests rejected representation? Was class or generation more important in driving these protests? Why did media becomes so important in pursuing political change? How can we avoid a repeat of the failures of the 2010s? Links: If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution, Vincent Bevins, Public Affairs The mass protest decade: why did the street movements of the 2010s fail?, Vincent Bevins, The Guardian The End of the End of H

On NATO expansion and the end of neutrality   [Patreon Exclusive - for the full episode, sign up @ patreon.com/bungacast]   Lily Lynch is back on the pod to talk about Northern and Eastern Europe and growing hawkishness. We discuss: Why did Sweden and Finland give up decades of neutrality - and why now? What happens with an enlarged alliance in light of the conflict in Ukraine? How does the current moment compare to the apogee of the Non-Aligned Movement? Why were the realists right? How is tech mythology helping to build 'digital nationalism'? Why is there beef over grain between Poland and Ukraine? And what the hell are the "skin suit of social democracy" and the "Waluigi of neutrality"? Links: Joining the West, Lily Lynch, Sidecar The realists were right, Lily Lynch, New Statesman The EU’s great power delusions, Lily Lynch, New Statesman Guns, grain, and history, Lily Lynch, New Statesman Tech-Mythologies, Lily Lynch, Sidecar Imperfect Unity, Lily Lynch, Sidecar

On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century   [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]   We discuss the Introduction and Part 1 of this landmark book from 2008 and ask if Arrighi's vision of China, the West and the structure of the global economy was correct.   Points discussed: What's at stake in thinking of East Asian growth as a renaissance, or correction of the historical blip of European ascendency? How compelling is the account of East Asian success as a fusion of industrious and industrial revolution? Was Arrighi right to focus on the neoconservative Project for a New American Century? What do we think about Adam Smith's account of different classes' capacity for political action What's at stake in the revisionist view of Adam Smith as pro-state Enlightenment thinker rather than patron saint of the free market? Subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast Links: Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century, Giovanni Arrighi, Verso (2008) The Left Hemispher

On Argentina's historic election.   Historian of populism and anti-populism Ernesto Seman tells us what is happening in Argentina amidst severe economic crisis. The radical libertarian madman Javier Milei failed to win, and a second-round runoff will be needed, but politics has changed irreparably. The establishment right has been outflanked, while the left-populism of 'Kirchnerismo' is in crisis.   We discuss: What is 'Peronism' and how does it occupy so much political space? How does Milei appeal to informal workers using market ideology? What is distinct about Latin American populism? How is anti-populism used to denigrate the masses? What is the role of nostalgia for the golden age in Argentina? Reading: In Chile and Argentina, anti-populist politics is failing, Ernesto Seman, FT Breve historia del antipopulismo (Brief History of Antipopulism), Ernesto Seman Ambassadors of the Working Class, Ernesto Seman Javier Milei is not done yet, Alex Hochuli, Unherd Javier Milei is not a S

On violence and the lack of political resolution.   Regular guest Alex Gourevitch joins us to discuss why the Israel/Palestine conflict is so intractable – and why it draws so much attention. Alex then explains why, lamentably, there is no side worth choosing.   We then delve into various key points:  why Hamas was becoming irrelevant and how the 7 October attack was an attempt to combat that;  why violence is necessary but the Palestinians are in a catch-22;  how the West is implicated in the violence and callousness on show;  why the Palestinians are the most oppressed and forgotten people;  why Hamas is not an anticolonial freedom struggle; and  what is the right way to compare this to Ukraine. Links: No end in sight: Israel’s search for a Gaza strategy, Lawrence Freedman, FT (attached) The House of Zion, Perry Anderson, NLR Whither Palestine, David Polansky, Strange Frequencies  

On the war on disinformation and the war in Gaza.    Jacob Siegel, senior editor at Tablet, joins us to talk about Hamas's attack on Israel and Israel's assault on Gaza. We also discuss how the US crusade against 'disinformation' has led it to apply counterinsurgency tactics to its own citizens.   Why did Hamas attack when it did? Has it been successful in stopping Israeli-Saudi rapprochement? How much will this change Israeli society? And what does Israel want to achieve in bombing - and soon invading - Gaza?    Meanwhile, how has domestic politics become war? The state has meshed with corporate power to create an almighty surveillance apparatus. How can we start dismantling it?    And how do we escape the postmodern hall of mirrors in which high diplomacy and low culture-war merge, in which domestic and international, and peace and war, all blur into each other?   Links: On disinformation: A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century, Jacob Siegel, Tablet A trap has been set for Israel, Jacob Siegel, Un

On sovereign debt and taking back control.   The leading candidate in Argentina's election this month wants to avoid defaulting on the country's debt at all costs. But back in 2001, after a mass revolt, Argentina reneged on its debts – one of the very rare cases over the past 70 years of unilateral default.    Why are nations so eager to pay back creditors nowadays, especially when it means endless austerity and little prospect of economic development?   We talk to scholar Jerome Roos about his book, Why Not Default? and discuss a range of cases: Mexico, Greece, Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ghana - and of course Argentina. We find that the old free market system used to accept that reneging on your debts was a risk creditors had to take. No longer: transnational institutions make sure that creditors get paid every time.    How might countries free themselves from international financial dictatorship?   For part two of the interview and the After Party, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast   Links: Why Not Default?: The

On polycrisis.   [Patreon Tier II and III Exclusive -  subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]   We reflect back on Jurgen Habermas' Legitimation Crisis as a whole, having gone through it section by section in previous episodes, before exploring what the idea of 'polycrisis' is about. Everyone from Adam Tooze to the FT to the World Economic Forum think we're in a polycrisis. How does this notion compare to Habermas' understanding of crisis?    We also explore some related themes: cynical ideology and how it deflects criticism; whether we are more or less individualised today, and how you can have less collectivism and less individualism at the same time; and the difference between crisis and emergency.   Links: Why the West's elites invented a permacrisis, Thomas Fazi, Unherd Welcome to the world of the polycrisis, Adam Tooze, FT  Year in a word: Polycrisis, Jonathan Derbyshire, FT  On the crisis of crisis: /327/ Capitalism on Edge ft. Albena Azmanova  On the structural reasons why the regime survives: /246/ Why

On the end of politics.   Is the craziness of the past years, since 2016, ebbing away? Is the establishment back in charge? Journalist Ryan Zickgraf joins us to argue that, yes, the period of 'hyperpolitics' has passed.    Trump has lost his edge, BLM has imploded, boring Biden rules, the Proud Boys are nowhere to be seen. Fewer protests, fewer small campaign donations, fewer news articles shared.   What is the implication of this? It seems that people are exhausted by the politicisation of everything. The upsurge in engagement in formal politics may be dwindling. But the culture wars are as hot as ever. And the venues for 'escape' from politics are more politicised than ever.    Accelerated social decline means we aren't exactly going back to the 1990s, but is history over all over again?   Readings: America's Politics of Nothing, Ryan Zickgraf, Compact After Anti-Politics: The Apeiron, Alex Hochuli, Sublation Everything is Hyperpolitical, Anton Jäger, The Point /361/ A Nightmare on the Brains of the Living

On US politics being stuck.   [This was originally a subscriber exclusive. Sign up now at patreon.com/bungacast]   We talk to political theorist Benjamin Studebaker about his new book, The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut. Studebaker holds that hope is a problem because it's used by professionals to keep people engaged in a system that simply doesn't deliver. Hence the culture wars and the focus on various 'vices'.   How are both left and right complicit in this situation? What's the solution? Are we dependent on oligarchs going rogue to shake the system? Do we need to hit rock bottom to rekindle our political imaginations?

On satire of the bourgeoisie.   [Patreon Exclusive. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast]   We discuss Luis Buñuel's "deranged masterpiece" from 1972, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and debate the social ritual of dinner, and why the guests in the film never get to eat theirs.   How does this early 70s surrealist film – which in many ways set the template for cinematic satires of the bourgeoisie – compare to more recent portrayals such as The Menu or Triangle of Sadness? Ultimately, who are the bourgeoisie and do they still exist, in a world of distributed ownership and managerialism?   Readings: ‘A deranged masterpiece’: why you should watch The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian What Have the Bourgeoisie Done for us Lately?, Stephan Bertram-Lee, Sublation A Brief History of the Bourgeoisie, or We Are All Bourgeois Now, David Polansky, Strange Frequencies The Bourgeois(ie) as Concept and Reality, Immanuel Wallerstein, New Left Review

On the radical right in the global periphery.   [This was originally a Patreon Exclusive]   Erdogan, Modi, Orban, Bolsonaro, Duterte. Though the latter two are gone, the first three are still going strong, in government for a decade or more. What unites these figures? They’re all right wing and authoritarian, but also popular and anti-establishment.   How similar are these politicians to their analogues in the core of global capitalism? Might they even be seen to be forerunners of developments in the rich world? And to what extent are they able to resolve the crises of the end of the end of history?   In this episode, we talk to two of the editors of a new book, The Radical Right: Politics of Hate on the Margins of Global Capital.   Previous episodes on this theme: Turkey /339/ Erdogone? People vs Nation in Turkey ft. Alp Kayserilioglu Brazil: /299/ Micropower & Transcendence in Brazil (Bungazão 2022) ft. Miguel Lago Brazil: /292/ Bungazão 2022: Unrealistic Pragmatism, ft. Unbridled Possib

On the politics of consultancy   [Patreon Exclusive. Sign up @ patreon.com/bungacast]   The past 40 years have seen a whole range of things the state used to do itself outsourced to third parties. Now there is a turn against these practices. But can the state actually get stuff done, or is it doomed for its prior reliance on consultants?   It's not just the left the criticises outsourcing - the right now does too. How do these positions differ? And how are these questions related to another critique – that of 'bullshit jobs'?   Readings & Links: In Clover, Laleh Khalili, LRB (attached) The Big Con — the case against consultancies (review of Mazzucatto & Collington), Diane Coyle, FT (attached) Letter: Groundless assertions about a trusted profession (response from a consultant), FT How PwC captured Australia, Shahar Hameiri, Unherd Consultancies Have Been the Handmaidens of Neoliberalism, Nathan Akehurst, Jacobin Radical Centrism: Uniting the Radical Left and the Radical Right, Ashwin

On the internet being sh*t.   Tech critic, author and blogger Cory Doctorow joins us to talk about his new book, The Internet Con. He tells us his ONE SIMPLE TRICK to fix the internet: interoperability. Breaking down the tech giants' walled gardens is the first step to dethroning them.    How does Big Tech depend on intellectual property to cement their monopolies? How can their grip be loosened? How do we make tech work for us?   In the After Party, the boys debate Doctorow's anti-monopolist arguments, and look at the wider ways tech is affecting everything from agriculture to services. We conclude by asking what the best way to guarantee freedom of expression is.    Links: The Internet Con: How to seize the means of computation, Cory Doctorow, Verso  Pluralistic, Cory Doctorow's blog Big Tech and the Current Challenges Facing the Class Struggle, Tricontinental Institute