Walter Rodney - Marxism in Africa (1975)

When one is asked to speak of the relevance of Marxism to Africa at this particular point in time one is being asked to involve oneself in a historical debate, an ongoing debate in this country, particularly among the Black population. It is a debate which has heightened over the last year and, from my own personal observations, is being waged in a large number of places across this country. Sometimes it appears in the guise of the so-called Nationalist versus the Marxist; sometimes it appears in the guise of those who claim to espouse a class position as opposed to those who claim to espouse a race position. Thus it would not be possible for us in a single session to enter into all the ramifications of that debate, but it does form the background for our discussions.

https://mronline.org/2021/08/14/marxism-in-africa-1975/

Revolutionary Mexico Tried to Transform the World Economy

An interview with Christy Thornton

In the twentieth century, the post-revolutionary Mexican government drew up ambitious plans to transform the world economic system for the benefit of the Global South. Their failure helped turn Mexico itself into a laboratory for neoliberalism.

https://jacobinmag.com/2021/08/mexican-revolution-world-economy-global-south-history-neoliberalism

Как «Талибану» (запрещенному в России) удалось снова завоевать Афганистан? Что там теперь будет?

В новом эпизоде подкаста «Что случилось» говорим с руководителем Центра изучения афганской политики Андреем Серенко.

00:00 Мы указываем это сообщение из-за давление властей
00:31 Что случилось
01:40 Почему Афганистан пал под натиском талибов
09:45 Что ждет Афганистан
11:07 Как Афганистан перешел под контроль Пакистана
18:15 Как можно было сохранить афганскую власть
22:18 Чего хотят талибы
26:43 О планах талибов
36:32 Почему Россия проиграла в Афганистане
45:48 О политическом будущем Афганистана

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FW9Expnq2xg

Константин Асмолов - Ракеты, диктатура, беженцы: что мы на самом деле знаем о Северной Корее

Что мы знаем об этом закрытом государстве и откуда получаем информацию? Как может существовать экономика страны в условиях жесткой самоизоляции? И представляет ли КНДР угрозу мировому порядку

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HAPGneMNBds

Stathis Kouvélakis - Against populist reason: Ernesto Laclau’s blind alleys

"Populism," as a political concept, gained mainstream traction over the 2010s as the neoliberal consensus broke down internationally. But what is populist theory and what is its relationship to the twentieth-century Marxist thought from which it developed? In this piece, Stathis Kouvélakis offers a critical examination of the political logic of Ernesto Laclau’s theory of populism.

https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/5138-against-populist-reason-ernesto-laclau-s-blind-alleys

Manfred Knoche - Capitalisation of the Media Industry From a Political Economy Perspective

Approaches to the critique of the political economy of communication in society belong to the “forgotten theories” in media and communication studies. But in view of the unmistakable structural change of a media industry “unleashed” by deregulation, privatisation, digitalisation, concentration, globalisation, etc., it seems from an academic perspective necessary to analyse the development of the media industry in close connection with the equally unmistakable general development of an “unleashed” capitalism. This article therefore shows that the analysis of the development processes of capitalism as the undoubtedly globally dominant economic and social system from a political economy perspective makes it possible to analyse, explain, and partly forecast the economisation or commercialisation process in the media industry in an academically appropriate way with regard to its causes, forms, consequences, and further development. Theoretical explanations are offered by the further developments of the analysis and critique of contemporary capitalism based on Marx’s critique of the political economy as a historical-materialist analysis of society. In doing so, the permanent fundamental characteristics, modes of functioning and “regularities” of the capitalist mode of production and the capitalist formation of society are analysed in connection with the particularities of the current capitalisation process in the media industry.

https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/download/1283/1441

Этьен Балибар - Люди, армии, народы: Толстой и субъект войны

Статья посвящена политике войны, как ее мыслит Лев Толстой в романе «Война и мир». Толстой опрокидывает интерпретацию войны Клаузевицем как «продолжения политики», парадоксально обобщая и радикализуя один из его тезисов: положения о «превосходстве защитной стратегии» над наступательной. В концепции Толстого оборонительная стратегия трансформируется в негативную, которая подвергает сомнению понимание власти и начала (архэ) как с точки зрения отношения к командованию, так и с точки зрения воздействия отдельной воли на ход истории. Через размышление о значении партизанской войны как привилегированной формы войны народной это приводит к негативному переосмыслению идеи сочленения «народа» и «армии». В конечном счете, выступая основополагающей исторической силой, «народ», который проявляет себя в войне за освобождение или борьбе за общее благо, лишается своих метафизических характеристик субъекта. Однако его общинная сущность и правда о политике по ту сторону политики или же на ее крайних пределах, когда исчезают институциональные связи, символически всплывает в провиденциальной встрече Пьера Безухова и Платона Каратаева. Но этот хрупкий опыт оформляет и символизирует тот витальный элемент, который учреждает общность народа по ту сторону частных интересов и институций.

http://www.intelros.ru/pdf/logos/2021_03/4.pdf

Jamie McCallum - Stanley Aronowitz Knew That Freedom Begins Where Work Ends

Stanley Aronowitz died this week at 88. He hated work, loved life, and brought his overflowing, exuberant approach to social problems to picket lines, classrooms, and vacation. A fighting left needs more people like him.

https://jacobinmag.com/2021/08/stanley-aronowitz-labor-unions-academica-marxism-education-obituary

Foucault (With Hair) - The Early Foucault With Stuart Elden

On this episode, Adam and Will are joined by Stuart Elden to discuss his latest book, The Early Foucault. We discuss the academic experiences and personal relationships that were formative in the Foucault’s development as an intellectual. The conversation ranges from Foucault’s early interest in Hegelianism to the influence of Canguilhem, Hyppolite, Barraque, Althusser, and others!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PBD3tjLIu8

Carola Dietze - The Invention of Terrorism in Europe, Russia and the United States

This book examines key cases of terrorist violence to show that the invention of terrorism was linked to the birth of modernity in Europe, Russia and the United States, rather than to Tsarist despotism in 19th century Russia or to Islam sects in Medieval Persia. Combining a highly readable historical narrative with analysis of larger issues in social and political history, the author argues that the dissemination of news about terrorist violence was at the core of a strategy that aimed for political impact on rulers as well as the general public. Dietze’s lucid account also reveals how the spread of knowledge about terrorist acts was, from the outset, a transatlantic process. Two incidents form the book’s centerpiece. The first is the failed attempt to assassinate French Emperor Napoléon III by Felice Orsini in 1858, in an act intended to achieve Italian unity and democracy. The second case study offers a new reading of John Brown's raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry in 1859, as a decisive moment in the abolitionist struggle and occurrences leading to the American Civil War. Three further examples from Germany, Russia, and the US are scrutinized to trace the development of the tactic by first imitators. With their acts of violence, the “invention” of terrorism was completed. Terrorism has existed as a tactic since then and has essentially only been adapted through the use of new technologies and methods.

Rossi U. Cities in global capitalism

In what ways are cities central to the evolution of contemporary global capitalism? And in what ways is global capitalism forged by the urban experience? This book provides a response to these questions, exploring the multifaceted dimensions of the city-capitalism nexus. Drawing on a wide range of conceptual approaches, including political economy, neo-institutionalism and radical political theory, this insightful book examines the complex relationships between contemporary capitalist cities and key forces of our times, such as globalization and neoliberalism. Taking a truly global perspective, Ugo Rossi offers a comparative analysis of the ways in which urban economies and societies reflect and at the same time act as engines of global capitalism. Ultimately, this book shows how over the past three decades capitalism has shifted a gear no longer merely incorporating key aspects of society into its system, but encompassing everything, including life itself and illustrates how cities play a central role within this life-oriented construction of global capitalism.

Дмитрий Поляков - Обратное присвоение. Постанархизм как антиполитическая политика

Цель исследования — анализ концепта антиполитической политики, сформулированного теоретиком постанархизма С. Ньюманом. В статье раскрывается смысловое ядро парадоксального анархистского синтеза политики и антиполитики, который находит выражение в ряде протестных социально-политических движений современности. Научная новизна исследования связана как с критикой, так и с защитой постанархистских установок, направленных на переосмысление и альтернативное наполнение понятия политики. Результатом становится промежуточный вывод о неизбежности микрополитических и «антиполитических» практик в контексте присвоения и бюрократизации политического со стороны государства.

https://syg.ma/@riedaktsiia-akrateia/obratnoie-prisvoieniie-postanarkhizm-kak-antipolitichieskaia-politika

Elena L. Lange - Value without Fetish: Uno Kōzō’s Theory of ‘Pure Capitalism’ in Light of Marx’s Critique of Political Economy. Historical Materialism Book Series Vol. 227, Brill, 2021.

Reviewed by Pete Green

Elena Louisa Lange has devoted over 500 pages of text to a critique of the work of Japanese Marxist Kōzō Uno (1897-1977) and some of his disciples. The opening sentences of the introduction incisively summarize the agenda: ‘This book wants to put the critique of the fetishism of the bourgeois relations of production back into the Critique of political Economy. Its aim is to demonstrate that the disavowal of the critique of fetishism strips the Marxist project of its critical core, its raison d’etre.’

The only theoretical work by Uno available in English remains the abbreviated edition of Principles of Political Economy: Theory of a Purely Capitalist Society (1980). Lange’s knowledge of Japanese has enabled her to read and summarize Uno’s collected works. One reason for the length of the book is that the author provides extensive quotations from Uno’s texts, frequently followed by equally extensive passages from Marx.

https://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviews/19518_value-without-fetish-uno-kozos-theory-of-pure-capitalism-in-light-of-marxs-critique-of-political-economy-by-elena-louisa-lange-reviewed-by-pete-green/

Л. Вульф - Изобретая Восточную Европу: карта цивилизации в сознании эпохи Просвещения

В своей книге, ставшей обязательным чтением как для славистов, так и для всех, стремящихся глубже понять «Запад» как культурный феномен, известный американский историк и культуролог Ларри Вульф показывает, что нет ничего «естественного» в привычном нам разделении континента на Западную и Восточную Европу. Вплоть до начала XVIII столетия европейцы подразделяли свой континент на средиземноморский Север и балтийский Юг, и лишь с наступлением века Просвещения под пером философов родилась концепция «Восточной Европы». Широко используя классическую работу Эдварда Саида об Ориентализме, Вульф показывает, как многочисленные путешественники — дипломаты, писатели и искатели приключений  заложили основу того снисходительно-любопытствующего отношения, с которым «цивилизованный» Запад взирал (или взирает до сих пор?) на «отсталую» Восточную Европу.

Laura Raicovich - Culture Strike: Art and Museums in an Age of Protest

A leading activist museum director explains why museums are at the center of a political storm

In an age of protest, cultural institutions have come under fire. Protestors have mobilized against sources of museum funding, as happened at the Metropolitan Museum, and against board appointments, forcing tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign at the Whitney. That is to say nothing of demonstrations against exhibitions and artworks. Protests have roiled institutions across the world, from the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim to the Akron Art Museum. A popular expectation has grown that galleries and museums should work for social change. As Director of the Queens Museum, Laura Raicovich helped turn that New York municipal institution into a public commons for art and activism, organizing high-powered exhibitions that doubled as political protests. Then in January 2018, she resigned, after a dispute with the Queens Museum board and city officials. This public controversy followed the museum’s responses to Donald Trump’s election, including her objections to the Israeli government using the museum for an event featuring Vice President Mike Pence. In this lucid and accessible book, Raicovich examines some of the key museum flashpoints and provides historical context for the current controversies. She shows how art museums arose as colonial institutions bearing an ideology of neutrality that masks their role in upholding conservative, capitalist values. And she suggests ways museums can be reinvented to serve better, public ends.

Interview: Chantal Mouffe on democracy, populism, and why the Left needs to read Spinoza

In this interview,  Tocqueville21 editor David Klemperer asks her to reflect on her work from the perspective of  2021. Does she stand by her previous analyses? Has populism proven to be a successful strategy for the left? And what is the situation of democracy in Europe and America today?

https://tocqueville21.com/blog-info/interview-chantal-mouffe-on-democracy-populism-and-why-the-left-needs-to-read-spinoza/