Ep. 50: Anti-Imperialism and MSNBC-Approved Socialism
Added 2018-09-19 15:15:55 +0000 UTCWith recent primary election wins by candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, James Thompson, Julia Salazar and others, the terms “socialist” and “democratic socialist” are everywhere. Media outlets across the political spectrum - from The Washington Post and Business Insider to NPR and MSNBC to Jacobin - have rushed to publish explainer articles, demystifying the tenets of socialism and its variations for a mass American audience.
But one thing missing from the bulk of these explainers – many of them written by high-profile Democratic Socialists themselves - is a robust account of foreign policy and the role America’s massive imperial footprint would play in any future Democratic Socialist America. Instead, descriptions of socialism stick primarily to domestic issues.
Similarly, the wave of recent democratic socialist explainers are quick to distance their brand of Democratic Party-friendly socialism with the scary brand in the Global South, namely that of Venezuela. Highlighting instead the virtues of white-majority countries like Sweden and Denmark, many socialist whisperers dismiss out of hand the Bolivarian Revolution with the dreaded “authoritarian” label.
In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of this approach and how to know the difference between good faith critiques of socialist systems in the global south and quick and cheap fetishizing of Scandinavian countries – none of which have had to grapple with the complexities of colonialism.
We are joined by two guests: Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and Shireen Al-Adeimi, assistant professor of education at Michigan State University.
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Guests
Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and Director of IPS's New Internationalism Project. She has written and edited 11 books, including Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power and popular primers on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, US-Iran relations, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Shireen Al-Adeimi is an assistant professor of education at Michigan State University. Having lived through two civil wars in her country of birth, Yemen, she has played an active role in raising awareness about the U.S.-supported, Saudi-led war on Yemen since 2015. Through her work, she aims to encourage political action among fellow Americans to bring about an end to U.S. intervention in Yemen.
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Show Notes
What Would a Socialist America Look Like?
Politico Magazine | September 3, 2018
Ben Beckett | September 14, 2018 | Jacobin
Ocasio-Cortez, the Left, and the Future of Palestine
Corey Robin | July 17, 2018 | Jacobin
The Millennial Socialists Are Coming
Michelle Goldberg | June 30, 2018 | The New York Times
Socialism Is on a Winning Streak
John Nichols | May 18, 2018 | The Nation
Kevin Drum | August 28, 2018 | Mother Jones
Sanders, Redbaiting and the ‘Denouncing’ Double Standard
Adam Johnson | March 11, 2016 | FAIR
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References & Further Reading
Was it socialism or a capitalist conspiracy that tanked Venezuela’s economy?
Deanna Isaacs | August 1, 2018 | Chicago Reader
Muslim candidates band together in Michigan
David Weigel | July 30, 2018 | The Washington Post
Democratic socialists stage a summertime comeback
David Weigel | July 24, 2018 | The Washington Post
Neal Meyer | July 20, 2018 | Jacobin
“It Really Comes Down to Empowering the Working Class” - An Interview with Julia Salazar
Meghan Day | July 6, 2018 | Jacobin
Here's the difference between a 'socialist' and a 'Democratic socialist'
John Haltiwanger | June 28, 2018 | Business Insider
Velshi & Ruhle | June 28, 2018 | MSNBC
Western Media Shorthand on Venezuela Conveys and Conceals So Much
Joe Emersberger | April 23, 2018 | FAIR
The west is gripped by Venezuela’s problems. Why does it ignore Brazil’s?
Julia Blunck | August 10, 2017 | The Guardian
Mike Gonzalez | August 8, 2017 | Jacobin
How Venezuela went from a rich democracy to a dictatorship on the brink of collapse
Zeeshan Aleem | September 19, 2017 | Vox
The 2002 Venezuelan Coup the Media Conveniently Forgot
Adam Johnson | March 20, 2015 | Alternet
Venezuela Before Chávez: Anatomy of an Economic Collapse
Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco R. Rodríguez | Summer 2014 | Americas Quarterly
US 'gave the nod' to Venezuelan coup
Julian Borger & Alex Bellos | April 17, 2002 | The Guardian
The Political Economy of Anti-Politics and Social Polarisation in Venezuela 1998-2004
Jonathan DiJohn | December 2005 | London School of Economics
U.S. Papers Hail Venezuelan Coup as Pro-Democracy Move
Rachel Coen | June 2002 | FAIR
Venezuela in the 1980s, the 1990s and beyond
Javier Corrales | Fall 1999 | ReVista
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here.
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Comments
Great episode, have both the guests back soon. They were excellent.
2018-09-20 23:06:43 +0000 UTCI think an interesting topic would exploring the epistemological foundations of the various types of left politics. Sometimes I find discussions impoverished by a clearer picture of what different parts of the left stand for and what their historical roots. Perhaps that’s too far from the excellent media criticism that is the focus of the show but I think it would fit nicely.
2018-09-20 15:47:00 +0000 UTCRight right, you were clear, I was just adding these thoughts
2018-09-20 15:41:34 +0000 UTCWe thought it was clear we were talking about the label or idea of "socialism", not commenting on the popularity of some correct or platonic notion of socialism.
Citations Needed
2018-09-20 15:38:08 +0000 UTCThe idea that Bernie revived socialism is very shallow. The recession, with its decline in living conditions and a series of disastrous wars have revived interest in socialism. And from a Marxist perspective none of these people or counties are actually socialist.
2018-09-20 15:35:42 +0000 UTCNima says at like 9.00 mark that Scandinavian socialists "hasn't had to deal with the US/CIA interfering like Venezuela" (paraphrase), I get the point of course and it's largely correct. But Sweden actually did have some trouble with the Truman administration where they forced the social democrats to ban communists from Swedish unions etc in the 50's. In the 60's and 70's there was this shadowy counter-intelligence (perhaps Stay Behind-connected) network which would spy on radical social democrats opposed to the Vietnam war etc. And in the 80's the Reagan government tried actively to undermine the Palme social democrats through various means because of his vocal criticisms of the last phase of the Cold war arms race, and his quite substantial help to the ANC and Sandinistas. Some people even suspect the CIA had a hand in the murder of Palme, though there's at best second hand evidence.
Hampus Bystrom
2018-09-20 07:26:38 +0000 UTC1. You guys were precommitted to your hypothesis that there is no domestic voice for the 'recipients' of US foreign milliary violence. True, but not what your guests were saying. 2. The scarcity of money being crowded out by military expenditures obviously links domestic and antiimperialism. 3. Re drones, see the deep work, "A Theory of the Drone" by Gregoire Chamayou (English Ed 2015)
Marc Mayerson
2018-09-20 02:54:46 +0000 UTCFine work gentlemen....... Now will a serious anti war movement speed up the next "unforeseen" financial crash ? This is disaster capitalism after all.
David Blobaum
2018-09-19 23:50:46 +0000 UTCcongrats on 50! seriously been my favourite since ep1.
sensorsweep
2018-09-19 15:27:34 +0000 UTC
