/308/ A Balance-Sheet of the Left
Added 2022-12-13 07:01:00 +0000 UTCOn the global left after the Cold War.
[Patreon Exclusive]
Has the left declined, been defeated, or is it dead? Is the continuity with the Old and New Lefts of the 20th century, or should we understand 1989 as marking a definitive break?
We use a long essay by Swedish Marxist sociologist Göran Therborn in the latest New Left Review as a plank to examine these questions. Therborn tries to present a synoptic analysis of where the left is, globally speaking, almost a quarter of the way into the 21st century. Is he right that the old dialectics of industrialism and colonialism are no longer operative - and that no new dialectic has emerged?
And is trying to present a "balance sheet" a valid approach in the first place?
FILL OUT OUR 2022 LISTENER SURVEY: tinyurl.com/bunga2022survey
Links:
- The World and the Left, Göran Therborn, New Left Review (2022)
- Renewals, Perry Anderson, New Left Review (2000)
- /37/ The Ghosts of May ‘68 ft. Catherine Liu, Bungacast
- OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, ep. 3 (Boomers), Bungacast
Comments
I understand Phil's frustration: a stupid thing is not made less stupid just because is leftist, we should instead be looking for alternatives that are equally leftis, but less stupid. But this is hindered by our reverence to stupid stuff just by virtue of them being leftist. Also, Alex's formulation that the left is protecting representative democracy, but adds some participatory elements suggests that the two principles are by default in harmony. I think that's wrong: all these deliberative/participatory nonsense are a cover for the Left's profound unease, and misunderstanding of, the principle of representation, the meaning of representative mandate etc. Or a manifestation of what George called 'moral minoritarianism', and the inability to construct workable societal majorities.
Szilárd
2023-01-04 09:17:01 +0000 UTC>the Republican Party can assert its agenda and stop majoritarian agenda making simply by clinging to power in the institutions it has gamed to its advantage Ok, and is anyone gonna treat this dialectically and ask what it means for institutions to be "gameable" and immune to popular input in this way?
Eli S
2022-12-19 18:40:15 +0000 UTCI’m not sure what it’s like outside the US, but I think Phil seriously underestimates how consistently and openly anti democratic the Republican Party is (whom “anti fascism” typically ends up being mobilized against). It’s not a defense of the “status quo” because the status quo is in fact a product largely of the Republican Party when it comes to electoral procedure and legislative procedure. The defense of the filibuster, the conservative courts, hyper gerrymandered federal and state maps, refusals to implement popular referendums, the electoral college, opposition to electoral reforms and extreme election laws are the status quo in much of or all of the United States and they broadly end up buttressing the institutions of power the republicans have leveraged for years, despite being a consistently minoritarian and deeply unpopular party. I understand that the Democratic Party is veering towards its own form of authoritarianism and dangerous alliances with big tech/mass media, but it can’t be understated that much of this is them knowing that if they take their boot off the Republican party’s neck, they could be thrown in a situation where the Republican Party can assert its agenda and stop majoritarian agenda making simply by clinging to power in the institutions it has gamed to its advantage. Whether or not invoking “anti fascism” as a way to stop the Republican Party and it’s agenda is cynical is a minor point when compared to the fact that the Republican Party is consistently anti majoritarian and actively seeks to game the already anti democratic, anti representative American political system to its advantage to ensure that even If it can’t impose its agenda, it can veto anything it doesn’t even like, even if it’s position ks enormously unpopular. To whatever degree american Democrats and liberals are becoming authoritarian, it has to be understood that that is almost entirely the product of response to the Republican Party setting an electiral and procedural status quo that is dead set on preventing majoritarianism from winning
jkjkjkj
2022-12-18 23:24:04 +0000 UTC
