Aufhebunga Bunga

On the NGO-isation of the state. [Patreon Exclusive] Researchers and writers Matthew Thompson and Jonny Gordon-Farleigh join us to discuss their recent Damage article with George Hoare. Civil society was once occupied by popular forces that could function as a bulwark against both capitalist marketization and state authoritarianism. Today, it has been colonized by the NGO, which, in turn, colonizes our hollowed-out politics. We ask: What are 'private NGOs', and what are quangos? How has 'projectification' taken over? What does the NGOisation of society mean? How does this kill public accountability? What are concrete examples of this process? What comes next? Any possibility for resurrecting things like Working Men’s Clubs?  Links: Bodiless Bodies: The Rise of Para-Institutions, George, Matt & Jonny, Damage Reconstructing Public Housing: Liverpool’s hidden history of collective alternatives, Matthew Thompson The NGOization of the West, George Hoare, Café american

On your questions & criticisms. [Patreon Exclusive] We respond with comments on episodes 420 to 432 and various other points you wanted to us to discuss. In this episode: Does our politics lack self-critique? When did the breakdown of the UK's political system begin? How hegemonic is "settler" discourse? Will there be a coup in France? Do we need more analysis of the PMC? How did victimhood become a means for the expression of political demands?   Links: The Making of a New Political Subject, George Hoare, Café americain Vulnerability as Ideology, Peter Ramsay, The Northern Star

On Naomi Klein & Naomi Wolf and "political diagonalism" Episode in association with Damage magazine. Patreon Exclusive. Ben Burgis talks to Alex and George about his review in Damage of Naomi Klein's Doppelgangers. We discuss: Whether Naomi Klein is representative of the average left-wing position this century What Klein's trajectory and that of Naomi Wolf tell us about contemporary politics What is "pipiking" – Philip Roth's term for making everything a farce? What role do conspiracy theories play for the Right today? For the Left? What's wrong with the idea of "settlers" and "indigenous", and how does it play out with regard to Jews and to Native Americans? Are we right to hold up “proper left” and “proper right” as ideals to which the ideological confusion of our times should return?   Links: Left Identitarianism Is Also A Mirror World, Ben Burgis, Damage Ben Burgis' columns at Jacobin What comes after wokeness?, Alex Hochuli, Substack The Making of a New Political Subject, George H

On the structure of the Chinese state and its external relations. [Patreon Exclusive: for the full episode, go to patreon.com/bungacast] We welcome back Lee Jones and Shahar Hameiri to reflect on the outcome of the recent plenum of the Chinese Communist Party and to ask who, if anyone beyond Xi Jinping, is calling the shots. How will the CCP respond to the US election? Why is China not a monolithic, integrated state in the way some think? How important is the the Sino-Russian alliance? Does it matter more to Russia or to China? What happened to "wolf-warrior diplomacy"? Is it still a thing?  What's going on economically with the property bubble, and with Chinese manufacturing over-capacity? Should we be worried about WWIII over Taiwan or the South China Sea?   Links: China’s plenum must offer action not rote slogans, Financial Times Views of China and Xi Jinping in 35 countries, Pew Research Centre Fractured China: How State Transformation is Shaping China’s Rise, Lee Jones & Shahar Hame

On the tourist city, the tourist industry, and its critics. Renowned Italian journalist Marco d'Eramo joins us to talk about his wide-ranging inquiry into the age of tourism, The World in a Selfie. We also discuss how migration is the obverse of tourism, and take a look at Marco's most recent book, Masters, on the neoliberal revolution from above. Why is hating tourists the main characteristic of being a tourist? Why is the tourist/traveller dichotomy a false one? What is the threshold for a city becoming a place that exists primarily for tourists? How should we understand tourism economically, and why is the tourist city a mono-industry? Is the "authentic" travel experience ever possible? Why do critiques of tourism so often slide into snobbery or outright class contempt? How is the city changing under the impact not just of "over-tourism" but rising rents, exclusions, and remote working? Links: The World in a Selfie: An Inquiry into the Tourist Age, Marco d'Eramo, Verso Masters: The Invisibl

On Julien Benda's famous 1927 work. [Patreon Exclusive] We continue on the theme of 'Intellectuals and the Public' by discussing the often cited by little read The Treason of the Clerks. We ask: If Benda was responding to the intellectuals' role in the Dreyfus Affair and WWI, was he already a man out of his time? What are intellectuals' proper role in society? Can they be abstract universalist moralists? Benda laments the end of humanism – can we endorse this lament, even if things are too far gone now? Is Benda a centrist dad, urging us all not to get too passionate or engaged? How do Benda’s ideas related to Gramsci’s notion of the traditional versus the organic intellectual? If Benda was critical of the 'realism' of his day – as opposed to the detached ethics of pre-20th century intellectuals – how might we use Benda to critique the cynicism of today? Readings: Treason of the Intellectuals, Mark Lilla, Tablet (from preface to new edition) The Treason of the Intellectuals, Niall Ferguson, Th

On JD Vance, Hillbilly Elegy, and arresting decline. [For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast] We discuss the Netflix adaptation of vice-presidential nominee JD Vance's memoir – and the memoir itself – and what it tells us about the direction of US politics, Trump, and MAGA. We ask: What is Ryan's own anti-hillbilly elegy, drawn from his experience in Central Illinois? How far does the character in the film correspond with Vance’s public persona today?  How do we account for Vance’s political pivot – at least in rhetoric – from “lift yourself up by your bootstraps” meritocracy to pro-labour nationalism?  What will happen to rural/small-town US American life? Plus: Is reading books gay? Is a "hillbilly" just Hillary + Bill? And what is a horseshoe sandwich? Links: The State of Illinois is Killing My Family, Ryan Zickgraf, Jacobin An anti-Hillbilly Elegy, Ryan Zickgraf, The Third Rail (Substack)  Hillbilly Elegy Doesn’t Reflect the Appalachia I Know, Cassie Chambers Armstrong, The Atlantic 

On emotional capitalism + Israeli politics. Renowned sociologist Eva Illouz joins us to talk about her recent book on the emotions of populism, and her work on the sociology of emotions in general. We discuss: Why have emotions become such a collective obsession? Where can you buy emotional commodities? What are influencers really selling? What emotions accompany victim culture? How is identity and victimhood linked in a way that allow us never to forgive or forget? Plus: How has Netanyahu failed even on his own terms? How has Israeli populism channelled fear, disgust, resentment, and love? Why have Eva's views on the progressive left changed?   Readings & Links: The Emotional Life of Populism: How Fear, Disgust, Resentment, and Love Undermine Democracy, Eva Illouz Emotion Sickness: The Politics of Feelings, Bungacast series Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism, Eva Illouz /232/ Reading Club: Cold, Hard / Warm, Soft - on Eva's 'Cold Intimacies' The Global Left Needs

On the disaster of the culture wars. [Patreon Exclusive] Regular contributor Catherine Liu is back on to talk about her essay in Damage, issue 2, "Professional Populists in the Culture Wars". We discuss: What were the original 'culture wars' and how are they different to today? Why are the "academic populists" more elitist than anyone? Was there a need in the 1980s to "disrupt" the humanities? Why does conservatism now need to wear "populist" clothes? How should we defend the "canon"? What is the "Catherine Liu Foundation for Attacking Badness"? Links: Professional Populists in the Culture Wars, Catherine Liu, Damage /246/ Why Isn't There Revolution? ft. Vivek Chibber /67/ Legacies of Postmodernism ft. Catherine Liu Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature, Janice Radway 

On the late Dmitri Furman's account of post-Soviet Russia. Patreon Exclusive: for the Reading Club, join for $12/mo and get access to ALL Bungacast content, incl. 4 exclusive, original episodes a month We continue our discussions along this year's themes (rise and fall of nations; Russia past and present) by tackling Imitation Democracy: The Development of Russia's Post-Soviet Political System. Why has there been a revival in interest in the late Soviet and early post-Soviet period? And in the global 1990s in general? What does it really mean to be without-alternative? Why didn't democracy take hold in Russia? And why did it become an "imitation democracy" and not something else? How was Yeltsin a disaster? And what was Putin's appeal? Does 'Putinism' actually exist? Is it interesting or novel in any way? What happened after Furman's death and Russia's turn to "violent parody of the West"? Readings: Imitation Democracy: The Development of Russia's Post-Soviet Political System, Dmitri Furman, Ver

On your questions & criticisms about fertility, culture war, and more. [Patreon Exclusive] In our monthly mailbag episode we take points from the discussion on patreon, including on futuristic music, holocaust movies, german populism, whether culture war can be global, and the link between modernisation, productivity and birth rates.    

On France's surprise parliamentary election. The left-wing 'New Popular Front' came a surprise first, for now putting a halt to expectations that the far-right Rassemblement National would soon enter government. We talk to political scientist and commentator Charles Devellennes, and ask: What was Macron's gamble in calling this early election?  Is becoming Prime Minister actually a bad thing for your future prospects? Is the Left actually 'far left' and the Right 'far right'? Is Le Pen a fascist? Did the Left actually save Macron? Why not an alliance between Left and Right against the centre? Will France opt for the undemocratic 'Italian Solution' and appoint an unelected technocrat? Can Macron's party and his style of rule survive Macron eventually being out of office? Does the uncertainty mean France is back to the postwar 4th Republic? Is this continuity? Something new? Links: The Macron Régime: The Ideology of the New Right in France, Charles Devellennes

On Labour's landslide and sandcastle majority. We unpick what happened in the UK's general election, discussing: How did Labour get such a large majority with so little enthusiasm for them? Is the UK now a multiparty democracy, and will there be demands for serious electoral reform? What accounts for low turnout and the fragmentation of the vote (Reform, Greens, Independents, etc)? What is Keir Starmer's electoral base and how will he govern? What is their electoral programme? Is Nigel Farage's reform the real opposition now?  Is the Brexit period now definitely over? Will there be a move to rejoin the EU? Links: The McSweeney Project, Tom McTague, UnHerd Debasing Citizenship, Peter Ramsay, TNS Data on the nationalist right + driving to work in the UK and French train stations

Ukraine, from Maidan to war. [For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast] Berlin-based Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko joins us to talk about his new book, Towards the Abyss: Ukraine from Maidan to War and his dissection of the war and the underlying political crisis in Ukraine. We discuss: class conflict in Ukraine as a legacy of the collapse of the USSR and the stagnation of the Brezhnev regime in the 1970s.  The role of the Ukrainian professional classes in the conflict and oversize influence of relatively small neo-Nazi and far-right movements  The meaning of ‘Soviet Ukrainians’ today and whether a neo-Soviet revival is happening among youth across the post-Soviet landscape  The difference between neo-Soviet revival and Eastern bloc ‘Ostalgie’ The concept of de-modernisation The vicious post-Soviet cycle of passive revolutions and corrupt oligarchic regimes Links:  Towards the Abyss: Ukraine from Maidan to War, Volodymyr Ishchenko The crisis of Soviet Ukraine, Volodymyr Ishchenk

On baby bust, feminism and male resentment. [Patreon Exclusive] Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips call up Korean sociologist Hyeyoung Woo, director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State University, to talk about demography, family and gender in the Republic of Korea. How urgent is the national debate on fertility? What policy measures have been introduced to reverse the decline? How is work organised and how do long hours contribute to the lack of family formation? What has been the impact of feminist movements in Korea? Is there a male backlash against feminism underway? Why is there such a huge gender gap in voting behaviour among the young? Links: /394/ Girls, Left / Boys, Right ft. Nina Power The Real Reason South Koreans Aren’t Having Babies, Anna Louie Sussman, The Atlantic Foreign maids and no military service: South Korea criticised over ideas to boost birthrate, The Guardian South Korea's incel election, S. Nathan Park, UnHerd Why South Korean women aren

On the electricity grid and the institutions involved. [Patreon Exclusive] Fred Stafford, a STEM professional, a writer on energy and power, and an editor at Damage, talks to Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips about the utility of utilities and his recent essay in the second print issue of Damage, "Deinstitutionalized"./ What actually is a utility: is it a question of ownership, structure, purpose..? How did the 70s energy crisis, neoliberal economics, and environmentalism create a perfect storm that broke up regulated utilities? How does the regulatory regime on energy in the US actually work? Why have environmentalists been so keen to line up with neoliberal deregulation and to attack utilities – in Europe as well as the US? Why should the left think about a restoration of the investor-owned utility model, and not just jump straight to public ownership? Links: The Utility of Utilities, Fred Stafford & Matt Huber, Damage Big Public Power from the Atom, Matt Huber & Fred Staffor

On German political derangement. [Patreon Exclusive] Independent researcher and writer Gregor Baszak joins us to talk about German centrism being squeezed under pressure from both left and right — Sahra Wagenknecht and the AFD. Meanwhile the German economy is getting squeezed between the US and Russia, and NATO pressures Germany to up its defence spending.   Is German public life remilitarising?  What are the prospects for Sahra Wagenknecht’s new ‘left-conservative’ politics?  What was the original political vision behind the Nordstream 2 pipeline?  Why are Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni trying to carve the AFD out of pan-European national-populist cooperation?  Where does Germany now stand in relation to the Ukraine War?  Links: Europe After America, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative  What’s the Matter With Germany?, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative The Left-wing maverick who could stop the AfD For many, Sahra Wagenknecht is a tribune of the people, Gregor Baszak, UnHerd  

On India's election and a blow for the BJP. Esteemed writer and social activist Achin Vanaik is back on Bungacast to unpick India's monumental, seven-week-long electoral process in which over 600m people took part. How did the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP lose its majority? Is there really a cult of personality around Modi? How does the BJP differ in important ways from Western 'national conservatives'? Does the BJP losing seats reflect a loss of support for Hindutva ideology? Modi claims India will reach developed economy status by 2047. Is this true? How bad are problems of under- and un-employment, especially for the youth? What is the nature of India's "crony oligarchy"? How does the National Population Register threaten to divest people of citizenship? How does the BJP see Israel as an example for itself? Links: /198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik In State Repression and Its Justification, India and Israel Have Much in Common, Achin Vanaik, The Wire Narendra Modi Is Preparing N

On your questions & criticism regarding pro-Palestine protests.   [Patreon Exclusive]   In this episode we focus on the discussion generated by our episode that came out in early May on the protests on US campuses. We discuss the issues along a few axes: How do ideas of victimhood relate to the material reality of international politics? What really are the aims of the protesters and how likely are they to achieve them? Are we cynical in our approach or conclusions? How do the protests relate to populism and the end of the End of History? What is the proper basis of nationhood? How do these protests relate to the millennial Left? We also deal with your points on Civil War, the state funding of culture, and whether Joe Rogan is a good male role model.   Readings: Vulnerability as Ideology, Peter Ramsay, Northern Star The victimological imagination, Matthew B. Crawford, Substack  

On MORENA and Claudia Sheinbaum's huge victory. Mexico has elected its first woman president, tasked with extending the hugely popular AMLO'S legacy. What are her prospects and challenges? We ask: What was the effect of NAFTA on Mexico, and particularly manufacturing? How is US-China competition playing out in Mexico? Why did Trump and leftist AMLO get along? What about Scheinbaum and Trump? How does the politics of migration play out in Mexico? How come there is no hardline Mexican right, especially given the problems of crime and drug trafficking? Can other countries follow MORENA's example of centre-left success? Links: Mexico’s Political Revolution, Juan David Rojas, Compact AMLO and Mexico’s Fourth Transformation, Juan David Rojas, American Affairs Lessons of the AMLO-Trump Bromance, Juan David Rojas, Compact /413/ Left-Populism That Works? (I) ft. Roger Lancaster