Neoliberalism, nostalgia and the risk of fascism

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content

Has political imagination died? Having made a name for herself as a leftist short-form content creator, Louisa Munch has quickly become Instagram’s favourite Critical Theorist. Expert in applying canonical political texts to the chaos we see unfolding today, Louisa joins us for a meandering discussion on higher education, leftist utopia and the how to challenge the insurgent populist right.

In this conversation, we explore the concept of ‘nostalgia’ and the mythological way it is deployed by the radical right, to call for a return to a harmonious and tranquil past. This idealised vision of what has come before is a seductive construction for many Brits, who have felt the grandeur and richness of the UK fade over the course of their lifetimes. Who is to blame?

Many are deeply dissatisfied with our current Labour government, who have not upended the neoliberal economic consensus, opting for foreign investment given constraints in the omnipotent bond market. But without engaging our economic imagination, it seems that Britain is fatalistically condemned to managed decline, energising populist demands on either flank. Over and over again, elections are being won and lost on which candidate most represents the change that people want to feel to our socio-economic order. Sticking with the devil you know doesn’t seem very attractive if you think you’re on the road to Hell.

If neoliberalism is indeed in its final days, then the question is what will replace it? Louisa argues that the Left needs to be thinking in the future, striving to achieve an ideal of worker empowerment that is free from neoliberal constraint. But can critical theory, the analysis of power relations and how to challenge them, tell us what that ‘utopia’ should look like and how to get there in practice?

00:00 Intro

03:45 Alienation and Economic Migration

08:17 Can the Left Use Nostalgia?

16:22 Universalism and the Boomer Class

21:45 Is Critical Theory Just Left-Wing Meta-Ideology?

28:05 Is Questioning Power Emotive or Rational?

31:55 Cross-Cultural Nostalgia

36:45 Is University Delivering What Society Needs?

44:30 Immigration and Integration

49:04 Patriarchy, Misogyny and Grooming Gangs

56:04 Pink Ladies Movement

1:00:29 White Working Class Anxiety

1:07:35 Economic Growth and Zero-Sum Thinking

1:13:05 Solving the Poverty of Ambition

1:17:20 Beware Utopian Idealists?

1:25:04 Gramsci + Cultural Change

1:30:05 Is America Still Democratic?