Return to Bandung The Problem with Western Marxism with Gabriel Rockhill
In this episode, I’m joined by guest host Ashwin Shantha of the Journal of International Solidarity podcast to interview Gabriel Rockhill, professor of philosophy at Villanova University and author of Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? (Monthly Review Press, 2025) about how the ‘imperial theory industry’ has served to undermine actually-existing socialist projects and national liberation struggles while maintaining a superficial guise of ‘radical’ politics. We discuss the political economy of knowledge production, the longstanding entanglements between Western academia, the national security state, and the capitalist ruling class, and what it means to understand the cultural and intellectual spheres as sites of political struggle.
About the show:
Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.
Support Return to Bandung:
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution:
Sources and helpful links:
Gabriel Rockhill — Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? (Monthly Review Press, 2025)
Domenico Losurdo — Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it Can be Reborn (Monthly Review Press, 2024)
Frances Stonor Saunders — Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War (Granta Books, 1999)
Gabriel Rockhill and John Bellamy Foster — Western Marxism and Imperialism: A Dialogue (Monthly Review, March 2025)
Return to Bandung episode with Ashwin Shantha on anti-imperialist political education (October 2025)
Roberto Fernández Retamar — Caliban: Notes towards a Discussion of Culture in Our America (The Massachusetts Review, Winter/Spring 1974)
Fidel Castro — Speech at the 8th Congress of the Cuban Young Communist League (December 1998)
Social links:
Return to Bandung:
Twitter: twitter.com/returntobandung
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/
Pranay Somayajula:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_somayajula
Website: https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/
Substack: https://www.culture-shock.xyz/
Journal of International Solidarity:
Substack: https://intlsolidarity.substack.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/revintlist
Gabriel Rockhill:
Website: https://gabrielrockhill.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabrielRockhill