Bungacast

On Jürgen Habermas' Legitimation Crisis.   [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive - sign up at patreon.com/bungacast]   We are in crisis, no doubt about that. But what kind? And what is the relation between economic, political and socio-cultural crisis?   In this first episode on Legitimacy, we go through part 1 of Habermas' book, to try to understand some key concepts: system integration versus social integration; what Habermas means by social systems and subsystems; and whether growing individuation makes us more or less prone to manipulation by the political command centre.   Join a local Reading Club. Email info@bungacast.com

Live event at Housman's Bookshop.   George Hoare hosts Dan Evans (author of A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petite Bourgeoisie) and Bungacast regular Catherline Liu (author of Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class) in a conversation about the middle class.    How should we conceptualise the middle class, how has it come to dominate politics, and what should be done about it?

On your questions and criticisms.   Bumper edition of Aufhebonus Bonus where we discuss whether we're technologically determinist with regard to artificial intelligence; whether the left should be bulding stuff; why criticising wokeness is boring; work, retirement and time; more on family abolition; and everyone's favourite topic – the PMC/new elite, etc.   Event: The Professional-Managerial Class and their Politics, London, Wednesday 28 June, 7pm

On reactionary feminism.    [Patreon Exclusive]   We continue our discussions on contemporary feminism by looking at the diametric opposite of the atomistic vision presented by Sophie Lewis: the conservative, communitarian approach advanced by Mary Harrington.     Harrington is critical of 'Progress Theology'. What does that mean, beyond rejecting new orthodoxies on gender – does that mean rejecting progress wholesale? If liberalism has reached a dead end, what intellectual supports should we draw upon?    And if we join Harrington in rejecting the 'caring' state – the 'antiseptic cyborg devouring mother' – does that mean also defending 'care' against 'freedom', as she does?    Readings: Feminism against Progress, Mary Harrington, Regenery  Reactionary Feminist, Mary Harrington, Substack /49/ Kids & Confessions ft. Amber A'Lee Frost /50/ On The Market ft. Anna Khachiyan

RIP Silvio   Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on 12 June 2023 at the age of 86. In this special episode, we say goodbye to the towering figure of the End of History, and explore how the contradictions he exemplified spoke to our age.    Contributions in order of appearance: Mattia Salvia Alice Oliveri Nadia Urbinati  Carlo Invernizzi-Accetti Paolo Gerbaudo  Thomas Fazi  Pier Paolo Tamburelli  The Bungacast Boys: Alex, George, Phil   Music: Bunga theme tune: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo Rune Dale / Tell You Something / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com

Silvio Berlusconi is no more. In mourning of our evil patron saint's passing, we're unlocking this previously paywalled episode in which we discuss a cinematic depiction of the big man. Keep an eye out for more on Berlusca coming out from us in the next days! ——— We discuss Paolo Sorrentino's "Loro" (2018), a dreamlike cinematic depiction of Silvio Berlusconi. Does the film succeed in capturing Silvio, or does it glamourise him? What explains the appeal he had - and why was the left never able to properly dethrone him? What does it say about 2000s Italy, and its relevance to our times?

On power, values and class.   [Patreon Exclusive]   British professor Matt Goodwin joins us to talk about his recent new book Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics published earlier this year with Penguin. Matt has argued that a new elite has come to dominate public life, leading institutions and the cultural industries in Britain and across the wider Western world, and that they are fixated with issues that divide them from the larger public – to whom they are bitter and hostile.   We talk about elites, old and new, as well as ideas about elites stemming back to Daniel Bell and Christopher Lasch, and how these elites are shaping the future of politics.   Matt also gives us a breakdown of the most recent local elections from the UK, what has happened with the Scottish National Party since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon, why Keir Starmer’s Labour party will likely win the next election, and why the Tories are - contrary to their ruthless reputation - failing to adapt to the new political landscape.   Readings: National Swing Man, the British electorate’s new-old tribe, Bagehot, The Economist A decade of SNP one-party rule left Scotland in a state, Matthew Goodwin, The Times Sunak’s Tories have lost the Red Wall – and are destined for oblivion, Matthew Goodwin, The Telegraph The New Elite is in complete denial, Matthew Goodwin, spiked

On work stoppages and work-doings. Ben Hickman, published poet and senior lecturer in English at the University of Kent, joins us to discuss his project on different understandings of work, or rather, The Work.  What is The Work and why is it so pernicious? Ben wrote a piece for Compact regarding how the American poet and radical professor Audre Lorde transformed the way we think about work. We talk through the differences between work and The Work, how it impacted radical activism, and how middle class work became all about self-exploration.  Ben talks through a new book project on work and how it is understood culturally through figures such as Jackson Pollock, among others. Plus, what is happening with industrial relations on UK campuses, and how has radical politics unfolded in the Labour Party over the last few years?  Reading: Stop Doing The Work, Ben Hickman, Compact “Atlantis Buried Outside”: Muriel Rukeyser, Myth, and the Crises of War, Ben Hickman, Criticism, Vol. 57, No. 4 (Fall 2015)

On Martin Hägglund's This Life. We continue on the theme of freedom by discussing Martin Hägglund's case for 'democratic socialism'. In this episode, we leave the book itself to one side and attempt to "put the concepts to work".  We survey the many intelligent responses the book has generated and discuss what their strengths and weaknesses are.   Is 'secular faith' just a therapeutic ethos to do with caring about your loved ones? What guarantees that we will use our free time appropriately? Why would we work freely for others? How does Hägglund’s vision work on a global scale? What kind of post-capitalist “state” does Hagglund actually propose? Does Hägglund evade class struggle? Does he have any vision of agency? For access to the Reading Club, join for $10/mo at patreon.com/bungacast Readings: Limited Time: On Martin Hägglund’s This Life, Robert Pippin – and response by Martin Hägglund (pdf) Response 2: The Problem of Agency, Lea Ypi, The Philosopher Socialism For Our Time: Freedom, Value, Transition, Conall Cash, Boundary2 (esp. Sections IV and V) LA Review of Books symposium. Pieces by Walter Benn Michaels, Benjamin Kunkel, William Clare Roberts and three-part response by Hägglund: 1, 2, 3

On family abolition. [Patreon Exclusive] Amber A'Lee Frost joins us to talk through recent radical proposals to do away with the family as an institution. Author Sophie Lewis claims that "ever since the capitalist victory over the long Sixties, the shout for abolition of the family has been buried beneath a strange kind of shame”, but that now it’s back. Why? What problems does family abolition address? And how do contemporary accounts sit in relation to earlier radical proposals by the Old and New Lefts? If "the family is doing a bad job at care" and "getting in the way of alternatives", what actually is the alternative? Wouldn't destroying the family merely make life worse for most, without putting anything better in its place?   Readings: Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation, Sophie Lewis, Verso Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against Family, Sophie Lewis, Verso Profile of Sophie Lewis in VICE Haven in a Heartless World, Christopher Lasch Vulnerability as Ideology, Peter Ramsay, The Northern Star The Lockdown Left: socialists against society, Philip Cunliffe, spiked Anti-Social Socialism Club, Dustin Guastella, Damage