On the achievement of democracy and the 'impartial' state.
We speak to sociologist Dylan Riley about his new book Microverses, a series of aphorisms on social theory and politics.
The rational-legal state seems to be under threat by politicians who have no sense of the division between public and private – patrimonialists like Donald Trump, or Silvio Berlusconi. What are we to make of this attack on the notion of office?
Anti-corruption politics is often the response, but what happens when the left positions itself as the defender of the 'impartial' bourgeois state – rather than its overthrower? And was democratic capitalism the achievement of a militant working class – or a concession made after the working class had already been disciplined by fascism and war?
The second half of the interview, and our After-Party, is available at patreon.com/bungacast
Readings:
/407/ Beyond Bare Life ft. Dustin Guastella
/406/ AufheBonus Bonus (sample)
/405/ Size Queen Nation ft. Christie Offenbacher & Benjamin Fife (sample)
/404/ Emotion Sickness: The Politics of Feelings (IV) ft. Catherine Liu (sample)
/402/ Revolution and Conservatism, e.g. in Mexico ft. Roger Lancaster (sample)
/403/ Reading Club: Habermas on Social Media (sample)
/401/ Modernity is Very Gay ft. Roger Lancaster
/396/ Enough Carnations? Portugal Decides, ft. Catarina Príncipe
/400/ The Political Oppositions of the Next Decade ft. Frost, Gourevitch, Liu, Phillips
/399/ From ADHD to Let Me Be (Emotion Sickness, pt III) [sample]
/398/ Emotion Sickness: The Politics of Feelings (II) ft. Ashley Frawley (sample)
/397/ Reading Club: Imagined Communities (sample)
Big news: Bungacast is getting bigger, better
/395/ A Coup From Within the Computer ft. Benjamin Studebaker (excerpt)
UNLOCKED /382/ Death of the Millennial Left ft. Chris Cutrone
/393/ Emotion Sickness: The Politics of Feelings (I) ft. Nina Power
/392/ The Biggest Country No One Talks About (II) ft. Michael Vann
Excerpt: /391/ Aufhebonus Bonus - Feb 2024
/390/ The Biggest Country No One Talks About ft. Vedi Hadiz
/388/ Betting on Bukele (I) ft. Nelson Rauda / Juan Rojas
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free