Cosmopod

An Arduous March: The Development of North Korea's Political Economy

Amelia, Rudy and Matt sit down to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's political economy, with a focus on the distinct periods. We discuss the "information problem" and how it frames the discussion, before detailing the history of the DPRK's formation after Japanese colonialism and the Korean War. We then discuss the detailed planning period, its unraveling in the mid 80s, and the Arduous March period after the collapse of the USSR, before finishing off with the present periods of market reform and market elimination. References: Charles K. Armstrong - The North Korean revolution, 1945-1950 Ellen Brun, Jacques Hersch - Socialist Korea: a case study in the strategy of economic development Liu Jinlong - Crying Forests: Political Ecology in the DPRK Yang Mun-su - North Korea's Planned Economy and Marketization Daniel Schwekendiek - A Socioeconomic History of North Korea Phillip H. Park - History of Economic Management in North Korea Zhihua Shen, Yafeng Xia - A Misunderstood Friendship: Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung, and Sino-North Korean Relations, 1949-1976

Your Party Founding Conference: Fiasco or Triumph? [Stream audio]

This is the audio of the Cosmostream of December 7th 2025 on Your Party with guests Bryce Bailey and Charlie Porter from the Democratic Socialists of Your Party. We cover the origins of Your Party, why the guests have chosen to intervene in YP and not the Greens and what kind of intervention they are performing and the kinds of politics they are looking towards. We also cover the contested process of formation of YP, the sects and factions involved, the intricacies of the founding conference and what kind of limitations it had as well as DYSP as a group and its principles. Core reading: Archie W commissioned by Novara media Ewan T on DSYP's vision for Your Party Ewan C on DSYP's structure Kieran G on DSYP's strategy  Founding conference Background reading: Corbyn argues against a centralised party after the 2024 general election in an Guardian article  Guardian article on one of the first of Collective's secret conferences: After Memorandum of Understanding takes over the party-building process from Collective, Andrew Feinstein and Jamie Driscoll outline their vision for a Party The big TWT factions: https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/democratic-socialists/ https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/the-democratic-bloc/  https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/organising-for-popular-power/  https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/trans-liberation-group/  https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/greater-manchester-left-caucus/ Socialist Unity Platform: https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1562/all-out-for-liverpool/ https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1564/ideas-unity-action/ Inacio on the crowdediting process: https://inacioinvita.substack.com/p/protecting-your-partys-crowdediting  Founding Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk0FjNyvfgI  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UrxGlrFRpg 

Modern Industry and Prospects for Socialism

Dónal Ó Coisdealbha analyzes the history and results of the management and production system (TPS) developed by the Toyota Motor Corporation, arguing that the cooperative effects the TPS had on Toyota's internal labor relations contain the seeds of a successful model of socialist industrial production. Ó Coisdealbha is the director of process control, smart and digital development at a factory owned by a multinational electrical equipment manufacturer who is currently co-authoring a book with Tom O'Brien on labour time planning. His blog can be found here.   Reading: Carlos Campos Jr. 

The Border is a Mirror: Europe and the politics of migration with Iker Suarez

In this episode, Rudy joins Iker Suárez, author of The Migrant Genocide: Toward a Third World Analysis of European Class Struggle, to delve into the politics of migration and borders in Europe, examining how imperialism, class, and race intersect in what our guest describes as a "genocide at sea." We explore who the people migrating to Europe are, why they move, and how their journeys expose the contradictions at the heart of European liberalism. Our guest argues that immigration today represents the return of Europe's colonial past, and critiques how both the right and the nominal left continue to enforce violent border regimes -from the Tarajal massacre to ongoing state repression- while masking them as "human rights" issues. We also discuss the limits of NGO-led antiracism, the weak state of immigrant organizing across Europe, how the concept of race is undeveloped, and how citizenship itself becomes a new class divide.

What Is Missing From Your Understanding of Revolutionary Democratic Centralism

Steve Bloom ruminates on the meaning and practice of democratic centralism, arguing that respect for minority positions is key to building a truly disciplined revolutionary formation. Reading: Felix Bauer