Left-Wing Melancholia & the Post ’67 Arab Subject with Nihal El Aasar

[editor's note: Due to the context of rapidly developing events in the region, it is important to note that this conversation was recorded back in early October, 2024]

 

In this episode, we speak with Nihal El Aasar about her recently penned essay, "Left Wing Melancholia, the Arab Political Subject." We speak about Palestine's importance to the Arab political subject and the need to analyze the current absence of the Arab masses in light of Israel’s genocidal onslaught. She highlights the influence of Palestinian intellectual Ghassan Kanafani on her work, particularly his broader definition of the Palestinian question and the importance of not isolating it from the wider struggle against capitalism and imperialism in the so-called Middle East and beyond. Nihal critiques the narrow framing of the Palestinian struggle vis-a-vis Israel and stresses the need to consider the wider Arab and regional dimensions of the struggle.

We also explore the role of reactionary Arab regimes play in weakening the National Liberation Movement and preying on the masses' instincts toward national and class liberation. Nihal provides historical context, discussing the impact of the 1967 defeat on Arab socialism and pan-Arabism, and the subsequent rise of neoliberal policies that have continued to govern certain segments of the region.

Through a materialist lens, she critiques the current political paralysis that can be observed throughout the Arab world, attributing it to severe repression and systemic depoliticization. We cross-reference this paralysis and juxtapose the phenomenon across similar instances happening across the world—including for Black folks in the US. She emphasizes the need to grapple with defeat as a material reality and learn from past struggles to reactivate the colonized masses and reengage in political struggle.

 

Nihal is an Egyptian writer, researcher and radio host. She mainly writes about politics, political economy and culture. Her work has appeared in various Arabic and English language publications.

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Links:

"Left Wing Melancholia, the Arab Political Subject."

 

For another related conversation on Nasser, the context of Arab regimes today, and some of the same dynamics that Nihal outlines in this conversation, we recently hosted Ameed Faleh discussing among other things Anouar Abdel-Malek’s Egypt: Military Society.