In which we discuss the work of the late Domenico Losurdo, especially his brilliant Liberalism: A Counter-History. Part of an ongoing series on the contradictions of liberalism, we debate whether Losurdo is right to point to liberalism's complicity with slavery, racism and colonialism. Why were arguments for self-rule often accompanied by justifications for slavery? Why were some liberal abolitionist arguments in favour of despotism?
We tie these discussions into contemporary paradoxes of liberalism and ask why liberalism is unable to realise its own values.
Reading:
Liberalism: A Counter-History (book) https://www.versobooks.com/books/960-liberalism
Obituary of Losurdo (Jacobin) https://jacobinmag.com/2018/07/domenico-losurdo-italian-marxism-counter-history
OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, pt. 2
Excerpt: /217/ Reading Club: Intersectional Stalinism
/216/ Goodbye Mutti! Election Preview ft. Dominik Leusder
OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, pt. 1
Excerpt: /215/ Organize the Incels?! ft. Alex Gendler
/213/ The Leopard Lockdown ft. Adam Tooze
Excerpt: /212/ Three Articles: Middle-Class Anxieties
/211/ Unlocking the Lockdown Left ft. @galexybrane
Excerpt: /210/ Reading Club: Psychoanalysis & Spirit of Capitalism
Excerpt: /209/ Aufhebonus Bonus + Kabul Falls
/207/ Pangolin vs Lobster, pt 1 ft. Paolo Gerbaudo
Excerpt: /206/ Three Articles: Post-Liberalism
/205/ The World In One Country: The Final ft. Many Guests
/204/ Three Articles: People's Republic of Fleeing
Excerpt: /203/ Positive Biopolitics? ft. Benjamin Bratton
Excerpt: /202/ 3 Articles: Clerisy, War, Football
Excerpt: /201/ Reading Club: The New Class War
/200/ The World In One Country ft. Many Guests
Excerpt: /199/ Aufhebonus Bonus (June)
/198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik
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