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:
/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
/387/ Get Fungal to Save Culture ft. Lias Saoudi (Fat White Family)
Excerpt: /386/ Reading Club: Globalisation (III & IV)
/384/ Millennial Rule ft. Amber A'Lee Frost
/383/ Stare into the Abyss with Us ft. Juliano Fiori
Excerpt: /382/ Death of the Millennial Left ft. Chris Cutrone
UNLOCKED: /373/ Take a Stand: Be Neutral! ft. Lily Lynch
[FROM THE VAULT] /104/ The Aristocracy of Finance ft. Alexander Zevin
[FROM THE VAULT] /44/ Neoliberal Order Breakdown Syndrome (N.O.B.S.)
[FROM THE VAULT] /74/ Order Not Freedom ft. Quinn Slobodian
[FROM THE VAULT] /161/ Culture is Bad for You ft. Mark Taylor
[FROM THE VAULT] /46/ Exiting Capitalist Realism
[FROM THE VAULT] /136/ Banana Monarchy ft. David Edgerton
/381/ Contemporary Art: Inane Spectacle & Pompous Discourse, ft. JJ Charlesworth
Excerpt: /380/ Josephine’s Body Count
/379/ Sexy Pictures of Taylor Swift (Not Brexit)
Excerpt: /378/ Reading Club: Globalisation (II)
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