Ep. 13 | "The system isn't working - W/ Professor Mike Cole"

This week we welcomed Professor Mike Cole from the University of East London in efforts to deconstruct systematic racism from a neo-Marxist perspective—a perspective implicit in the revolutionary rhetoric of the majority of social media posting this past week. As such, in this episode we hope to provide you man with a better conceptual means as to understanding the recent socio-political turmoil. We start by unpacking racism, specifically within the context of the UK, and work towards asking what real political action will lead us to a future society without race?

Introduction to Mike Cole - 00:00

News Cycle - 01:00

Skepticism about Marxism - 05:35

What is Race and can it be intimately linked to the class struggle?- 10:24

What is Critical Race Theory and is it analogous in its ineffectiveness to recent social media posting?- 17:55

Tackling racism from a neo-Marxist perspective - 22:31

How do we differ from the US - from a historical and socio-political aspect? - 24:49

What does it mean for Racism to be systemic - 27:30

The failings of the educational system, inside and outside of the classroom - 31:34 

What can the younger apathetic generation do? - 39:10

Deconstructing common arguments against BLM - 45:17

What does a future society without race look like? - 50:10

The entire reading list with links will be posted on our Instagram - Scoreperpodcast

Mike's email for anyone who would like further reading materials and to ask some more questions on these issues. 

mike.cole2@ntlworld.com

Post edit amendments/notes:

-05:00- Bristol bus strike was more so a boycott and the memorial was something in talks; not concrete (The colour bar was a discriminatory hiring practice against blacks and minorities)

- 13:32 - Anti-asian racism falls within the category of old-color-coded racism

- 33:03 - page number is 122 not 22. 

- 45:54  - the UK Criminal justice system was described as a white supremacist, this was supposed to be in the context of the US criminal justice system. 

Big Thank You To Mike Cole