Questions for Richard Seymour
Added 2024-04-01 19:09:09 +0000 UTCRichard will be returning soon to answer more listeners questions. You may like to ask him about the recent episode on Gaza (and on "normie socialist" or "post-left" takes on the situation) but as always Richard is happy to answer questions on a wide range of political topics.
As usual please send your questions to politicstheoryother@gmail.com or respond below the line here.
We'll be recording on the 8th so please try to send in your question before then. Thanks as ever for supporting PTO!
Comments
Here's part one of the episode folks - we had such a lot of questions that we're making it a two parter. Part two should be out in a week or so. Thanks again for the excellent questions.
Politics Theory Other
2024-04-10 16:31:57 +0000 UTCThis is an interesting topic because MAGA conservatism is isolationist and should be just as eager to withdraw from Israel as from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq etc. I still cannot get over the idea that it was MAGA isolationism (if not actually practised) that set the ground for Israel to feel so confident in doing what it's doing and for Hamas to launch its attack. Of course Biden's unrelenting support has allowed it to continue.
Jon
2024-04-04 09:38:13 +0000 UTCWhat should we make of the growing apprehension among figures on the American right wing regarding the war in Gaza? In recent weeks, conservative media personalities ranging from Candace Owens to Alex Jones have publicly labelled the war as a genocide. Donald Trump has also grown more vocal in his disapproval, characterizing the war as a strategic blunder on Israel's part. Should this be understood as a response to war weariness and frustrations within the conservative base and the American general public? To what extent does this represent a deeper break with the Zionist personalities, organizations and ideas that have historically held court on the American Right?
Jackson Kerr
2024-04-04 04:26:38 +0000 UTCIt's an election year, socialists seems to have no worthwhile options - given we can all anticipate labour becoming rapidly monstrously unpopular isn't there a desperate need for some kind of party with a national presence to put forward a left critique now in order to offer a viable option in the future? And is Corbyn the only person capable of launching & making any headway with such a party?
Mizzy
2024-04-03 20:17:25 +0000 UTCAlso can we take a little time to linger on how quickly the debate went from "free speech on campus!" to "shut down all protest on campus!" in America with so little contrition or even recognition from the erstwhile free speech fundamentalists?
Jon
2024-04-02 11:56:44 +0000 UTCI'd be interested to hear what Richard thinks about the protests against Netanyahu in Israel
Paul Clifford
2024-04-02 01:20:46 +0000 UTCSpring is here, daffodils & bluebells are in my local park but everything else in the uk is mess. Labour will form the next govt in the UK but with so much collapsing could increase govt spending by £20bn/yr within the current system and only stabilise things - they wouldn't be that bold though. What, pragmatically, can actually be done?
John Hannen
2024-04-01 19:31:52 +0000 UTC(not to self promote just to give Richard some context for the state of the student movement in the US)
David
2024-04-01 19:28:08 +0000 UTCi ask this as someone personally involved via YDSA, DSA’s youth/campus section. YDSA chapters like mine have been active in the Palestine solidarity movement (including at UMichigan and Columbia). besides Palestine work another major area of YDSA’s focus has been supporting the emerging movement to organize undergraduate student workers, which I wrote about recently here: https://socialistcall.com/2024/03/01/undergraduate-student-worker-unions-and-the-rank-and-file-strategy/
David
2024-04-01 19:27:50 +0000 UTCI would love to hear Richard’s thoughts about the role of student politics and protest in the Palestine solidarity movement / anti-war movement today. In the United States (and perhaps elsewhere), college campuses have been a key sites for pro-Palestine activism and have also predictably become targets for Zionist backlash. Palestine solidarity at Ivy League institutions like Columbia and Harvard have been the subject of much commentary but the movement is also making waves at big public universities like the University of Michigan, where a coalition of student organizations recently swept elections to student government on a pro-BDS slate, while simultaneously university administrators are trying to ban *all* “disruptive protest.” To me this calls to mind the example of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement 60 years ago, which helped set off the great wave of student and youth radicalism of the late 60s. As someone who has studied the 60s antiwar movement in the US, what is Richard’s assessment of the role that student politics are playing in today’s antiwar movement? What similarities and differences does he see between then and now? And what are the distinct tasks/responsibilities of socialists in this student movement, and student politics more broadly?
David
2024-04-01 19:24:46 +0000 UTC
