A botched electoral campaign behind a moribund Theresa May saw the Conservative Party's dreams of a thumping majority relegated to the dustbin of history.
Weak and Wobbly
Levantine Charnel House: An Analytical and Moral Cul-de-sac
Scratch the surface, and the sectarian nature of the Syrian civil war is a subterranean expression of an utterly alienated majority involved in an intense class struggle. Evidently, it is the outward religiosity of these marginalized classes that many observers on the Anglophone left are obsessed with, and in the process have operationalized standard Islamophobic tropes that… Continue reading Levantine Charnel House: An Analytical and Moral Cul-de-sac
Svetlana Boym on Nostalgia
Out of the debris of the Post-Cold War, neoliberalism’s ideological mantra - the “dictatorship of no alternatives” as Roberto Unger called it - succeeded in terminating the possibility of future-oriented utopia, leaving a nostalgic utopianism to curdle in its wake. Only it is a utopia that is no longer directed towards the future. The Russian-American philologist… Continue reading Svetlana Boym on Nostalgia
France: the choice
Given the stress that French capital is under, and Thatcherite François Fillon’s tarnished candidacy, heterodox economist Michael Roberts argues that political upstart and centrist Emmanuel Macron is the only viable presidential candidate that can secure a pro-EU, pro-neoliberal order amongst the anti-systemic alternatives. Some valuable pre-election analysis:
It’s only a week to go before the first round of the French presidential election and it seems that the race is wide open. Only two candidates can take part in the second round in May. But who will those two be? Extreme right-wing Front National candidate Marine Le Pen has been the front runner in the polls over the last year, but her support has been slipping. Ex-socialist minister and centrist darling of the bourgeois media, Emmanuel Macron is neck and neck with Le Pen, both at around 22-23%. The official conservative (Republican) candidate Francois Fillon should be ahead, but he has been damaged by the expenses scandal of his wife and children getting huge government-funded salaries for parliamentary work which they did not do. Even so, Fillon is getting about 18-19% share of those saying they will vote. The big surprise in the last few weeks had been…
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Beyond the Rentier State: The ‘Uneven & Combined Development’ of the Persian Gulf
How do we explain the interaction between the social formations and geopolitics of the GCC states?
Postmodernism: Periodisation, Permutations & Spectres
Postmodernism as a philosophy is most generally associated with two fundamental principles: anti-foundationalism and anti-essentialism. These may be characterised as the repudiation of metaphysics, that is, of any ultimate system of meaning in nature or the universe; and as the struggle against any normative idea of human nature. It promotes a skepticism toward sweeping universal, absolute… Continue reading Postmodernism: Periodisation, Permutations & Spectres
Theoretical Reflections on the State in the Era of Trump
How 'Deep' is Your State? A spate of articles and conversations have been circulating social media feeds that have re-aligned focus on the 'deep state' and its shadowy machinations. It is used to explain how the Trump administration's first major scandal - the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security advisor - was the result of a powerful, institutional offensive. At the… Continue reading Theoretical Reflections on the State in the Era of Trump
