Tag: political economy

  • What will post-neoliberalism look like?

    I increasingly find James Meadway the most insightful analyst of the political economy of Covid-19. He explores the epochal transformation which this crisis has the potential to bring about but does so in a way which is grounded in the identification of existing socio-economic mechanisms, in many cases ones which preceded the current crisis. In […]

  • We’re leaving neoliberalism and entering something worse

    For much of this crisis there has been a dominant sense that we will eventually return to pre-pandemic normality. There are many reasons why this hope is misplaced, with the pandemic likely to accelerate existing tendencies towards digitalisation, automation, occupational polarisation and political turbulence. If we have been in a Gramscian interregnum since 2007/08 then […]

  • The possible forms which post-capitalism could take

    The possible forms which post-capitalism could take

    This interview with Nancy Fraser about Covid-19 and the future of capitalism is an illuminating read, particularly this discussion of what could come after capitalism. The question she raises is whether Covid-19 represents a developmental crisis (leading to a new mode of capital accumulation) or an epochal crisis (leading to end of capitalism as a system):

  • The agony of the petite bourgeoisie

    The agony of the petite bourgeoisie

    I thought this observation from Dylan Riley in the recent New Left Review was crucial for understanding the class politics of the pandemic. Particularly with regards to what I’ve come to think of as the lumpen-libertarian uprising which is unfolding as a reaction against elites, globalism and lockdown in a way which gets past the constraints which have held back the far-right.

  • The return of normality

    The return of normality

    One of the key fault lines in post-pandemic politics is likely to be the return of ‘normality’. The pandemic won’t have an off switch, as this useful piece explains. If ‘herd immunity’ is achieved it will likely be a fleeting achievement within national boundaries, leaving countries bound up in a logic of biosecurity which could intersect in worrying ways with the neo-nationalism which precedes the pandemic.

  • Machine learning and authoritarianism

    On pg 258-259 of her Don’t Be Evil, Rana Foroohar poses a question which will become more urgent with each passing year, binding political economy and digital governance together in a way which will define the fabric of social life: Is digital innovation best suited to an environment of decentralization, in which many firms in […]

  • The role of sovereign wealth funds in big tech

    From Rana Foroohar’s Don’t Be Evil pg 81: Jawbone had to turn to the Kuwait Investment Authority for cash just to stay afloat, never a good sign, given that sovereign wealth funds are not exactly the smart money in Silicon Valley. 20 They tend to come in big but late, offering loads of cash when […]

  • It’s The Political Economy, Stupid

    My notes on Pacewicz, J. (2018) It’s The Political Economy, Stupid: ​A Polanyian Take On American Politics In The Longue Durée. Perspectives 40(2) This short piece is a valuable reminder that Trump’s capacity to endure countless scandals while retaining the support of his party wouldn’t have been possible without a degree of political polarisation in which […]

  • The political economy of viral stars 

    There’s a lucid account in Crystal Abidin’s Internet Celebrity of how eyewitness viral stars, briefly famous for their recorded reactions to an event, generate money for a whole range of unconnected actors. From 772-792: Eyewitness viral stars present an interesting form of internet celebrity in that at every stage of their fame cycle, several actors […]

  • Special Issue on ‘Gender, Sexuality and Political Economy

    This looks good: Link to the Journal Issue: http://link.springer.com/journal/10767/27/2/page/1 List of Contents: 1) Susie Jacobs and Christian Klesse: lntroduction: Special Issue on “Gender, Sexuality and Political Economy” (pp 129-152) 2) Floya Anthias:  The Intersections of Class, Gender, Sexuality and ‘Race’: The Political Economy of Gendered Violence (pp 153-171) 3) Susie Jacobs: Gender, Land and Sexuality: Exploring Connections (pp 173-190) 4) Encarnación […]