Immediacy vs Mediation in Culture

On critical theory and autonomy.

[For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]

Jensen Suther, a junior fellow at Harvard working in philosophy and literature, talks to Alex H and contributing editor Alex Gourevitch about art, culture, and socialism. He also offers a riposte to previous guest Anna Kornbluh's discussion of immediacy, and its cultural forms such as autoficition.

• What does Suther think Kornbluh gets wrong – and right – in her critique of contemporary culture?

• How autonomous is art from society and the economy?

• To what extent can we tie cultural forms to deep changes in the economy?

• What is the right response to the historical defeat of the working class? What does it mean for critical theory?

• What is the difference between immanent critique and critique from the outside – and how dow this relate to freedom?

• And what does it matter if you read Hegel right?

Links:

• The Theory of Immediacy or the Immediacy of Theory?, Jensen Suther, Nonsite.org

• /458/ The Society of Pure Vibe ft. Anna Kornbluh

• /473/ Make Alienation Great Again ft. Todd McGowan (features a different response to the question about critical theory after the defeat of the working class)

• Jensen's thread on X on capitalist totality and the end of the working class

• Jensen's thread on X on the return to Hegel, against economic determinism