“We have to understand what we’re dealing with” On Necrocapitalism with Alyson Escalante, J. Moufawad Paul, and Devin Zane Shaw
Dec 27, 2021
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Alyson Escalante, J. Moufawad Paul, and Devin Zane Shaw discuss pacification and capture in response to the rebellions of 2020, unequal exchange, the climate crisis, settler colonialism, and the nuances of racial regimes in the US and Canada. They also touch on liberal pacification, declining ranks in movement work, the dangers of state support for settler vigilantism, and the re-emergence of proletarian patriotism. The podcast explores the impact of the uprisings on American politics, responsibilities within the global capitalist system, and the preservation of radical movement texts.
The podcast discusses the complexities of pacification and highlights the interplay between explicit and implicit forms in controlling uprisings and maintaining the status quo.
The concept of the capitalist imaginary is critiqued, emphasizing the limitations imposed on imagination by capitalist ideology and the need to expand beyond the confines of capitalist realism.
The podcast explores the ongoing structure of settler colonialism and its impact on indigenous populations, challenging the portrayal of settler colonialism as a one-time event and highlighting its role in perpetuating violence and maintaining racial barriers.
Deep dives
Pacification and Capture
In part two of the conversation, Alison Escalante, Jay Mufawa Paul, and Devin Zane Shaw discuss the topics of pacification and capture. They examine the effects of the 2020 rebellions and the crisis in the ruling class in the United States. The podcast explores the concept of pacification, which can be explicit through oppressive policing and unofficial vigilantism, or implicit through the dominant ideology of capitalism that discourages critical thinking. The contributors also touch on unequal exchange, the ongoing climate crisis, and settler colonialism as a material relation of capitalism in the US and Canada. They highlight the dangerous consequences of state support for settler vigilantism and the re-emergence of so-called proletarian patriotism within imperialism. The authors analyze the resistance of socialists and abolitionists, as well as the efforts to pacify and co-opt the movements. Overall, the episode delves into the complexities of pacification and the different forms it takes in society today.
The Capitalist Imaginary and the Limits of Imagination
The podcast discusses the concept of the capitalist imaginary and its influence on shaping the boundaries of thought. They critique the idea that anything beyond capitalism is considered impossible and highlight the limitations imposed on the imagination. This idea is exemplified through the belief that the state and capitalist system can be reformed to address issues such as police violence and climate crisis. The contributors draw on quotes from the book, On Necro Capitalism, to emphasize the ideological domination perpetuated by the capitalist imaginary, which discourages critical thinking about alternatives to the current system. They challenge the notion that capitalist realism is the only feasible approach and argue for expanding the imagination beyond the confines of capitalist ideology.
Explicit and Implicit Pacification
In this segment, the podcast explores the concepts of explicit and implicit pacification. The conversation focuses on the dynamics of the 2020 uprisings in the US and the attempts to pacify and control the rebellions. Explicit pacification is evident through actions taken by the state, such as crackdowns, federal intervention, and support for vigilante actions. Implicit pacification, on the other hand, is the ideological domination that discourages critical thinking and enforces the status quo. The contributors discuss how these forms of pacification interact and reinforce each other. They analyze the intensity and initial resistance of the uprisings, the subsequent attempts at pacification through the stigmatization of protesters, and the role of liberal progressives in redirecting movements towards electoral politics. The discussion underscores the importance of recognizing the interplay between explicit and implicit pacification in understanding social and political dynamics.
Accumulation by Dispossession and Settler Colonialism
The podcast delves into the concepts of accumulation by dispossession and settler colonialism. The contributors reference David Harvey's work on the spatial disconnection of capital accumulation and how it transitions from the peripheries to the core. They examine how the discourse on settler colonialism is often neglected or dismissed, particularly in the United States. They challenge the notion that settler colonialism is a moral critique rather than a material relation rooted in political economy. The conversation highlights the need to analyze settler colonialism through a political economic lens to avoid the erasure of indigenous experiences and struggles. The discussion also acknowledges the importance of historical perspectives and the contributions of indigenous scholars and activists who have long engaged in these critical analyses.
Settler Colonialism as Ongoing Structure
The podcast episode explores the concept of settler colonialism as an ongoing structure rather than a single event. This perspective challenges the liberal imagination that portrays settler colonialism as a one-time occurrence. The discussion highlights that under settler colonialism, the racial regime is primarily focused on replacement and elimination, rather than maintaining racial boundaries. This ongoing structure perpetuates violence, maintains racial barriers, and aims to liquidate indigenous populations.
Challenges for the Left and the Rise of Far-Right Movements
The podcast delves into the challenges faced by the left and the rise of far-right movements. It acknowledges the naive surprise expressed by some at the Rittenhouse verdict, emphasizing the historical precedent of white vigilantism. The discussion also points out the danger of underestimating the far-right's ability to regroup and infiltrate different spheres, including the Republican Party. Furthermore, it highlights the need for the left to move beyond an electoral trap and embrace extra-legal and anti-systemic strategies to counter the oppressive and colonial forces at play.
This is part two of our two part episode with three of the contributors to On Necrocapitalism: A Plague Journal, which is available from Kersplebedeb and you can find that at leftwingbooks.net.
On Necrocapitalism was collectively authored by a writing group known as M.I. Asma which included J. Moufawad-Paul, Devin Zane Shaw, Mateo Andante, Johannah May Black, Alyson Escalante, and D.W. Fairlane.
In this conversation we speak with Alyson Escalante, J. Moufawad Paul and Devin Zane Shaw.
In part two we continue our discussion of pacification and capture in response the historic rebellions of 2020 and the related crisis in the ruling class. We also get into some discussion of unequal exchange, the ongoing climate crisis, and settler colonialism as a material relation of capitalism in the US & Canada, rather than just as a moral wrong. Along the way we get into some of the nuanced differences in the racial regimes in the US and Canada. We talk about some events since the Biden election, from liberal pacification, to the declining ranks in movement work, and the ongoing danger posed state support for settler vigilantism among the far right. And we ask the authors if they predicted the weird re-emergence of so-called proletarian patriotism in the imperial core.
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