War Regimes: A Conversation with Michael Hardt and Sandro Mezzadra
May 17, 2024
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Eminent political theorists Michael Hardt and Sandro Mezzadra discuss the global war regime, colonial continuities, and resistance movements against the Gaza genocide. They explore complexities of international law, capitalist interests in global wars, and the impact of militarization in Italy. The conversation also touches on reimagining politics of liberation, building solidarity with Palestine, and challenging traditional narratives of war.
War has become a norm blurring war and politics, challenging traditional views of governance.
Global war regime concept aims to interpret current wars rejecting breach ideas in an unstable international system.
Militarization reshapes power dynamics and calls for feminist analyses in contemporary conflicts for effective resistance strategies.
Deep dives
Understanding the Global War Regime: A New Framework
The podcast delves into the concept of a global war regime and its implications for understanding modern conflicts. By challenging traditional views that frame wars as exceptions to governance, the speakers introduce the idea that wars like those in Gaza and Ukraine are embedded within a new governing structure. This hypothesis suggests that warfare has become a norm, blurring the lines between war and politics, a continuity with past analyses on the overlap of these domains.
Global War Regime: A Conceptual Shift
The discussion introduces the concept of the global war regime as an attempt to understand the mutations of war within a fractured international system. This notion aims to grasp the specificity of current wars, rejecting the idea of breach and highlighting the need to interpret various manifestations of the global war regime. This controversial concept questions traditional views of war and governance, emphasizing the importance of analyzing different degrees and scales of violence.
Redefining War and Politics in the Modern Context
The speakers explore how the boundaries between war and politics have blurred in contemporary conflicts, emphasizing the need to rethink traditional concepts. They discuss how modern warfare, exemplified by Gaza and Ukraine, challenges the conventional understanding of war as a breach of governance. The conversation shifts towards analyzing the unconventional nature of current conflicts, highlighting the intricate relationship between war, politics, and global governing structures.
Colonial Continuities and Global Resistance Movements
The podcast examines the historical transformations and colonial legacies that shape current conflicts, using examples like the Gaza genocide to inspire non-nationalist internationalist resistance movements. By drawing parallels between colonial violence, the 'war on terror,' and ongoing global struggles, the speakers emphasize the need to recognize and address the complexities of contemporary warfare within a broader historical context.
Social Transformation and Militarization: Impact on Resistance Movements
The conversation delves into the societal implications of militarization and social transformation, highlighting how militarized logics are reshaping authority structures and power dynamics. By critiquing the intersection of militarization and patriarchal systems, the speakers stress the importance of feminist analyses in understanding contemporary conflicts. They suggest that recognizing both the subjugated and empowered elements within militarization is crucial for informing effective resistance strategies.
Solidarity and Resistance in the Context of the Global War Regime
The speakers discuss the significance of solidarity and resistance within the framework of the global war regime, emphasizing the need to transcend national liberation narratives and engage in a broader project of international solidarity. By reimagining solidarity based on shared struggles against a common enemy, they advocate for a new understanding of resistance that seeks to address global conflicts and oppressive structures on a unified front.
Today, on Speaking Out of Place, we are joined by eminent political theorists Michael Hardt and Sandro Mezzadra to talk about their thesis of a global war regime and its relationship with capitalist governments, a significant challenge to dominant conceptualizations of war, and its relationship with the international order.
We discuss colonial continuities, historical transformations, and global Palestine movements against the Gaza genocide as an inspiration for non-nationalist, internationalist resistance futures.
Michael Hardt teaches political theory in the Literature Program at Duke University. He is co-author of several books with Antonio Negri, including Empire. His most recent books are The Subversive Seventies and (with Sandro Mezzadra) Bolivia Beyond the Impasse. Together Sandro and Michael host The Social Movements Lab.
Sandro Mezzadra teaches Political theory at the University of Bologna (Department of Arts). His work centers on borders, migration, global processes, and contemporary capitalism. For many years now, he has been part of autonomist movements as an activist and he participates in the further development of Italian autonomist Marxism. Among his books in English, In the Marxian Workshops. Producing Subjects, London, Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. With Brett Neilson he is the author of Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor (Duke University Press, 2013), The Politics of Operations. Excavating Contemporary Capitalism (Duke University Press, 2019), and The Rest and the West. Capital and Power in a Multipolar World (forthcoming from Verso, 2024).
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