2011 witnessed a resurgence of protest movements from the Movement of the Squares, Occupy Wall Street, to the Arab Spring. These events propelled Marxist intellectuals Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou into the limelight, resulting in a surge in their popularity. But was the precondition of their popularity based on the absence of anti-imperialism in their work? In this study group, we examine Losurdo's criticism of Žižek and Badiou regarding how they understand existing state socialism, how they theorize liberation, freedom and justice. We debrief on the text and we discuss how Western Marxism can be reborn.

We discuss Part IV: "The Triumph and Death of Western Marxism" with particular focus on the work of Hannah Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism and On Revolution. We discuss Losurdo's analysis of "recognition" from Hegel and how revolution is theorized as recognition in Marx and Engels and how subsequent liberal theories of revolution in Arendt and Nietzschean theories of Foucault promote what Losurdo sees as the "death" of Western Marxism.

We welcome Lacanian scholar Robert Beshara back to the show to discuss his new book A Psychoanalytic Biography of Ye: The Legacy of Unconditional Love. It particularly focuses on the 5-year period from 2016 to 2021 (the Shaky-Ass Years) in an effort to think psychoanalytically about Ye's complex subjectivity, his struggle with manic-depression, the thin line between the personal and the political when it comes to celebrity culture, and, of course, his aesthetic productions – be they in the form of music, video, or fashion – which the author regards as also being ethical and political projects/objects. The book takes what Ye says seriously, as opposed to dismissing him through the use of stigmatizing terms. Beshara specifically aligned his desire with Donda’s in an attempt to see him from her point of view – that is, through the legacy of unconditional love. Buy the book from the publishers website with the following discount code PROMO25 https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-2886-4 Learn more about Robert Beshara's work at https://sites.google.com/site/robertkbeshara. 

We examine Losurdo's criticism of western Marxism in relation to anticolonial revolution following the Second World War. We discuss Walter Benjamin's "Theses on the Philosophy of History," Max Horkheimer's Authoritarian State, Althusser's antihumanist turn, Sartre's Critique of Dialectical Reason, Adorno's Nietzschean pessimism, and Tronti's workerism. We discuss how Losurdo pinpoints an aversion to the anticolonial revolution in the Marxist theories that are generated by these thinkers. We discuss the merits of Losurdo's polemic, where it hits the mark and where it falls short. Please join us at https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups. 

In our second session, we discuss Domenico Losurdo's theory of the birth of Western Marxism as a response to the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. We begin with a few remarks on the Marxist theory of intellectuals and power, particularly how imperialism fragments the intellectual in relationship to the working class. We then discuss Losurdo's arguments about how western and eastern Marxism begin to take form and contrast one another in terms of the national struggle, state theory, messianism, and priorities of emancipation. We discuss Losurdo's theory that, at least in practice, western Marxists develop an anarchist political practice. Our aim in this study group is to learn the practical challenges facing Marxist politics in our time. Please join our Patreon to study this text with us: https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups 

We are discussing Domenico Losurdo's newly translated work, Western Marxism: How It Was Born, How It Died, How It Can Be Reborn in a public study group. Our aim is to learn the practical challenges facing Marxist politics in our time through a close reading method. Each session begins with a brief talk on the salient themes and concepts and then proceeds to group discussion. Order the book from the Monthly Review. Learn more about how to get involved and support us at (https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups). 

We are joined by Aymeric Monville, author of Neocapitalism According to Michel Clouscard and publisher of Delga Editions to discuss the work of French Marxist philosopher Michel Clouscard. In this interview, we discuss Clouscard's thought, his major works, concepts and ideas. Michel Clouscard was a prominent French Marxist philosopher whose work aimed to reveal the collusion between capitalism and French theory, represented by thinkers ranging from Lévi-Strauss, Lacan to Deleuze, constructing his own concept of neo-Kantianism to describe these thinkers. Clouscard developed a philosophical approach around the idea of the social contract and was highly influenced by the thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx, he postulated that "the constitutive principle of any society is the relation between production and consumption". --------- Chapters: Clouscard's Critique of French Theory Clouscard's Dissertation Being and the Code (L'Etre et le Code) Clouscard's Concept of Bourgeois Ideology and Neo-Kantianism Neo-fascism and the Ideology of Desire Clouscard's Theory of the Middle Strata & Neo-fascism Clouscard's Style The Capitalism of Seduction: Key Ideas Clouscard's Method The Paths of Praxis (Clouscard's later work) Please join our Patreon to support us and get early access to all of our interviews, seminars and videos.

We are joined by philosopher Stuart Blaney to discuss the thought of Jacques Rancière, his work on 19th century worker autodidacts and his theories of emancipation, aesthetics and equality. This conversation is based around a forthcoming book by Stuart Blaney that is entitled, Equality and Freedom in Rancière and Foucault with Bloomsbury Books. Please join our Patreon community to get early access to our interviews and seminars (https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups).

We explore the big philosophical questions at the heart of Marxism. Does Marxism require a supplementary philosophy such as Nietzscheanism or Freudianism to properly ground its practice? How have the changing material conditions post-2008 shaped Marxist thought and practice? What is the best Marxist response to speculative realism, a major movement in contemporary philosophy? To explore these questions we are joined by Marxist scholar and writer Conrad Hamilton who is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at East China Normal University. Hamilton is the author of the forthcoming book, Marxism Contra Subjectivity (forthcoming from Brill) which looks at the philosophical impasses facing Marxism in a post-2008 conjuncture, with a particular focus on speculative realism, Althusserianism and different strains of French Marxism. We begin our discussion with Hamilton's analysis of Nietzsche's place in Marxism after World War II. We focus on Hamilton's recent essay on Nietzsche and French thought and his review of my book How to Read Like a Parasite. We then discuss some of the ideas in his forthcoming book on Marxism, philosophy and epistemology. Stay tuned for a symposium on Hamilton's book hosted by our study collective when it comes out. -------- Chapters: 0:00 - Introduction to Conrad Hamilton 4:11 - Recurrent Reaction: Nietzsche and the Thought of the French Middle Strata 21:10 - Nietzschean Appropriations and Marxism after World War II 30:17 - The Problems with the Nietzschean "extra class" left 48:30 - Does Marxism require a comprehensive philosophy? 1:12:10 - Speculative Realism, Real Abstraction and Marxism post-2008 1:22:20 - Where is the subject of the proletariat today? 1:43:50 - Why does philosophy matter to political Marxism? Show Notes: "The Monsters We Become" by Conrad Hamilton (https://cosmonautmag.com/2024/05/the-monsters-we-become-on-how-to-read-like-a-parasite) "Recurrent Reaction: Nietzsche and the Thought of the French Middle Strata" by Conrad Hamilton (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-13635-1)

We welcome Marxist philosopher John McClendon to the show for an in-depth conversation on his philosophical outlook, his work on African American philosophy, and the role of philosophy in Marxist thought and practice. We then discuss McClendon's important book on C.L.R. James's Notes on Dialectics and its implications for Marxist philosophy in our time. If you found this conversation valuable please consider supporting us on a monthly basis at our Patreon.