Emancipations Podcast

In 1954 Adorno wrote, "if one were to condense what the ideology of mass culture comes down to into a single sentence, one would have to represent it with the parodic statement: “become what you are.” Adorno offered a series of important lectures on the concept of ideology with Max Horkheimer in the wake of the Second World War. They argued against the liberal sociologists such as Mannheim and Weber's conceptions of ideology, and they also called for a new Marxist understanding of ideology. In this episode, we discuss the history of the concept of ideology up to Adorno's important intervention. This conversation is based on a newly translated article "Contribution to the Theory of Ideology" by Adorno and translated by our guest Jacob Bard-Rosenberg. Dr. Rosenberg has recently completed a Ph.D. on Adorno and Benjamin on memory, forgetting and dreams. You can download his dissertation here. To read Rosenberg's review of Adorno's article on ideology, please go here.

Philosopher Jensen Suther discusses Lacanian Marxism on today's left. Explores Hegel's unhappy consciousness and Lacan's turn towards Sassurian linguistics. Examines metaphysical presuppositions of the analytic paradigm and the concept of the true father. Explores the intersection of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Hegelian philosophy. Engages with Nietzsche and Hegel, discussing their influences on the author's book.

Our final episode for the year! Thank you all for your support this year. In this episode, we sit down with the philosopher Sjoerd van Tuinen to discuss the concept of ressentiment and the politics of resentment. Dr. van Tuinen has many essays on ressentiment and a forthcoming book on the topic. Please pitch in to support us at https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups 

Kojin Karatani is one of the most interesting and important Marxist philosophers working today. Listen to our conversation about his main ideas...featuring Daniel Tutt and Gabriel Tupinambá. The workshop we held on Karatani's The Structure of World History can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE03jn2k3GYDWu4I9kdRXvq-FXy1vPVkO Support us by joining our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups 

What is the Marxist theory of class? Did Marx have a mature class theory in Capital or is Marx's theory of class unfinished and ultimately unclear? Many scholars contend that Marx does not have a clear class theory. But too often Marxists do not offer any alternative to the theory of class, so Marxism ends up with very little to say about class. Our guest in this episode, Raju Das, disagrees with many contemporary Marxists who tend to sideline Marx's theory of class. In this conversation, we learn that Marx does have a theory of class and we break it all down and show how central it is to his thought.  We begin with a critique of Analytical Marxist and Post-structuralist Marxist theories of class and we learn about a more materialist and dialectical foundation for class theory. Das helps us to theorize class at both the transhistorical level and at the level of capitalism.  Raju Das is the author of Marxist Class Theory for a Skeptical World.

Bruno Bosteels, a Marxist thinker and translator, dives into Léon Rozitchner's critique of Freud within bourgeois individualism. They explore Rozitchner's unique perspective amid South American Marxism and discuss the tensions between individual responsibility and collective rebellion. Bosteels connects psychoanalysis to political contexts, emphasizing how revolutionary actions influence moral conscience and social bonds. He also highlights the relevance of historical political movements to contemporary ideologies, showcasing an engaging dialogue between philosophy and activism.

We continue our investigation into the philosophy of Nietzsche, this time with philosopher Jan Rehmann who teaches critical theories and social analysis at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and philosophy at the Free University in Berlin. We discuss the Marxist reading of Nietzsche and Rehmann's recently translated work Deconstructing Postmodernist Nietzscheanism: Deleuze and Foucault. To learn more about what we are doing and support us please become a Patron https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups

Fredric Jameson is one of the most important Marxist literary critics. We are joined by Anna Kornbluh to discuss his theory of postmodernism and particularly his work on psychoanalysis and Marxism. We analyze Jameson's incredible essay "Pleasure: A Political Issue" which looks at the relationship between psychoanalysis and Marxism. This conversation gets at the heart of the Marxism-psychoanalysis relationship, what the stakes are, what psychoanalysis offers to Marxist analysis and more. Anna Kornbluh's research and teaching interests center on Victorian literature and Critical Theory, with a special emphasis in formalism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, and theory of the novel. She is the author of The Order of Forms: Realism, Formalism, and Social Space (University of Chicago 2019), Marxist Film Theory and Fight Club (Bloomsbury "Film Theory in Practice” series, 2019), and Realizing Capital: Financial and Psychic Economies in Victorian Form (Fordham UP 2014).

We are joined by Catherine Liu to discuss how French Theory grew to such prominence in American culture and academia, and how it has shaped not only the left but many aspects of our everyday life, from how we conceive of power, , the figure of the intellectual to the literary canon. French Theory was not merely a fad, it has had deep and long-lasting effects on our culture.  After discussing this history, we discuss Deleuzian theory and socialism, whether the libertine & counterculture left can forge solidarity with the working class and more. For a reflection on this conversation, check out my write-up.  Support us at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups 

We welcome Duane Rousselle to the show for a dialogue with host Daniel Tutt on Lacanian theory and politics. We discuss Duane's latest book Real Love and his work on the later Lacan and politics, as well as the thought of Jacques-Alain Miller. Rousselle is a practicing Lacanian psychoanalyst and Canadian sociological theorist. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups