Emancipations Podcast

We are joined by philosopher Tijana Okić for a spirited conversation on what it means to be a Marxist today. What are the common problems we face when it comes to holding a Marxist position today? Is Marxism reducible to the correct philological and textual analysis of Marx's thought? What are we to make of the epistemological break between the early Marx's work on alienation to his later notions of exploitation? Does Marxism become irrelevant when we abandon a theory of alienation? We also discuss the working class today and how to best theorize class in our wider commitment to the class struggle. We conclude with a discussion of the urgent geopolitical crisis of the war Russia has waged on Ukraine. Tijana brings a sophisticated and passionate socialist perspective. Please consider becoming a Patron for $3 per month at https://www.patreon.com/torsiongroups. We post new interviews, seminars and study group opportunities frequently. Our guest Tijana Okić is a philosopher with an interest in history and historiography. Her research interests are primarily related to social and political philosophy, in their historic and systematic development. Tijana is a dedicated feminist with an interest in feminist theory both generally and specifically as well as the politics of debt and austerity.

We sit down with American philosopher Adrian Johnston, one of the most creative and interesting philosophers working today. To listen to the entire conversation where Adrian succinctly defines "transcendental materialism" in less than two minutes(!) and we discuss the new Hegel renaissance in contemporary philosophy and Adrian's philosophical differences with Zizek. You can listen to this interview for just $2 at our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/posts/63046361.

We sit down with historian Doug Greene to discuss the important history of American socialism and the over 70 years of attempts to "realign" the Democratic Party. Should socialists cooperate with the Democratic Party? To explore this important question, Doug Greene tells us about the ideas and vision of Michael Harrington, the founder of the largest socialist organization in America, the DSA. Harrington's ideas inform the "common sense" of America's contemporary left and they are at the core of why the American working class has been prevented, time and again, from independently forming a worker's party or effectively challenging the absolute dominance of capital and the ruling class.  Support Doug Greene:  Doug's Patreon: "I Read It So You Don't Have To!" https://www.patreon.com/enaa_doug_blanqui?fan_landing=  Doug's blog http://blanquist.blogspot.com  Doug's book A Failure of Vision on Michael Harrington https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/failure-vision-michael-harrington-democratic-socialism   

We are joined by Dr. Vincenzo Di Nicola to discuss modern psychiatry and his work on trauma, family therapy and the philosophical underpinnings of psychiatry. We discuss the prevalence of trauma discourse, the philosophy of Alain Badiou, why social dynamics are often ignored by modern psychiatry and psychology, and we examine the history of the "anti-psychiatry movement" with special focus on R.D. Laing, Jacques Lacan and Frantz Fanon. Vincenzo Di Nicola is an Italian-Canadian psychologist, psychiatrist and family therapist, and philosopher of mind. Di Nicola is a tenured Full Professor in the Dept. of Psychiatry & Addiction Medicine at the University of Montreal, where he founded and directs the postgraduate course on Psychiatry and the Humanities, and Clinical Professor in the Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The George Washington University, where he gave The 4th Annual Stokes Endowment Lecture in 2013.

We sat down with French philosopher Mehdi Belhaj Kacem who the late David Graeber praised as one of the most important philosophers living today. In this interview, we discuss Kacem’s reading habits, what inspires him in the world of thought, how he derived his philosophical concepts, what qualifies as truly radical in our age and why he broke up with his former mentor Alain Badiou. Kacem is, similar to Giorgio Agamben, a major critic of the way the ruling class is managing the pandemic and he is not shy to share his views. In this wide-ranging conversation, we catch a glimpse of a deeply inventive and creative mind and we get advice for how to do philosophy outside of conventional institutions.   This interview was conducted on Thursday December 9th, 2021, by Daniel Tutt. Translation and interpretation assistance provided by Saad Boutayeb. To read the English transcripts of this interview which include two additional questions not covered in the podcast go here to download. For the transcriptions in French please go here to download.  Music: "Banned in D.C." by Bad Brains

We are honored to be joined by Nadia Bou Ali, practicing psychoanalyst and Assistant Professor at the Civilization Studies Program at the American University of Beirut. We discuss Nadia's new work Psychoanalysis and the Love of Arabic: Hall of Mirrors - a work of Lacanian theory, comparative literature and political theory. We discuss the main themes of this work and raise questions about Lacan's contribution to the study of literature, psychoanalysis and liberalism, tolerance, the birth of Arab modernity and the two fascinating literary figures that she analyzes in this work: Ahmad Faris Shidyaq (1805-87) and Butrus al-Bustani (1819-83). This is a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation - definitely not to be missed! Interview and discussion conducted by Daniel Tutt To purchase this book please visit https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/...

We are joined by philosopher Carl Sachs, Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University and all around great human being. Carl did his Ph.D. on Nietzsche and has spent a great deal of time with Nietzsche's thought over the years. In this discussion, we analyze the achievement of Domenico Losurdo's massive book Nietzsche, the Aristocratic Rebel: Intellectual Biography and Critical Balance Sheet.  Will the world of philosophy embrace Losurdo's new perspective on Nietzsche? What does Losurdo say that changes our understanding of Nietzsche? Is Losurdo's perspective and analysis of the core of Nietzsche right? We discuss these questions and more in this very enlightening episode!  Carl Sachs is the author of Intentionality and Myths of the Given: Between Pragmatism and Phenomenology (Routledge 2015), Co-Founder and Vice President of the Wilfrid Sellars Society and Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University. Find him on Twitter at @carl_b_sachs.

Marxist theorist, literary critic, military leader and exiled opponent of Stalin, Leon Trotsky is one of the most important figures of 20th century Marxism. But how are Trotsky's ideas being lived out today by revolutionary socialists? To help us understand Trotskyism, its history and legacy today we are joined by Ian Parker, Lacanian psychoanalyst and revolutionary socialist. He has written over 25 books to his name and he works in the fields of critical psychology, Marxist psychology, and psychoanalytic theory.  Parker is a fellow of the British psychological society, Emeritus Professor at the University of Leicester, and the managing editor of the Annual Review of Critical Psychology. Parker is also a practicing psychoanalyst analyst. For those interested, you can see Ian Parker and his co-author David Pavón-Cuellár this Friday November 12th at 2 pm EST for a conference hosted by Study Groups on Psychoanalysis and Politics centered around their new work, Revolution: Critical Psychology for Liberation movements. Join us with speakers Isabel Millar, Gabriel Tupinambá and Nadia Bou Ali to discuss this work at 2 pm this coming Friday November 12th - RSVP (on Zoom): https://psychoanalysis-revolution.eventbrite.com In this episode, we discuss history of Trotskyism and its main ideas and how Trotsky’s ideas can help us address creeping fascism and build and world that has gone beyond capitalism.  Chip in $5 - $10 to support us and help keep us going: https://t.co/hBNOnpQKnp?amp=1

We are joined by philosophers Robert Boncardo and Bryan Cooke to discuss the philosophical and political thought of Alain Badiou. Boncardo and Cooke's research is shedding light on how Badiou's concrete political militancy from 1969 - 1981 shaped his first major work Theory of the Subject (1982).  We discuss the communist group Badiou was part of from 1969 - 1981 UCFML, the SONACOTRA Rent Strike, Badiou's relation to Maoism and how these more practical activities serve as a crucial backdrop for understanding the otherwise enigmatic concepts Badiou develops in Theory of the Subject. Enjoy!

We continue to probe Nietzsche and Nietzsche/anism, picking up on some problems and questions that were opened in our last interview with Geoff Waite. We begin with a reading of Nietzsche from two radically different positions: Georges Bataille and György Lukács. We then go on to discuss Nietzsche and Marx, consciousness, antihumanism, antiphilosophy, liberation, Nietzsche's politics and more. Does Nietzsche/anism address a real problem that Marxism can’t account for? Or must we work to discard all traces of Nietzsche/anism in order to champion a more liberated world and a more egalitarian version of philosophy?