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With Michael Hardt This was a session of the event ‘The Radical 1970s’, held in London on December 9th 2023. The event was held to mark the publication of Michael Hardt’s book The Subversive Seventies. It was organised and hosted by Jeremy Gilbert and by Katy Petit of the Raphael Samuel History Centre, London.  This session featured Michael Hardt himself discussing the politics of subversion and suppression in Italy and the wider world in the 1970s. We had originally publicised this session as featuring some other speakers, but none of them could make it, so Michael led a fascinating discussion on this crucial topic. If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here.

This was a session of the event ‘The Radical 1970s’, held in London on December 9th 2023. The event was held to mark the publication of Michael Hardt’s book The Subversive Seventies. It was organised and hosted by Jeremy Gilbert and by Katy Petit of the Raphael Samuel History Centre, London.  This session featured Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright discussing feminism and women’s liberation in 1970s London. If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here.

How does Spinoza fit into the history of Western (and world) philosophy? To what is he relevant outside of academic philosophy? Why did he become a hero to a certain strand of Marxist / post-Marxist thinkers in the late 20th century? Why was he ignored by others? This was the second in our ongoing series ‘From Marx to Spinoza: Affect, Ideology and Materiality’. It was a great seminar with 50 participants staying the whole course and generating a fascinating discussion. For information about the series or to join our email list, visit: https://culturepowerpolitics.org Featuring Jason Read, Andrew Goffey and Jeremy Gilbert (with technical assistance from Keir Milburn). If you can support us regularly, please do: https://www.patreon.com/culturepowerpoliticsSupport us with a one-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2gRba5tT

We slightly re-edited this recording after noticing a glitch in the episode that went out a couple of days ago. Sorry about that – just listen to this one instead! With Jason Read, Andrew Goffey and Jeremy Gilbert (with help from Charlie Clarke) What do we actually mean by ‘Marxism’? What is historical and what is materialist about historical materialism? Does it matter what Marx himself thought about anything? Is Marxism a philosophical school or a political programme? What is all this going to have to do with Spinoza? This is session 0 of our series ‘From Marx to Spinoza: Affect, Ideology, Materiality’. For more information on the series see HERE. NB: the recording seems to stop quite suddenly without any sign-off, but in fact that was the end of the substantial part of the seminar (the rest was just us messing about, deciding exactly how to end). If you can support us regularly, please do: https://www.patreon.com/culturepowerpoliticsSupport us with a one-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2gRba5tT

Helen Hester and Jo Littler delve into the concept of social reproduction, illuminating its significance in today's society and post-pandemic landscape. They critique the neoliberal focus on individualism, arguing for a holistic understanding of care work that values both paid and unpaid labor. The discussion covers the impact of privatization on social services and the role of technology in caregiving. They also address the evolving challenges of motherhood, advocate for family abolitionism, and propose a reevaluation of work through a socialist feminist lens.

  While mainstream commentators and far-right apologists insist that that the great political divide today is between different sets of cultural ‘values’, the fact is that nothing correlates with voting Tory as closely as being an outright homeowner with a secure pension. Is this coincidence, or is the social and generation divide between those with property and without it now the key structuring feature of British society, culture and politics? Ridley Road Market Bar , 49 Ridley Road, London, E8 2NP 18:30-20:30. Free, no advance booking, all welcome. Speakers Molly Broome, economist at the Resolution Foundation working on issues linked to intergenerational fairness and wealth inequality. Joe Chrisp,  Research Associate at the Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath, researching the political economy of the welfare state, comparative politics, labour markets, assets and ageing, and basic income. Keir Milburn, author of Generation Left

Emergency Podcast! Once again Jeremy is joined by Professor Alan Finlayson at very short notice to discuss some stupid action taken by the Labour Party leadership. This week the party has threatened Neal Lawson, Director of Compass with expulsion from the party. Why has this attracted headlines and outrage, and what does it mean? Have Neal and Compass gone too far in defending comrades on the left ? What is the ‘soft left’ of the Labour Party, where did it come from, and why is it now being attacked so viciously by the leadership? What is the history of political proscription and expulsion from the party, and what is distinctive about Labour politics now in 2023?

In this coronation year, we are visibly reminded that the trappings of the British state are overlaid with the legacies of its empire. But to what extent are current attitudes, legal frameworks and political arrangements really shaped by this imperialist and colonialist past? Did the very idea of a British ‘nation’ – a relatively novel concept in the post-war period – in fact represent a radical break with the idea of empire? What are the implications of these questions for understanding Britain in the 21st century?  Speakers David Edgerton, Professor of Modern British History, Kings College London, author of The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth Century History Kojo Koram, Senior Lecture in Law, Birkbeck College, University of London, author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire. 

The Conservative and Unionist Party of the United Kingdom has experienced a prolonged period of crisis and transformation, from pro-austerity technocrats under David Cameron to nationalist populists under Johnson. Current PM Rishi Sunak struggles to hold the different factions together amid the demographic and political fracturing of the UK. Can the Tory party reinvent itself once again, or is it in terminal decline? Can the Party still rely on media support or does the rise of digital media and a more volatile political-communicative landscape undermine their ability to set the media agenda? Speakers Phil Burton-Cartledge, lecturer in Sociology at University of Derby and author of Falling Down: The Conservative Party and the Decline of Tory Britain Ruth Garland, Lecturer and Convenor, BA Promotional Media at Goldsmiths, University of London, and author of Government Communications and the Crisis of Trust: From Political Spin to Post-truth

Veganism (or, at least, consumption of “plant based” foods) has exploded in the last few years. But what is the relationship between veganism, the climate crisis and the politics of green social justice? Is veganism an inherently individualistic and moralistic form of political activity or a collective practice to resist the commodification of nonhuman animals and capital’s expropriation of nature? How and why has veganism become part of the online “culture wars”? Speakers: Eva Haifa Giraud, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Society at the University of Sheffield, author or Veganism: Politics, Practice and Theory  Jacob Mukherjee, convener of MA Political Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, currently researching digital vegan activism and left praxis