Is the West Experiencing a Left-Wing Drift? (the international left politics activism, news, and strategy thread)

Latin America seen as part of the West? I think that's where the latest drift began. Different forms of a populist left to varying degrees in Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and so on. Its under tension - and in Brazil its collapsed to quite a dangerous situation for the environment..

On the front of "capital throwing its weight around" in the face of a strengthened left, I was heartened to see talk of Labour preparing to counteract capital flight should they ever take power

― Simon H., Thursday, 9 November 2017 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Due to Brexit capital flight could happen anyway. Business is practically telling Labour they could put up with a erm diminished influence and profits as long as Brexit is the softer option (access to the single market). That's an opening, of sorts, to bring more things to the forefront and keep those ppl on their toes.

skip to about 13:30 in the latest Trillbilly Workers' Party for a very good RL Stephens segment on DSA/American left stuff, particularly the old race/class question

https://soundcloud.com/user-972848621-463073718/episode-35-who-are-we-w-special-guest-rl-stephens

or 18:30ish if you're feeling impatient

this is all pretty dope imho

Good thread of what DSA has been up to this week. https://t.co/0mv1eo63k0

— Sturgeon's Law (@Sturgeons_Law) November 13, 2017

Interview with Lee Carter and David Duhalde from DSA

Gunna start putting good pod eps in here to keep the other thread mainly focused on its titular show

Great interview with Prof. Federico Finchelstein

KPFA - Against the Grain - Populism or Fascism?

Is Donald Trump a fascist?  A rightwing populist?  What about Marine Le Pen of the far right National Front, who received the support of a third of French voters in the last presidential election?  Historian Federico Finchelstein discusses what the terms fascist and populist mean, not as abstractions, but looking at history.

Resources:

Federico Finchelstein, From Fascism to Populism in History [1] UC Press, 2017

[1] https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520295193

Anyone listen to Novara Media? It's one the left political podcasts I've been listening to a while and would recommend - I'm not sure if it was ever discussed/posted on the Chapo thread (I've only occasionally checked it), but it's worth listening to. They cover a wide range of issues, and find a nice balance between larger abstract theoretical discussions and episodes on very specific and concrete events/movements/etc.

http://novaramedia.com/category/audio/

no

lol sorry that was a flippant answer to the thread question

I've been meaning to check out Novara stuff, Ash Sarkar is one of my favorite left twitter people

i also like ash sarkar but the novara podcast seems extremely boring and average

Novara seems like an okay hour/long local radio show

Coupla recent episodes of note(feat. American guests):

Sarah Jaffe

Peter Frase(who’s own episode of Chapo last year got eaten)

Thanks for that Frase episode, listening now. Four Futures seems right up my alley

More great pod. Gets into the particulars of American history and connects it up with 2016 and more.

The Dig - Universalizing American Liberty with Aziz Rana

Aziz Rana discusses his pivotal book, _The Two Faces of American Freedom_. Rana overturns conventional accounts of American history, from settlement and Revolution to the Populists and the present day. In reality, settler-colonialism, empire, and a brutally exploitative economic system grounded in racial subjugation have always been at the core of the American project. But radical thinkers and movements have consistently stepped forward at critical junctures to propose transformative alternatives that would make American freedom universal. Rana's most brilliant move is to ultimately make a devastatingly critical account of American history hopeful and optimistic.

I'm glad someone brought up Novara, I've become a big fan over the last few months. Sarkar & James Butler especially I think are great. The Novara FM podcasts I feel actually manage to cover some fairly substantial stuff while still being accessible. The video segments like The Fix etc are def more hit & miss though - some worthwhile episodes but a lot of boilerplate rehearsal of overly neat talking-points too.

To open the discussion up a bit beyond just 'I dig this' (although let's be honest, that's my basic station in life), one thing I find interesting with the Novara people is the tension between anarchists and what for want of better terms I tend to think of as 'radical democrats' or 'democratic utopians' on the one hand, and traditional state socialsts plus fully-blown state communists on the other.
I feel like this tension could be reflected across the Corbynite left or at least within Momentum, and I'm interested to see how it plays out in the long term, especially if Labour under the current leadership do manage to make it into power.
Then again maybe the perception of a split is exaggerated by me focusing too much on Novara and hanging out too much in the Brit corner of 'left twitter', and the more unorthodox elements esp anarchos are too small in number/too marginalized to have any influence, I dunno.

That split is definitely not exclusive to the UK. The saving grace is that the short-term goals of both broad groups is more or less the same, so common mobilization on pressing issues is far from impossible.

If anybody who would like an Australian lefty pod, there’s the Boonta Vista Socialist Club.

For more American ones:

For those of y'all looking for some great leftist podcasts out there, here is a thread.

Subscribe to:@seasonoftheB @DiscoCollective @thetrillbillies @deleteuracct @LeftPod @thisishellradio @StreetFightWCRS @MAKCapitalism @TheDCSentinel @CitationsPod https://t.co/aeBsI9xzQ4

— Kudzu Commune (@kudzucommune) November 21, 2017

For CanCon(sorta), this is more of a monthly show, but Luke Savage & Will Sloan do Michael & Us our of Toronto, where they watch a crappy American(usually) agit-prop polemic. They started with every Michael Moore flick, then moved on to the Fahrenheit 9/11 knockoffs, Hollywood stuff, or whatever Dinesh craps out,

On the american organizing side, I’m wondering the percentage of all the groups that exploded in membership are now hitting growing pains a year in.

My local DSA chapter is trying to slog thru bylaw revision, as the group now is far different than it was originally constituted 12 months back. Quorum reqs are a drag, for instance.

that Aziz Rana interview is really great!

re: the slog/bloat that comes with organizational expansion, do you see it as a necessary evil or would you handle it some other way if possible?

I just think that it’s expected if not necessary; we’re coming out of like 4 decades of bad political habits, and having to relearn a whole mess of shit along with translating to a modern format.

Massive cultural change has to happen, and is underway, and everybody is going to fuck up a lot because the dominant culture was/is this hyperatomizing thing, not to mention all the discursive complications borne out of academia and social media.

DSA New Orleans posted a DIY guide on how & why they chose a taillight replacement action:

http://dsaneworleans.org/img/brake-light-clinic-guide.pdf

Workers Win Big in Ontario
In Ontario, the Fight for $15 just won a huge victory.

By DAVID BUSH & DOUG NESBITT

another podcast, just launched -

http://butterflystorycollective.libsyn.com/

one thing I find interesting with the Novara people is the tension between anarchists and what for want of better terms I tend to think of as 'radical democrats' or 'democratic utopians' on the one hand, and traditional state socialsts plus fully-blown state communists on the other.

At points it has been ugly to watch. Both sides actually managed to converge amicably (so far) over at New Socialist:

https://newsocialist.org.uk/

I love the brakelight clinics so much

I don't agree that the US is more progressive on aboriginal issues. Afaict, these barely even register as an issue on the national level in the US.

― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Thursday, November 9, 2017 4:19 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya what's up with this? is it just that they historically killed a larger % of them?

Plenty of good arguments here

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-2/

talking US first nations though

anyways this is not the thread

Yeah, that Maclean's thing makes no sense to me. If we really need to compare the situation of Canada's aboriginal population to a US equivalent, I would think that it should be the US aboriginal population ("Native Americans"), not the African-American population. And, like I said, I'm not a US politics expert but the only Presidential candidate I observed even mentioning FN issues was Bernie Sanders, who afaict didn't do more than pay lip service in passing.

This might be the UK-version of Chapo btw:

https://twitter.com/reel_politcast

I don't listen to podcasts so this is all bits of educated guesswork.

promising new Left Coast on youth organizing in the US, starting in on it now

https://soundcloud.com/leftcoastpodcast/north-bae-004-the-dictatorship-of-the-teen#t=0:00

Meanwhile, Alex Jones is posting Rosa Luxemburg quotes. Happy American Thanksgiving!

pic.twitter.com/N18dkYTqMd

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) January 14, 2017

Ha, leftie pods are popping up quick enough to start stepping on each other’s names

Left Coast:
@leftcoastpod
podcast about leftism for west coast idiots by los angeles trash comedians @shutupandrosky and @heysarajune. new ep every wednesday, DMs open

http://leftcoastpod.libsyn.com/

Left Coast Media:
@LeftPod
Interviewing leftists from the best coast and beyond. Follow @chekainformant, @communalsauce, and @rrrrn.

https://m.soundcloud.com/leftcoastpodcast

Beast Coast Podcast:

@BeastCoastPod
East coast is the beast coast. A #leftpod covering culture and philosophy from @the_admo, @lostcosmonaut84, @rayagun19, and @garthotron
beastcoastpodcast.com

Jeeze

Somebody elsewhere mentioned about how leftie folks are taking to podcasts like RW schmucks did to YT

This is probly of heavy relevance:

Both Verso & Haymarket are now running half-off sales til year’s end, with bundled ebooks where available

https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3495-50-off-all-our-books

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/55-50-off-holiday-gifts-for-the-red-on-your-list

I’m currently reading this: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2062-the-s-word

Last Verso I read:

https://www.versobooks.com/books/2465-humankind

Is anybody on Tim Faust’s health justice email list? He sent out an update today, and I had to laugh due to two things:

1. He sent it out from “T-Bone Faust,” which is a rare nickname that works for both Coen Bros collaborator and Coen Bros character

2. The opener is almost word-for-word matching a certain Onion columnist:

Hello friends,

This one's long. It’s been a minute since I got to last speak with you.

You can read his missive and sign up for the list here

I earnestly love that dude so much

<3 beavis wallpaper

All eyes on Illinois

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/28/politics/illinois-house-dsa-carlos-ramirez-rosa-chuy-garcia/index.html

^ strategically this makes no sense to me

because there's already a "progressive" running?

yes. why go after an early Sanders supporter who's an automatic yes vote on single-payer?

what is gained?

I would guess that they feel particularly strongly about Rosa's local popularity but otherwise I can't speak to the wisdom or lack thereof. Single payer isn't the only issue to be concerned about. (Then again, as yet, DSA has yet to officially endorse him AFAIK.)

What is the podcast equivalent for those of us who prefer music to podcasts and therefore never listen to podcasts? I mean, apart from hardcore punk lol

xp Garcia and Ramirez-Rosa are going to vote the same on practically every issue of consequence. What's the point of replacing a guy who's 95% left with a guy who's 100% left?

think you're right, there must be some local angle

Guatemala: Bernardo Arevalo, son of one of Guatemala's last left-wing presidents, has won the presidential election.

Arevalo shockingly made the run-off and was elected in a landslide, with many expecting him to become the country's most progressive president in decades pic.twitter.com/ecC2Hy3V96

— Populism Updates (@PopulismUpdates) August 21, 2023

taking this at face value and know nothing about Arevalo, seems good.

I want to believe... ya know?

there was an attempt to block him from the run-off after he came second in the first round, this Economist article from last week says there's still a risk of the elite trying to prevent him from being sworn in, or from governing effectively if he is (maybe the margin of victory make the former less likely?)

After Mr Arévalos’s surprise showing in the first round, nine mainstream parties alleged fraud, even though observers had seen no irregularities. The constitutional court ordered the electoral tribunal to review the vote count, delaying certification of the results. When this failed to lead to any change in the outcome, officials tried to suspend Semilla for allegedly forging signatures. (The constitutional court blocked the suspension, but the challenge is ongoing, as no party can be barred during an electoral period.)

Even if Mr Arévalo wins and is sworn in, he may find life very difficult. Semilla could yet be suspended as a party, leaving its 23 lawmakers rudderless. Institutions could refuse to co-operate with Mr Arévalo and stifle his agenda; people will get disillusioned with the lack of results from a candidate who promised change. What lies ahead is an uphill battle, says Ms Chang. But the potential reward justifies it. His win would ensure there are “a few years more of life for democracy”, she says.

https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2023/08/17/guatemalas-elite-may-try-to-scupper-the-presidential-election

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/poland-parliamentary-election-autocracy-tusk/675656/

If there's one thing Donald Tusk isn't it's left wing.